03/12/07 ME Bench

Bench Press w/Mini's 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 245x3, 275x4x2
3 Board Bench Press (CG) 365x 4x4
Chain Suspended Overhead Press 205x3x5
Ano Rows 130x4x8

This proved to be quite a workout, my shoulder held up nicely though. I backed off of DE Bench day last week and am toying with the idea of cycling SE Shoulder Pressing 3 weeks, then DE Bench for 3 weeks, Since I threw in Shoulder pressinfg a few weeks ago my shoulder has gotten considerably better. Thats what this whole thing is about anyway right? Experiment and keep what works, get rid of that which does not....Give it time I guess....

Soooo....Bench Press with Mini Bands proved harder than I anticipated. I had visions of 315 for 3 sets of 3, then reality set in. These things sucked!!! I couldnt even muster 275 for 3 sets of 3, so I adapted and ovecame with the Doubles. Not quite sure how much tension was provided by the mini's but it was more than I originally figured. Guess-ti-mating I would say there was 30 at the bottom and 80-90 at the top, possibly more. I dont really have a good way of figuring this out, so I will just worry about the bar weight for now.

The set up had tension throughout the movement as I had them doubled over the bar, no chokes. This doubled the tension and worked the movement from start to finish. Got two more weeks of this one, am curious to see where I will end up...

The Close Grip 3 board proved hard as well, my triceps were burning from trying to out-run the bands on the previous movement. These pauses absolutely killed me and had twinges starting in the shoulder, so I cut it short, originally planned on 4x5 on this movement. Will move on to 2 Board Close Grip next week...cant wait!!

Last week for the Chain Suspended Overhead Press, was glad I got 3x5 on this after lasts weeks stark realization that these things suck to do after some heavy pressing, but that which doesnt kill you only makes you stronger right?

I suspect part of my shoulder issues may be a muscle imbalance as I have neglected overhead pressing for quite some time. Ironically Mike Johnston just wrote an article this past week about a very similar issue he was having, great minds think alike right?

Scheduled to be the last week for what I have dubbed the Ano Row after Ano Turtianen, its really just a bent over row from a low pulley type source, he actually used a reverse hyper, I used a low pulley...same diff right? May keep them around for one more week as it is only an accessory movement and I really dig it...

Thats it for now, be sure to tune in next time for the results of Mine and Harolds Full Gear, ME Squat night....a night of PR's and skidmarks for sure!!!!



Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!




No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/11/07 SE Deadlift

DeadLift 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 365x2, 405x4x4
SSB GM's into Pins 245x4x4
Giant Set
Mini Leg Curls 5x12
Crunches 5x12
SSB Calf Raise 5x12

Tonight was supposed to be DE Squat, but, Harold is coming over on Weds for heavy geared squats so I opted for SE Deads. I went with 70% of my 1RM for this movement and worked it to Prilipens chart, 16 total reps put me right in the middle of the gravy zone. Each Rep had total resets to ensure no momentum was being used, and I was keeping a close eye on the form. All went well and today I am a bit sore, but such is life.

Followed up the Deads with some Safety Squat Bar Good Mornings into pins, the stop at the bottom really adds to the difficulty of the movement. Lower back was fried pretty good after these....

The Giant set closed out the night, I performed these "sets" with no rest between, so needles to say I was pretty winded by the end of it all. Actually felt like puking a little bit, thats got to be good for you right?

Well, that's all for SE Day. You may have noticed that I didnt post a DE Bench day. I have a plan up my sleeve at the moment to try and get this friggin shoulder fixed or at least a little less aggravated....stay tuned!!!





No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/07/07 ME Squat

SSB High Box w/Chains 155x5, 205x3, 245x3, 295x2, 335x1, 355x3, 405x2 Fuck Me!!!
SLDL 315x5, 365x5, 365x5
Ab Pulldowns 120x3x8
SSB Calf Raises 300x3x8

This must have been the most retarded workout I have had in awhile. I had to lift late due to the old ladies schedule, so I tried to squeeze it in between the two shows I watch on Weds night, "Jericho" and "Lost". I have one hour to get my shit done then back upstairs to find out whats going on with that kooky island.

Needless to say my mindset was not where it should have been and I hurried myself.

Have you ever driven somewhere and after you have arrived, you sat and wondered how you got there? No recollection of the drive in between? Thats how I was, by the time I got to ab pulldowns I was experiencing this very same phenomena....

I do remember that Safety Squat Bar High Box Squats w/Chains are friggin brutal. Its bad enough you got the weight itself trying to shoot you forward, but now I had the chains set out in front of the load trying to bring me down. Talk about killing your arch? So anyway, I think in my haste I got a bit too lofty in my weight picking.

After reviewing my previous shot at High BOx SSB I hit a 455PR, this set up I had tonight was around 475 at the top and not a hell of a lot of deload at the bottom due to the shape of the bar. My original plan of tripling this weight got squashed on the 2nd rep where I almost passed out re-racking it...There's always next time....

Straight Leg Deadlifts hit my hamstrings/lower back hard. My body is still sore from the heavy moving this past weekend so I'm sure that didnt help. But regardless, I have never gone this heavy on this movement before, I usually keep the weight around 275-315, guess those days are over now I set the bar higher right?

The Abs and Calves werent anything special and pretty much thrown in for filler, I was beat after doing this and couldnt understand why, then I looked at the clock, this workout took me 35 minutes from beginning to end. I was cranking so hard to get it over with I totally screwed my rest periods...oh well, at least I had time to relax before my silly ass watched Lost....how gay am I?

Keep It Dark, Keep It Heavy!!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/06/07 ME Bench - And A Story

Band Assisted Bench Press 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x3, 340x3, 370x3x3
3 BD CG BP 320x4x4
Chain Suspended Overhead Press 205x3x3
Ano Rows 110x10, 120x10, 130x2x8

Threw in a bit more volume on the assisted bench press. Again, this set-up allows for no help at the top and around 30 lbs at the bottom. Quite brutal to be honest. This was follow up by 3 Board Close Grip Bench Press for the same weight/reps as last week. My shoulder was was a bit twingy from helping a buddy out again (and hopefully the last time) moving.

Highlight of the weekend was I carried the ass-end of a 1930's piano around 2 trips of 500 feet, including stairs, it took three guys on the other end. Man I looked so cool....yeah right. That little feat made my hips hurt a bit. Then to keep in line with this strongman training, this dudes nimrod wife packed around 1000 childrens books into two boxes (estimated weight of around 100lbs each) these became atlas stones and man did those friggin jaunts hit my hamstrings, I actually ripped the pants I was wearing right down the middle when I set the first box down....Needless to say on sunday my forearms were actually sore from all the gripping and shit, these people are pack rats like I've never seen, which meant a great workout, but a long day. I killed around 24 beers this day, may they rest in peace....So after all the heavy stuff I got stuck moving, my CNS is in a fry-daddy state, so I am treading lightly....

Back to the workout, by the time I got to the overhead presses my shoulders and triceps were shot, which explains why I could only muster the miserable 3x3 on this weight, hell last week I took 225 for 5 on this movement, of course not after ME Bench...

Next up were the Ano Rows I got off elitefts workout logs. Ano Turtianen was doing these in one of his posts, so I did them last week and this week. These suckers hit the upper back pretty good, I use an angled lat bar so you can get a really good extensions at the back.

Thats it for now, next up is ME Squat, I did something funky to my quad last week, it appears to be gone so cross your fingers.......until next time....

Kiss My Grits!!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

02/28/07 ME Bench

Band Assisted Bench Press 225x5, 275x5, 315x5, 335x3, 370x4x2
CG 3 BD BP (Hella-Pause) 315x4x4
Olympic Grip Upright Rows 140x4x8
Mini Band Work (Face Pulls, Flyes, Pullovers, etc...)

As stated before, out of uncertainty innovation is born. Having never been able to figrue out a way to get bands set up the same way twice, I devised a set-up the gods would be proud of. I put the SSB over the top of my squat rack, essentially having pins in the upper position, then put the average bands on there and voila, I now have around 30 lbs off the bottom and no tension at the top, sweet deal!!!

I had to experiment a bit to find the optimal training load, but I think I managed it, next week we'll keep the poundage the same and up the volume to triples....should be interesting. All reps done with a complete pause at the bottom, making this quite brutal on the old shoulder, but I am sick of that fucking thing so I am just gonna truck on through and deal with it.....

The 3 Board Close Grip was done in the same fashion as last week, complete 2-3 second pause on the boards after the sink, then press. Again, this makes the movement about 20 times harder at that poundage....should show some benefit in the lockout department, my next wave I will add a board and do the same......

The rest was filler crap, I will most likely start back up with the EDT crap next week, I am in a carb depleted state as I want to lean out a bit and get back around to 210, no power-belly!!! This will be quite simple as I have just stopped with the McDonalds powerbulk, and kept the diet clean with super high protein intake....the rest takes care of itself. After this trim down it will be back on the Precision Nutrition program.

Thats about it from here, until next time......Eat Wheaties!!!



No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

02/26/07 Deadlift, A Night for PR's

Deadlift 135x5, 225x4, 315x3, 365x1, 400x1, 455x1, 510x1, 555x1PR
Band Leg Curls
Band GM's
Calf Raises

Surprisingly I got my goal of 550 plus a bit for insurance. I spent the weekend helping a buddy remodel his house and spent the better part of saturday bent over painting trim. Needless to say the lower back was not fresh at all, I feared the worst....

At 455 I began to doubt it, at 510 I was almost positive I would miss it, but then something cool happened. Harold hit 460 for about a 20lb PR, now I was inspired. I was not gonna miss a PR on this night.

Now dont get me wrong, this pull sucked to high heaven, and it was slow as all hell to boot. But, I didnt hitch it and I got the lockout. I did not get 555 with quite the authority I was looking for, but all things aside I was quite happy, and quite fried as well in the lower back region...Woo-hoo 600 here I come bitch!!!

The rest of the workout was anti-climactic to say the least, just a bunch of crap with light bands to round out the evening...

Overall I was very happy with the performance of both myself and Harold. Since sticking with a normal routine for an extended period of time, he has achieved great gains. This goes to show any of you non-believers out there that Westside aint just for juicers. If you give it a shot, and actually stick with it, then you will make fast gains as compared to the traditional progressive overload approach and other outdated methods.

Take Home Points

Get a plan,
learn to train yourself,
Lift Heavy Shit,
Eat,
Sleep,
Repeat,
and of course Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!





No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

02/25/07 DE Bench

Speed Bench 205x9x3
Suspended Overhead Press 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 225x5
Standing Low Cable Row 100x4x10
Bunch of shoulder crap.....

Good night, speed was dead on and felt really powerful, no inkling of shoulder pain. Switched grip on each set going from competition grip, to medium grip, to close grip.

Thought up this one at the last second. I suspend the bar in chains at eye level and performed shoulder presses from there. These proved quite brutal as the lack of momentum at the bottom made the movement very difficult. I will leave this in for 2 more weeks and see how things go.

The Low Cable Standing Row i got from Ano Turtianen's training log on elitefts. this movement felt good and really targetd my upper back, again, 2 more weeks of tis then i will move on.

Finished up with a bunch of shoulder traction type stuff utilizing mini bands, nothing too flashy and didnt keep track of reps and all that crap.....

Thats it for now, If you check the side bar, I have added a link to a free 8 day precision nutrition course offered from John Berardi, auther and creator of this great system. Be sure to sign up as it is free with no obligation. Who knows, you might learn something.


Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!



No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

Want To Get Lean but Stay Strong?

Greetings Readers,

Not sure if any of you are interested, but I have recently become an affiliate of John Berardi's Nutrition team and will now be selling his line of nutritional products. I speak from personal experience that if you want to lean up, and still maintain muscle, or even gain lean body mass while doing so. This system will get you there.

This program will show you how to prepare food for the week, how to shop for the food (an actuall super-market walk through with an actual client), and a bunch of recipes to get you to your body compostion goals.

Be sure to check them out....

Precision Nutrition

Gourmet Nutrition eBook

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

02/22/07 DE Squat Day of the Bands

DE Free Squats w/Avg Bands 250x8x2
Saftey Squat Bar Good Mornings to pins 245x3x3
Giant Set-30s Rest Between
Mini Band Leg Curls 5x12
Crunches 5x12
SSB Calf Raises 245x5x12

Out of boredom comes innovation. Decided to ditch the box for speed work in my next mini-cycle for Dynamic Effort day. All I can say is wow, this really hits the lower back in a good way. The bands are trying to pull you forward and break your arch so you must force the issue. The reps were decent on the speed side, I could definitely tell when the bands kicked in as it was like the brakes were put on full blast. Next week I will up the percentage by 5% and check the speed. I also think I may add in some ME Band work in the near future which should provide some benefit if I am correct.

SSB GM's were nothing spectacular, I set the pins at a normal failure point for the squat and would Good Morning the weight to the pins, pause and snap it back up. The Lower back was in Fry Daddy mode so I eased up on this as I have heavy Dead's with Harold on Monday.

This giant set is what I performed last week and is basically an attempt to puss out and avoid the EDT portion. I will perform this scheme one more week before I come up with some new EDT protocol to do....

That is all for ya'all, so until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!


No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

02/21/07 ME Bench (Deload)

RAW Bench 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3x3
3 Board Press Close-Grip (Wicked Pauses) 315x6x3
KB Rows 73x4x10
Oly Grip Upright Row 135x4x8

Took it fairly easy tonight, the shoulder was hurting so I did some recuperative crap after the fact.

RAW bench was ho-hum with very little effort, just wanted to get'er done....for the 3 board I was too lazy to change the load of the bar, so I changed the dynamics of the movement. These were done with a 3-4 second pause on the boards, then press. Takes all the momentum out of the movement, give it a try sometime and lemme know how you feel.....

The rest was nothing special, more of a product of my lack of motivation...thank god for De-loads.....because next week its time to bring it!!!

so until next time....Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

02/19/07 ME Squat, Deload.......

Free Squats RAW 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1
Free Squats Suit w/Straps Down 455x2, 505x5x1
Band Assisted Conv DL 405x9x1
10 Minute EDT PR Zone
KB Swing Thru 73x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Leg Raise BWx5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Took it easy today as it was a scheduled De-Load week. I was originally supposed to get to gether with Harold and do some DL's but the old lady apparently had other plans in the midst, so guess who's get squashed?

Anyway, did a RAW work up to 455 then threw on the suit bottoms, hit 455 for a double and went up to 505 for a bunch of singles. Nothing too taxing, I cant get over how the weight feels on the shoulders, this weight used to be scarey to get under, now its a simple unrack and go...I guess with confidence comes strength.

The Band Assisted Conventional Deadlift was a last second add in, I had wanted to Deadlift all day and didnt want to go too heavy as next Monday, myself and Harold are pull heavy. Plus, with it being a deload sort of week what the hell. I will add these in the future as a first accessory movement for triples with heavy weight to hammer the snot out of my lockout. I figure speed ought to benefit as well....time will tell

EDT Hammered me again, but the good thing is it keeps me warm in that cold ass basement, i end up with steam coming off me by the end of it all...I like hitting the accessory stuff in this manner as it works the GPP and builds the areas quite well. Anybody interested in EDT should click on the Staley Training Sytems link and give his site a visit. This method kicks the snot out of any other bodybuilding, body composition, body sculpting program out there. It's brutal, but well worth it.

Thats about it for me, lower back is feeling it this morning but thats to be expected. Shoulders arent sore from the meet anymore, the day after they were a bit sore, but what can you do. Now i have a couple push/pull's coming up that i have to get geared up for. one of these days a Full Power meet may come this way...

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

Bench Meet Results

Not a bad day at all....

1st attempt 400 Smooth to Lockout

2nd Attempt 425 Easy Peasy Lemon Squeasy

3rd Attempt 450 Holy Crap-Leg Drive Rulz!!!

Everything went better than expected. The unexpected help from actually having legs involved was phenomenal. I easily had anywhere from 450-500 in me, I totally underestimated myself and figure I should have went higher, if only 4th attempts for non records were allowable....

I weighed in at 230 with my winter garb on (boots, sweatshirts, pants, etc...). I figured I wouldnt make the 220 class as my home scale had me at 220 even, and the last time on Daves meet scales I weighed 2 lbs heavy, so I just stepped on the scale in street clothes, what the hell, so what, so maybe I would have gotten a better trophy if I hadnt. The actually 220 class I had smoked if I would have cut the weight.

I ended up 2nd, though the guy that beat me was listed as a 275lb competitor on the flight sheet...whatever, he had a dbl-ply metal shirt and only made 455 and missed 505 pathetically 2 times, couldnt touch once and got stapled when he did touch....

Holy sour Grapes Chris!!! JK, I got my goal, 400 in competition, the rest was gravy and made me realize I need to fix my current winter situation of no leg drive, I was way off in my calculations of attempts. But this is the game, live and learn right?

Overall am very happy with the results, my drunken hands cant emit the jubilation i am feeling at this moment, so i will leave it at that....

My conterpart, Harold T Estes, had a great RAW showing, going 290, 310, and a 320 near miss at 198, and that was RAW baby!!!......Great Job Harold!!! and to boot we may have picked up 2 more cohorts for North East Barbell.....Hey Louie, Here we come!!!

Just kidding, give me a few more years then I may beable to say something blasphemous like that and mean it, but until then...thanks for the inspiration!!


Holy exclamation points Batman!!!!


Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy

02/12/07 SE Squat

High Box Squats w/Chains 135x3, 225x3, 275x5, 330x3, 385x2, 405x1, 475x3x3
SSB Chain Suspended Wide Stance GM's 185x3x12
Crunches, Mini Band Leg Curls, and Calf Raises......light weights high reps, didnt keep track.

Took it fairly easy tonight. It was called out as a ME night, but I opted for an SE night as I am coming down with something and dont want to hammer my CNS worse than it probably already is. Plus I am going over to Harolds house for Deadlifts next monday, and with the Bench Meet this saturday a nice easy training session was called for.

475 felt extremely light on the back, I remember a few months ago this weight felt heavy as balls...This weight was estimated to be around 80% of my best on this movement. Judging from the ease with the reps I could have gotten 6-8 reps in, but that was not the criteria to be met tonight. Still felt pretty productive as I kept the rest periods to around a minute. As per usual the lower back pumped up pretty good by the end. I really need to remember to hit that area with the Icy Hot next time.....

The Good Mornings were painful towards the end of each set. I had the chains set really low, almost knee level which made it hard to get under the SSB. I could really feel the erectors on this one for some reason. This movement is a pain in the ass with light weight for high reps. I hate high rep work to begin with much less this painful sort of shit.

The last stuff was all done to avoid EDT. As previously mentioned I aint feeling too well to begin with so the daunting task of EDT just wasnt going to happen tonight, so I set up a circuit and just did giant supersets with 30 second rest for anywhere between 10-20 reps for each. Friggin rep work!!!

For a lighter session it still felt productive and I dont feel I taxed my CNS so badly as to affect my recovery from this bug......for the rest of the week I will probably not post. I wont be going heavy and the workouts are gonna be with a minimalist approach to enhance recovery.

Now, Good Day Sir!!!

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02/08/07 Bench Meet Opener work

RAW warm up, 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 275x1, 315x1

Shirted 365x1, Opener 405x2x1, 410x3x1CG

2bd Press 275x4x6

LAt Pull Down 120x3x12

Shrugs 255x12, 275x3x12

Light Hammer Curls 30x3x12

Tonight could have gone better, earlier in the week I had a recurrence of the tendonosis fomr squatting. Now usually this doesnt affect my benching but that was not the case tonight. That sucker starting hurtin after like the 3rd opener attempt. I believe it was aggravated fromthe awkard position I was benching in. From whqat Harold told me, and I could feel it, I was touching super low compared to last time, this placed alot of stress on my forearms, elbows, and wrists. Hence the aggravation.

I was also having shirt placement issues, the last set it cut in pretty bad after screwing with the placement, I didnt touch and pushed it back up. I will just go with the normal set-up for me on this shirt, which is an inzer ephdhpephddhdhdp~~~~~~~~~~~!!! Going forward I will plan in more gear work as I definitely slouch in this area, and if I plan on lifting in gear, I better learn how to use it.

Now, I got a bench meet next saturday and figure I should beable to hit all 3 lifts if I hit the ice hard and pop some anti-inflammatories before the warm up, but we'll see. My only goal for this meet is to hit 400 in comp. Considering I hit the 405/410 with no leg drive (slippery floor) and stiff back, this should fall easily.

Until next time....Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

02/06/07 ME Squat

High Box Squat w/Chains 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 505x1, 525x1, 555x1PR
Conv Block Pull (Mid Shin) 405x3, 455x3, 505x3

Though it looked short, this workout took around an hour, and I cut off the accessory crap so I could get my ass upstairs and watch American Idol....Fuck that!!! Seriously, I tweaked my knee and back a bit this weekend in the friggin snow and god was my back giving me shit tonight. It was so tightened up I had to lay down on the ground between sets, I figured it would be shitty, but this was no fun. So tonight I will do my accessory crap with some stretching thrown in for good measure. I also see a good Ice Down coming.....

Anyway, tightness and all I hit a PR @ 555, last weeks attempt at 550 was one as well. I forgot I added around 15 lbs of chain to my configuration which explains wy I was having a harder time with this movement, duh!! This sucker was a grind and i rounded over a bit at the mid way but managed to finish, guessing 620 at the top and around 570-580 on the box.......

Was scheduled to do Wide Stance Good Mornings, but as I am planning on possibly switching my stance for a March Meet in Ware, Ma. I figured I better get started and hit the top end of the lift as it appears to be a weakness on this stance for me. i feel extremely fast off the ground with the conventional stance but the top end gets a bit hokey for my taste....in the coming weeks I will take measures to fix this and hopefully end up with a stronger DL....

Keep it Real Lucille!!!

02/04/07 DE Bench-200th post!!!

DE Bench w/Mini's 155x9x3
3 BD CG BP 315x3, 365x3, 385x3, 395x3
10 Minute EDT PR Zone
Lat Pull Down 120x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Shrugs 255x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Fast night, shoulder didnt feel half bad after some Icy Hot. The minis are always a great measuring stick for how the shoulder is doing, if during the first warm-up its painful, then I know I'm in for a long session. But not tonight, all felt good after the warm-ups, everything was fast and therapeutic....

Three Board Close Grip Bench Press felt strong. All reps were paused and held at lockout, feeling good as all sets were strong minus the leg drive due to the coldness of the basement. Come meet time I should benefit from the carpet grip. Guess we'll see....

EDT portion I ran out of gas as my nutrtion was not what it should be this weekend, but what can you do, I aint getting up on stage in a thong any time soon so I'll take it.....

Thats about it, the superbowl is on and I got some money on those fuckers the Colts,....so until next time....Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!!

02/02/07 DE Squat....Time for Change?

SSB DE Box Squats 225x8x3
Conventional DL 405x3, 425x3, 455x3, 505x3PR
10 Min EDT PR Zone
Mini Band Leg Curls x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
SSB Calf Raises 245x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Well I think it may be time to swap my dead lifting style.....but more on that in a bit. It was cold as hell in the basement, the inside temps have caught up to the outside temps as previously stated. This happens every year with this house, it will stay fairly warm for about 2 months into winter then Bam!!! Cold as Balls.

Decided to do my Speed work with the Safety Squat Bar and No Belt, surprisingly these were fast as hell. I went with 50% of my SSB Max and will up the percent to 55% next week. Again, these felt about as fast as regular bar speed work. By the end of these (30 sec rest between sets) my lower back was tight as hell and took a good 5 minutes to settle down when finished....all worth it I figure....onto DL's

Now I havent pulled heavy conventional Deadlifts in god knows how long. I always thought the sumo was easier and that I was better suited for it. But the more I do sumo, the more I have found that if the technique is off by just an inch, you will struggle with what should be an easier weight. Plus I am finding that my back seems to be a strong point on this stumpy ass frame of mine. Add to this that last week when, for shits and giggles, I did some speed pulls with a Conventional style, it was fast as hell. I think I may have mentioned that in my post....I thought I was on to something...and I guess I was.....

The 405 was easy as it was supposed to be, the 425 I figured to be my barometer for how this would pan out, well that flew too....Hmm....onto 455 I guess. This too flew up and seemed easier than I anticipated, what is going on here? The DL style I dismissed early on in my training is outperforming my old trusty Sumo Deadlift?

Load the bar to 505 maestro!!! (Turns out Im the Maestro in this case)....The first two were pretty fast to lockout, surprised the hell out of me, on the third my grip started to fail but held up long enough for lock out....I was pretty friggin psyched to say the least, hopefully this wasnt a first time romance and next time it all goes south. Stayed tuned to find out....All sets perfromed with complete stop at bottom, no bouncing, not that my floor would give much rebound, but figured I would throw that in. I have never pulled 505 Sumo, and cant say I've tried it, but I marked this a PR.

Next up was EDT....This was pretty anti-climactic to say the least. I tossed in SSB Calf raises as I neglect this area of my body as much as I do forearms...I've always considered these area to be non-value added in the world of Powerlifting, but tonight, and the next three weeks I will curb my Dogma....

Thanks to all for tuning in, so from my frozen ice-box to yours....Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!!

01/30/07 Me Bench Brrrr......

2Bd Press w/Chains 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 300x3, 325x4x2
CG 4 BD Press 325x3, 365x3, 385x3, 405x3
EDT 12 Min PR Zone
P-Rows 225x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Rear Delts 50x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Hot Damn it was cold in the basement!!! This made for hard footing and no leg drive on the pressing. The coldness of the rubber on my sneakers coupled with the coldness of the rubber matting made for some slippery good times.
This combination made it extra hard on the pressing as trying to stablize, drive with the legs and stick to bench were all compromised. Thats what you get for training in a sub-zero basement huh? But at least I got no gym membership and I get to tear ass with reckless abandon...tonight was especially rotten I might add.

Anyway, the 2BDs were brutal, my lower back kept cramping up from the other nights ME Squat workout, those Chain Suspended Good Morning's really hit me good. So to add to slippery footing I had to compromise my already crappy arch. But all things aside I feel it was a productive workout, if anything it reinforced that you have to overcome crap and still perform under less than optimal conditions.

The CG 4 BD was a pleasant surprise, my last workout I only worked up to 365 for like 5 sets of 3, and if memory serves me correct that was all I had in me. Tonight the weights felt light on this movement. I performed all reps (on the 2BD as well) with around a 4 second pause after unracking/setting, complete pauses on the boards after the sink, and 4 second pause again at lockout. I read an article from Metal Militia in an old Pl'ing magazine where they performed board work in this fashion, lemme tell you, this shit hurts and will drastically cut the poundage you are able to use. I'll work this method into the mini-cycle I am currently in, and decide later if it proves productive.

I am really digging the EDT Triples portion of this training, the rest periods and low reps allow you to apply maximal force on each rep. I believe this will help me to control my body better in the long run. Rather than having muscle fibers firing inefficiently, this will help me to control it more. Good shit man!!

Thats all from my frozen neck of the woods...I really should move the hell out of New England, nothing here but frozen testicles and winter time depression.....

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

01/30 ME Squat

High Box Squat w/Chains 135x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1,365x1,405x1, 455x1 505x1, 525x1
Suspended SSB GM's 205x4x6
10 Min EDT
Hanging Leg Raise BWx5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
KB Swing-thru 73x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Guess I got beat up more than I thought from the other day, so I took it easy and didnt go for broke tonight. I could feel my lower back pretty good midway through the High Boxes. My original plan was to go up to 570, but it became obvious around 455 this wasnt going to happen, still no complaints though, I got my strain on and achieved what I was supposed to tonight....

The Suspended GMs felt good, I will up the weight next week. As I have never done these from the suspended position (I usually GM down into the chains) I figured I would play it on the safe side and ensure I could walk the next day. Too many times I will add a new movement and go balls to the wall only to regret it for the next week....not tonight.

The EDT just killed me, my energy was down tonight and I wasnt all that motivated. Plus I had eaten 3 huge tacos about an hour before, so you tell me where my mind was.....

The good thing about workouts like this is when you come back the next week and smash it, then all your confidence comes back. So at the end of the day I aint so worried.....so, until next time...Drink Fanta!!! Its Fanta-stic!!! Idiot

01/24/07 SE Squat.....Er...Um...RAW Squat PR...

RAW Squat 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 500x1PR 500xMiss
Conventional Speed DL 275x9x1
10 Min EDT PR Zone
Pull Throughs 100x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Ab Wheel BWx5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Well, so much for SE Squat, again, all that talk the other day about RAW vs Gear made me wanna see where all this "Training for Gear Strength" has gotten me. Well, the last time I went for 455 (RAWWWWW), it was a bit of a grind but I got it, tonight it flew, so I figured why waste energy, hit the 500 and call it a day. Well the first one fell, popping my blood vessels in my eyes, Very Sexy!!! The second one I hit the bottom, pushed up and got about mid way before losing it(mental miss), but all in all it was a worth while effort tonight, very happy.

Decided to do my speed pulling with a conventional style. I actually felt faster than last time on speed work pulling sumo. I think I may have to experiment with my pulling style. I have pulled sumo for so long because conventional always seemed hard for me to get in position. Something to think about....

EDT was brutal after this workout, finished it off in a sweaty mess of a state.

Figured I had to work extra hard tonight as I fucked up a chinese buffet this afternoon at lunch. That Buffet never saw it coming, three heaping plates of all things meat. I dont fuck around with the noodles and rice shit.....good stuff and made for excellent butt trumpeting session tonight.(been wanting to use that butt trumpeting phrase for some time now)

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

01/24/07 ME Bench-Deload

RAWWWWW Bench Deload
135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3x3
Pin Press (Crazy Long Pause)315x5x3
Upper Back/Shoulders Complex
Pull Ups against Mini Bands
KB Front Swing
KB Side Swing
KB Rear Swing

After debating the RAW/Gear crap over on Powerlifting Watch, decided to do RAW Bench as my deload work, took 80% and stayed within Prilipins. All sets slow, controlled, and slightly painful on the shoulder.

Pin Presses were from around 3 board range, with a regular unracking of the bar, complete pause on the pins while staying tight, then pressing. This proved harder than anticipated and really activated the triceps. Good chit i tell ya!!!

Next up was a complex I made up on the fly. I saw the KB handles laying on the floor and felt guilty for not using them in so long. Also, figuring they can do nothing but help the shoulder shit-chee-a-shun, I loaded them with 33lbs and started swinging. I went from Pull-Ups against mini bands, to side,front,and rear KB swings. Quite painful by the end of it, but in a good way.

Well thats it for this portion of the deload week, am looking forward to getting back to regular ME next week.....until then, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!!

01/22/07 ME Squat-Deload

10 Minutes Inclined Treadmill Jog
Rev Hyper 110x4x6
12 Min EDT PR Zone
SLDL 295x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Ab Pull Down 115x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Nothing too exciting, jsut a deload week.....Good Bye

01/17/07 ME Bench

Floor Press w/Mini's 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245x1, 285x2, 295x2,2,1,1,1
Chain Lockouts 315x6, 325x6,5,4,3
EDT 12 Min PR Zone
Pull-Ups BWx3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Side Delts 30x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Pressed for time today so the post isnt exactly long winded or remotely entertaining. Just a quick blurb about a gruleing workout that had my shoulder screaming.....thats it for now....tune in next time for DE Squats.......

01/15/07 ME Squat

SSB Low Box Squat 155x5, 205x3, 245x2, 295x1, 335x1, 385x1, 405x1, 405x1, 425x1, 455x1PR
Rev Hyper 110x4x6
EDT 12 Min Pr Zone
SLDL 295x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Ab Pulldown 115x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Pretty happy with the squat results, around a month ago I tried 455 high box and failed at it, now I hit it on the low box variety, cant complaint with that. I cant praise this bar enough and you guys are probably sick of hearing it, but this thing simply makes you strong and has a ton of uses. If any of you have a chance to try one do it. They hurt a bit and make your head feel like its gonna pop off, but when you switch back to a regular bar its smooth tits.

Rev Hypers had my back tight by the end of them, these are one of those movements I friggin hate, but can feel the strength in my lower back coming up. One more week of these and I move on.

I missed my goal on EDT, I was supposed to hit 30 Reps within the 12 minutes but brainfarted and missed it, no problem though, will hit it next week easily and move on.

On a side note, how about them Patriots? Complete underdogs against the Chargers and those nimrods hand us the game. We had no business winning that one, we played like shit and had no rythmn, thank god for our defense...onto Indianapolis where I suspect we are going to see one hell of a game.....until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

01/12/07 DE Squat

Speed Squat w/Chains 275x8x2
SE DL's 455x3x3

Cut this one off as I was having company over for beers and food. Will finish the accessory crap tomorrow.

Speed was nice, i have been really happy with the speed I have been getting lately. I bumped up the lbs for this week just to see where I was at, happy with that choice. I would say I was just as fast this week as last week with 50 lbs more on the bar, so I think for the rest of this cycle will let the percentages ride on the high side and see what happens.

The Dead Lifts were a nice surprise as well, I wasnt sure how I would do on these as my lower back was pumped pretty bad. This weight gain mission I put myself on, up to 220lbs, has contributed to this condition greatly, I will give this another month or so then cut some fat of the old chassis.

Well, thats it for now, until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

01/10/07 ME Bench

Floor Press w/Mini's 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245x2, 285x3, 295x2, 295x3x1
Chain Lockouts 315x4x6
EDT 12 Min Pr Zone
PF Pull Ups BWx3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Side Raise 25x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Well, its probably a good thing this is the last week for Floor Press with Mini's, my shoulder started hurting a bit by the end sets. I think in the future I will limit the Band use to two week mini cycles as the 3 weeks seems to be too much. Hopefully there will be no lasting damage, I should have stopped at the first twinge, but no, I pressed on (pardon the pun).

The original plan was to work up to 3 sets of 3 with 295, this quickly changed as I felt pretty weak. Alot of factors caused this, around 3 hours sleep, still recovering from flu, and lifting at a different time than I am used to. Another thing that probably didnt help was I let my son exercise with me. Basically he just runs around and lifts tiny DB's, messes with the bands and punches his blow up Batman punching bag. Then, like a good little lifter, he writes his results into my work out log. With the new arrival I am trying to pay him extra attention so he doesnt get jealous and feel unwanted. But excuses are for pussies so I will stop there. The 285 for 3 was slow as molasses and I knew I was being owned, the gameplan changed to 295 for doubles which in turn changed to singles, then me quitting....your basic spiral, like a turd down the toilet if you will. Was still happy with the effort, I could have quit but didnt. This shit builds character right?

Based on the Floor Press, I went lower intensity with higher volume on the Chain Lockouts, these proved brutal and had my triceps pumped. From there I finished up with EDT and proceeded to sweat my nads off. I then iced my shoulder which has got to be one of the things I dread most in this world. It aint so bad after the numbness sets in, but getting there is the shit part. I feel like a little sissy girl squirming and whining, waiting for the numb.....Good shit I assure you, try it sometime!!!


Good Bye for Now......

01/08/07 ME Squatro...

SSB Low Box Squat 155x5, 205x3, 245x3, 295x3, 335x3, 385x2, 405x2x2
Rev Hyper 90x4x6
12 Min EDT PR Zone
SLDL 295x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
AB Pull Down 115x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Ugh, 405 was a pain in the ass!!! I had a stiff neck to begin with and as anybody that has used a Safety Squat Bar knows, this sucker is murder on the neck muscles. But being the trooper I claim to play on T.V, I pressed on. The first set was alright, though on the second rep I tore a little ass and lost concentration and round over a bit. Still got it though, gotta love Shepards Pie!!
The second set was decent as well, again on the 2nd rep I rounded a bit, but who wouldnt with 405 on a SSB and some serioues L.A.P (Lower Abdominal Pressure)? Seriously though, this bar kicks my ass every time out so it really was no big surprise. Good stuff all around.

Rev Hypers were hard on the lower back, after squats this is a nice lower back fry-daddy. These reps wre performed slow and controlled with no swinging. Not the funnest thing in the world, but productive nonetheless.

As always, EDT kicked my ass, my back was so knotted up I almost pussed out in the last 2 minutes, one would think only doing triples wouldnt be so hard, but one can be wrong as well. I was a sweaty mess after this workout and proceeded to go upstairs and almost pass out on the floor, always a good feeling.

So until next time, keep your pecker in your pants and save the troops for the heavy lifting!!! or something like that......

01/07/07 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/Chains 185x9x3
DB Tricep Extensions 50x5x6
EDT 10 Min PR Zone
Face Pull 65x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Front Delt Raise 30x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Nothing Flashy and not really motivated, but to Pats did win......

01/05/07 DE Squat

DE Box Squat w/Chains 225x8x2
Mid-Shin Block Pulls 315x2, 405x2, 475x2, 525x1, 555x1, 525x3
10 Minute EDT
Pull Through 110x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
AB Wheel x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Good night, speed was awesome, fastest i've felt in a long time. Grease lightning I tell you, and no sharts!!

I had to hold back on the pulling, was gonna work up but then realized its DE Day, not ME...555 flew to lockout. Good Shit

EDT killed me again, I am at the tale end of this cold so the endurance is just not there, but I forged on and finished up, will beat these numebrs next week.

Thats it from my neck of the woods, so until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

01/03/07 ME Bench

Floor Press w/Mini's135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 245x1, 285x3x3
CG Chain Lockouts 315x3, 365x3, 375x2x3
12 Minute EDT (Triples)
Palms Facing Pull-Ups BWx3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Side Delts 25x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Holy crap everything felt heavy tonight!!! I am still figthing this head cold which I believe to be the cause of this "Heavy" feeling. But the good thing is I was able to beat what I did on the previous cycle, thats progress right?

The Floor Presses were pure grinders, every single one of them. The last one I fought to lockout for a good 10 seconds, my head was ready to explode with all the pressure, jeez. But, as with all sets that feel super heavy yet manage to get, I got that feeling of pride when you know you just accomplished something under subpar conditions, I'll take it.

The CG Chain Lockouts were no less brutal than the Floor Presses and the last set was the worst. Again I fought the weight for a good 10 seconds before getting the lockout, another moment of pride!!! Beat the total voume of weight from last time too, so all is well.

The EDT session wasnt too bad but I could feel the old stamina hound catching up to me. The intensity on this isnt too bad but its the dynamics that make you feel it. All movements are peformed with explosive, yet controlled force. I try and apply maximum force to the weight on each rep with total resets between reps. Good stuff and very poductive feeling.

Thats it from my part of the universe, so until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!

My Brood....

My son Jakob and New Born Daugher Caitlin Hope...

01/01/07 ME Squat

SSB Low Box 155x3, 205x3, 245x3, 295x3, 335x3, 365x3, 385x3
Rev Hypers 70x8, 80x6, 90x2x6
EDT 12 Minute Pr Zone (Triples)
SLDL 295x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Ab Pulldown 115x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Well, I'm back. Got a new daughter and an 8 week training cycle all planned out. It feels nice. I spent last week eating like crap, fighting a cold, and having a daughter. Quite a week actually. Spending most of the week in the hospital and being sick as a dog didnt exactly get me motivated to do any weight related stuff, so I did a total deload, Nothing, Nada, Zilch!!!

The Safety Squat Bar, Low Box Squat, went better than anticipated. I originally planned on just going up to 365x3 and easing back into the swing of things, but the 365 felt uber-light so I went to 385 and got those relatively easy, Next week should be fun!!

Rev Hypers felt easier than normal as well, and I was quite happy, originally had 70 for 4x6 planned, but the deload apparently benefitted me more than I anticipated. Good shit man, next week I will bump it up and hit it heavier, still took it easy as the old body is still recovering from the flu last week.

The EDT session was where my recent ailment caught up to me. My stamina went out the window and I felt tired as hell by the end of them. I will easily surpass these numbers on my next outing. Will probably bump up the SLDL to 315 and go from there, the pulldowns will be upped as well.

All in all this first one back was quite nice, I guess there really is something to this De-Load crap......Keep It Dark, Keep It Heavy!!!!

12/24 SE Bench, Errr...New RAW PR

RAW Bench 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 275x1, 320x3, 345x1, 365x1PR, 320x2x3
Floor Press 275x4x5
Lat Pulldown 140x6x5
Olympic Grip Upright Row 135x6x5

Was only planning on working up to 320 for 3 sets of 3, after I got to the first set I decided to set a new PR for 1 Rep. This was a nice strong attempt considering I had already hit 320 for 3. Flirted with the idea of going higher but decided to do a couple drop sets. Pretty good outing tonight considering it was only supposed to be an SE night. But, acting on something I heard Louie Simmons say, if your feeling it, just go with it. You dont get the chance every outing. Plus with the impending Deload I figured what the hell.

Onto Floor Press, these were paused and Definitely felt them in the Triceps, good shit I tell you. The Lats and Uprights were pretty useful as well.

What can I say, its Christmas Eve, the Patriots won, and I hit a PR...Happy Holidays indeed.

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

12/21 DE Squat

SSB Box Squat 225x8x2
SLDL 315x3x5
Hanging Ab Raise 3x8
Avg Band Leg Curls 3x10

I really dig doing Speed work with the Safety Squat Bar!!! Makes my lower back pump 10 times worse than a normal bar, good shit I tell you!!!

Speed was great and I felt the snap off the Box was some of the best I have ever had, very happy with the results. The rest of the work out was a bit of a "Git er Done and get upstairs". As I beat myself up with the Big 3 this week I thought it was best to take it a easy on this night so there you have it.

Again, next week is a sort of De-Load week, my approach will be as follows. I will still go Heavy on the Squat/DL side of things but will do No assistance. However, on the Bench side of tings I will go with Assistance only and no full range benching. I will most likely do some sort of CG board pressing but that will be it and only to hit the Tri's. Well, thats it for now, next stop, DE Bench.....

12/20 ME Bench - An Old Shirt Comes to Life

RAW 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x2, 325x2
Rage (Old Shirt) 365x1, 385x2x1PR, 400x3x1PR
2 Bd CGBP w/Chains 315x3x3
Seated Rows 200x4x6
Shrugs 365x4x6

Decided to throw on the old Rage and see what I could do in it. I will use next week as a Deload week for two reasons, I think I need one, and two, ME Bench Day happens to fall on the same day my Daughter will enter this world.

So I worked up to 325x2 RAW before putting on the shirt, this is the same shirt I got 375 with at a bench meet in october, so expectations werent too high. 365 was ugly, out of groove and my legs were all over the place. 385 on the first was no different, I wasnt concentrating and for some reason was benching on my tippy toes. I couldnt get my heels down for nothing...this is not normal. I still got 385 with a grind but decided to take it again and hammer the form. This time it flew up, onto 400. These were a bit harder as the unracking of the weight makes it hard to set up. I have to stay in the starting position a bit longer to get the form to settle in before I lift. I decided to go with 3 singles and call it a day before moving on to 2 BD CGBP w/Chains. The singles were strong and would have passed in any fed, good pause, held at lockout, etc...

It was weird going back to this shirt from the EHPHD. This Rage is a bit big for me sizing in at 54, though when I pulled the sucker down it was working pretty well. I think I may get this shirt altered and have the sleeves shortened and maybe the plate taken in a bit, still undecided. But, all in all this benching went pretty well, its always nice to hold heavier weights in your hands.

The rest of the workout was quite uneventful, I was sort of beat after the benching and almost called it a night. Glad I didnt as it all felt quite productive none the less.

Like I stated before, next week will be a deload, I will try to post but with the holiday and the birth of my daughter I may be tied up, so until next time....Keep It Dark, Keep It Heavy!!!

Sage Advice From A Smart Lifter

12/18 Squat Opener and DL PR

Geared Squat
Straps Down 135x5, 185x2, 225x2, 275x1, 365x1, 405x1,455x1
Straps Up w/Wraps 500x1, 525x1, 550x1
Deadlift 225x1, 315x1, 405x1, 475x1, 530x1PR

Had a pretty good night, worked up to a potential Squat opener of a meet in May (I know, got a long time until then) but I hope to hit an APA meet in Keene if they have it again this year in Feb. Gotta check the schedule....

As stated I went straps down to 455 and decided I ought to put the straps up with a lighter weight so as not to be in for any surprises. I have only used gear like twice in my life so I dont really know how it affects my form. Rick was over and we gave verbal cues for depth to ensure we werent inflating our numbers at all. From 455 I went to 505 and must say, I HATE KNEE WRAPS!!! The energy expended in putting them on, coupled with the loss of breath had me light headed as I got under the bar, thought for sure I would pass out before I even started the lift. The weights up to 550 all felt light on the back and the hardest part was dealing with the friggin wraps that not only hurt when cinched in, but takes your breath away before you even attempt a lift.....ugh!!! and I thought the bench shirt was bad!! No worries though, the 550 was smoked and I am quite sure after more time in the gear and considering other factors I will be good for anywhere between 600-650 come meet time. I should note that all day my knees felt like shit from a workout I did over the weekend involving Plyo-Jumps, whence the confidence in my projected numbers.

Next up was Deadlifts, definitely was not feeling it on these. After the Squats I was pretty beat, but we had already planned on doing them. Plus we cut the squats short in anticipation of going heavy on deads. Every single one of these felt like a ton, all the way from the 225 up to the 530. I thought I was done for on the 475 and said fuck it, lets throw on 530, last time we got together I pulled 525 with a hitch and no prior squatting, so my confidence was in the crapper for this attempt. Surprisingly I pulled the fucker and got it with no hitching, Woo-Hoo a new PR for this godforsaken lift!!!

That about wrapped it up, I messed around with the 550 on DL and various stances to see how far I could crack it from the floor. I was so wiped that the furthest I got it was an inch or two off the floor. Total waste of time but good to know. 550 is my next mini goal on the DL, if I had performed this lift alone I am pretty sure I could get it....there's always next time.

And so, from salada tea and me, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

12/16 DE Bench

Speed Bench (Paused) 205x9x3
Floor Press (Paused) 275x4x4
Lat Pull Down 140x5x5
Oly Grip Upright Row 135x5x5

Short and Sweet, dont really rememebr what I was thinking as it was done a couple days ago.....

12/14 DE Squat

DE Box Squat 300x8x2
SLDL 295x3, 315x4x3

Short and sweet, will hit the accessories tomorrow....not much to say really....

12/13 ME Bench

Bench Press RAWWWW!!! 135x8, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 320x2, 345x2x2
CG 2 Board w/Chains 275,3, 295,2x3, 315x3
Seated Rows 170x4x8
Shrugs 315x4x8

Pretty good night, was undecided on what ME movement I wanted to do so I decided to see what all the fuss is about with the RAW lifting. Like I'm a real gear whore anyway. The old shoulder held up great through the regular bench, but the 2BD CGBP w/Chains kinda made it hurt a bit. I was quite happy with the 345x2x2 as my previous RAW gym max was 355 touch and go and more than likely ass off the bench. These were performed with strict form and felt really strong, am happy with the RAW strength on bench as its not really a primary focus. This is noentheless a PR, my RAW goal eventually is 405, should be able too get there within a year if all goes well. The good thing about doing all that shirt work with over 400lbs is the 345 felt light in the hands. But i'll tell you what, you sure as hell miss the pop in the bottom that you get from a shirt.

The rest was pretty ho-hum and nothing to write home to mom about, was pretty beat after the benching and could only muster the pathetic weights shown for 2BD. What can you do? They dont have a 2 Board Competition anyway now do they?

I havent done shrugs in ages an this morning I defnitely feel the old trap-a-roonies, 2 more weeks of this movement, I expect to crank the intesity up to work the old yoke. Oh yeah, seated rows, whoop-dee-doo-doo....Did em, done, good......

Well I stuck to the Squat aspect of the plan I laid out this cycle and feel I really pushed it in that aspect. The bench however still needs to be addressed, the shoulder is still flaky but usable, so it aint so bad. The good thing is I got plenty of time, the bad thing is, it will take alot of time. But in the end it's all worth it right?

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

12/11 ME Squat and a Story

SSB High BOx 115x10, 155x5, 245x5, 335x3, 385x2, 425x2, 445x1PR 425x2x1
Speed DL 275x3x3
KB Swing Thru Single Arm 53x6x6
Ab Wheel 4x10

Pretty good workout considering I think I just got rid of my twisted nut. Yep you heard that right folks, for the second time in my life I have fallen victim to this annoying malady. Not sure how it did this time but it aint no fun. With a Twisted nut you feel like someone is pinching your balls all day and all night, not hard, just slightly enough to cause discomfort. While riding in my bouncy Jeep to get my kid from school I "adjusted" myself and felt it go back, Phew!!! There is still some residual discomfort but nothing too bad, more of an annoyance.

To satisfy anyones curiosity out there, the first time I was stricken with this condition was when I was in the Air Force. Every Sunday night we had to clean the floors of our facility. This place had a long hallway then double doors at the end. A couple of buddies, I now use that term loosely, bet me that I couldnt ride a Chair w/Wheels down the hallway and get up enough speed to break through the double doors and clear the landing outside. Well, I did. And in the process the door knob hit me in the back and bruised my kidneys and some how or another I twisted a nut. This incident also led to my first experience of having a doctor shove a finger up my ass, but that is a whole other story. For my efforts I won a 12 pack of beer and ten bucks. Anyway, this is a powelifting blog right? On with the show....

SSB High Box were brutal as usual, the old right nut was kinda twingy and had my concentration in places other than the squat. But I pressed on and stood up with a PR of 445 for a single, lower than I wanted, but just what I got. To stay with the tradition of this methodology, I performed two more singles with 95% of the days max, that would be 425.

Next up on the plate was Speed DL's. These were performed with a complete reset whereby after each rep I would step back, re-approach the bar and pull another with as much force as possible. After three I would rest for 30 seconds and do it again. These felt good and fast and the form was spot on....good shit.

Well this week the KB's didnt hurt my shoulder as bad so I perform 6 sets of 6 and super setted it with the Ab Wheel. Last week I made fun of the Fred Flintstone like implement and will not do so this week. The Ab Wheel gods had a laugh at me last week by giving me a sore belly and an abnormal level of laughter...Ab Wheel equals good!!

Considering the tenderness of my nether region, I thought this workout went well. Twisted nut aside my body feels better, not sure if the skipping last two DE Squat days has caused this or not. But my lower back is not stiff at all and felt strong throughout. I will start back with the DE Squat and be more diligent in my workouts. This may be hard as on Dec 27th my daughter will arrive in this world and may have something to say about it....but I will try.....so unitl then.....you know the rest......

12/10 DE Bench

DE Bench 205x9x3
CG (Paused) Floor Press 275x2x3, 295x2x3,x275x3
Lat Pull Down 120x4x6
BB Olympic Grip Upright Row 115x4x6

Short, Sweet, and Unmotivated.....Gotta love lazy Sundays.......

12/06 ME Bench Shirted w/Rick

Raw Warm-Up 95x8. 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1
Shirted Bench (HPHD I think) 365x1, 405x1, 435xMiss 440x1PR, 455 Stapled!!!
CG 2BD w/Chains 225x3, 245x3, 275x3, 295x3x3

Tonight went better than expected. I wasnt in the best mood to lift, I was still sore from Mondays workout.

Well, it has been determined that the shirt I got is not in fact a RAGE X but is more than Likely an HPHD from Inzer, either way I dont really care as the results are well worth the $44 dollars spent. I actually like this material better than the rage material as it is easier to get on and adjusted, only takes around a minute, then minor tweaking before attempts. I may still get a RAGE X in the proper size to see what that bitch can do for me. Anyway, on with the hoot-nanny.

The 365 was grooveless and nothing to write home to ma about, the 405 was about the same, at that point I am sure Rick thought I was fibbing about the 425 last week. Then the 435 got out of groove and I couldnt lock it out, I got the right side done but couldnt get the left, which is unusual, normally it is just the opposite and my right side flakes out on me. Either way, I was quite confident as I called for 440, I knew I didnt utilize leg drive on the 435 and the set-up wasnt very good. I lowered the weight nice and slowly, stopped and slammed it home, easy peasy lemon squeezy!!! I swear if I could remember to do all the things right at once, every time, I could press a hell of alot more. After this victory i took a page out of Icarus' playbook and called for 455, this sucker stapled me, due to many things.

1. Concentration not 100%

2. Groove, What Groove?

3. Poor Set-up, dont think I was really ready

4. Who knows what else, fatigue? (I am up to 220 and conditioning aint what is used to be)

I fought the weight down and for some stupid reason didnt utilize leg drive, cuz I'm so friggin strong I can just Horse up 455, yeah right!! I really should have just stopped at the 440, live and learn I guess.

That was about it for the shirted bench, then we took the chains for a ride on the 2BD CGBP. The motivation was definitely down, after the shirt I felt pretty beat and would have rather taken a nap. But we pressed on and ripped out some pretty useful presses.

All in all I was quite happy with the workout and will finish up the assistance work tonight. This shirt has made benching fun again, and with the shoulder on the mend I am really enjoying this game again. Well folks, here's to getting strong!!!

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

12/04 ME Squat

SSB High Box (Parallel) 155x5, 205x5, 245x3, 335x2, 385x2, 405x2, 425x2
Deficit Pulls Against Mini's 255x3x3
KB Single Arm Swing Thru 53x5x5
Ab Wheel 4x10

Nothing too flashy tonight, gonna do some ME Gear work with Rick next Monday so i kinda pussed out tonight and took it fairly easy, had a headache anyway and am fighting off the flu or something. But still, this bar always gives me a tough time, it amazes me the difficulty of this thing, truly humbling. I figure to hit these for a full 3 week cycle after me and Rick get together, these should throw a couple more pounds on the old Squat and DL. I know so far they have definitely thickened out my back. Good Shit man!!

Ahhh....The Deficit Pulls against Mini's, these suck no matter how you slice it. Your at an awkward position, your beat from the other movement, bands beat the shit out of you anyway.....yadda yadda...I performed these with a complete reset and set-up between each rep, really focused on the set-up, then pulled as fast and as hard as i could. This was more of a DE/RE approach but i like it that way. I find i get worked harder when i do total resets on all my pulls rather than get in a groove and just buzz along. Different strokes right?

The KB single swings really had my right shoulder hurting, this was weird, because for the last 3 weeks i have been doing the Double Handed variety with no pain, will keep an eye on this and adjust accordingly.

And Last but not least, the most intense exercise ever developed, the fast track to overtraining, the gut buster extraordinaire......The Ab wheel for 4 crushing sets of 10!!!! Actually today my abs are quite sore from this seemingly pussified movement, so i really shouldnt bag on it all that much.

Thats it, nothing more, nothing less.......Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

12/03 RE Bench

Paused Bench 135x8, 185x5, 225x3, 275x4x4
CGBP (The Gamut) 225x5
Lat Pull Down 100x3x10
Upright Row 105x3x8

Took it fairly easy tonight and am trying to ease back into the whole bench pressing routine. I will start back up with the traditional Westside approach next week. Not that I have really strayed too far from the path. Decided to do some RE work on the bench with paused reps at 80% of my last RAW max.. A good thing is the shoulder didnt hurt afterward. The reps were all paused for around 2-3 seconds and pressed as fast as i could possibly do them. Nothing too strenuous, but defnitely felt as though I accomplished something.

Next up was a new idea I copped from Jim Wendler at Elitefts. I just took a bar weight of 225 and performed Close Grip Bench Press first to the chest, then to a 1 Board, 2 Board, 3 Board, and finally to a 4 Board. I took 30 seconds rest between the sets which turned out to be about enough time to set up the boards. Again, all sets were paused and I really concentrated on a full body contraction to lockout. I was quite winded by the time I got to the 4th board.

Finished out with some Lat Pulldowns and Upright rows. This was an extremely short workout as I got to it late in the night with all the football going on. Total workout time was 27 minutes including a quick warmup, I was flying needless to say.

Thats it from here, next up is ME Squat/DL, which i believe will involve High Box SSB, possibly with chains or bands....havent decided, gotta check the schedule.......

Skipped DE Squat For No Good Reason

Pussy!!!

11/30 ME Bench-New Shirt

Raw Warm-up 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1
Shirted Bench Rage X Size 50 365x1, 385x1, 405x1, 425x1
CG 4 BD BP (Paused) 365x4x3
EDT 12 Min Pr Zone
Pendalay Rows 215x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Rear Delts 45x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Needless to say I am happy with my latest purchase. The Rage X is a different material than the Rage and seems to have more in the bottom. Also, this is way easier to get on by myself, I attribute this to the material. Where the Rage is more of an abrasive material the Rage X is more pliable and smooth. ALso doesnt cut into me like the Rage, which is actually a size or two too big. For $45.00 you cant beat it, and its in great shape.

The shoulder held up pretty well, it was still a bit painful from squatting the other day, but as always, when I bench it doesnt really hurt, weird but i'll deal with it. It definitely wasnt as bad as in the past. The warm-ups felt nice and when I got to 315 it felt as if I could have gotten 3-4, but that was not what this night was about.

So i put on the RAGE X...

365 was rough as I had no idea where the groove was, I almost broke my wrists by the feel of it and this was more of a grind than it should have been. So in typical fashion I said fuck it, there aint no way I am gonna only get 365 with this sucker!!

Up to 385, again a grind, couldnt get the feel right, and just felt like a mess. Stop? Nah, lets see if we cant break something.....

Put on 405, now this shit flew up, everything fired right and the groove must have been hit, now if only I can rememebr it. This weight felt like 315 RAW, very powerful and controlled. I may have sharted a bit due to the surprise. So with new found confidence I threw on another 20 lbs...

Not so well, but I got it. With the 425 I had a hard time getting the weight down and the path probably looked like a "S-Curve" riddled road. I hit the bar low and had to fight the bastard to get back in line, then the shirt ended and I had to muscle this puppy up from an awkwad position. I ended up getting it after what seemed an eternity. Satisfied with this outing after not doing much in the way of Bench the last month or so, I called it a night with the shirt. Very happy indeed!!!

CG 4BD I took it fairly easy as the last set of shirted bench took alot out of me, and the wrap up EDT stuff was grueling as per usual. So thats about it from my neck of the woods. I actually cant wait to get in this sucker later on when I have a spotter (You Reading Rick?) to give lift offs and help get the shirt on better. I guess the RAGE X lives up to all the accolades, good shit indeed...

Now I must venture on to the net for this picture I've hearing of featuring Brittany Spears with no underwear....a mans dream come true....


Keep It Dark, Keep It Heavy!!!!

11/28 Me Squat/DL

High Box Squat w/Chains 275x5, 330x3, 385x2, 440x1, 495x1, 525x1, 560x1PR
Block Pulls (2 inches Below Knee) 475x2, 525x2, 555x2

Well i learned a few things tonight....

1. My new EliteFTS Retro PL'ing Belt is gonna be awesome for DL, but my Squat Belt will most definitely remain the Forever Lever Belt. I just couldnt get the Retro Belt tight enough to support me on the heavier weights. But for pulling it was great as it allowed me to get down better. And i dont mean get down like J.J Evans From Good Times......Dynomite!!!

2. I think my shoulder pain is actually being caused from Squatting. I am gonna read up on this and try to alleviate it with this approach. All this rehab crap and lack of heavy pressing hasnt caused a change. What remains? a heavy barbell accross my back with me trying to squeeze the hell out of it. I also simulated the movement of squeezing the Barbell and found this is the movement that causes it to hurt. I believe it may be a combination of a pull caused from lack of flexibility. Admittedly i dont have much flexibility in the shoulders. Time will tell, but from here until this sucker is gone i will press heavy in a shirt. This will benefit me twofold, one being that i will get accustomed to my new Size 50 Rage X i got off ebay, and 2, i will protect the shoulder a bit, oh yeah, and three ( i know i said twofold) my triceps will get hit in a more productive manner. Those Kickbacks i have been secretly performing arent cutting the mustard!!! JK

Anyway, onto the workout. i was all motivated at lunch and at work, and semi-motivated when i got down to the basement. But i almost missed horribly at 495 and called it quits. But then i thought about what the hell happened....Was i overtrainined? Dunno, was the weight too heavy? Nope.....i was just being a jive turkey and not concentrating. I put 525 on and smoked it like Panama red. Then on the last set i went for 560 and wished i had thrown on 10lbs more, at which point i have no more weight in my basement so i must buy some more 45's. I got the 560 with some piss poor form because i broke at my knees first rather than push back at the hips first. With better form 570 would have been owned. Regardless i got 560 with shit form and am quite happy.

From there i decided to pull from blocks where the bar is placed 2 inches below my kneecaps, i measured it with a micrometer to satisfy my curiosity. I pulled 475 for 2 easy ones, then jumped to 525 for another easy double. I ended on 555 for a double and was gonna do one more with 565 or 570 but pussed out and called it a night...tomorrow i will finish up with my accessory crap.

All in all it was a good night. I am digging the new attitude i have taken on. Rather than read and learn about how to get stronger like most keyboard quarterbacks. I said fuck it and started loading up the bar.

What better way to get stronger? Read some obscure text written by some strength coah 500 years ago for an athlete juiced to the gills..... nah,

Visit forums in hopes of finding the holy grail?....nope.....

Lift, Eat, Sleep, and repeat? ......Seems to be working so far...


Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy?

11/25 Shoulder/Pec Rehab

Illegal Wides 4x20
Mini-Band Flyes 4x20
Tricep Ext 4x10--------DB Rows 4x10 Front Delts 4x10 >--S/S w/30 Rests beteen exercises---really gay!!
Side Delt 4x10 /
Rear Delt 4x10---------/

This was a rehabilitory thingy for my shoulder and was extremely low in intensity but goddamn it got some blood into the upper back!!! Thats about all igot to say about that...Onto ME SQ/DL Recap...

11/21 ME Squat

High Box Squat (Parallel) w/Chains 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 315x2, 405x2, 455x2, 505x2, 525x1, 550x1PR
Wide Stance SSB GM's into chains 205x3, 225x3x3

Not too shabby for only having around 4 hrs sleep last night. My old lady is around 8 months pregnant and the snoring can be heard all the way to Mozambique!!! So after a few hours of trying to fall asleep i made my way downstairs to the couch to sleep, or should i say lay awake like a friggin insomniac!!! Oh well, such is life....

I worked my way up to 550 for a single, i contemplated doubling it but figured i would pass out on the way up as my air was depleted. This was quite a brutal workout for me even though it was only two movements. But i felt pretty good about it as the speed on the heavy sets was excellent. I really felt like everything was firing well and my body was super tight. I actually found the hardest part was walking the shit out as the chains kinda drag on the floor and cause a bit of a sway to the bar. Definitely will help with stabilization of the load with bar only.

The explosion off the box was better than it has been in the past, not sure if working with bands has help this or all the SSB work causing my midsection to be tense as hell, hence better energy transfer through the body to lockoutout. I will have to analyze what i have been doing. I know part of my progress has been bodyweight (am up to 218lbs), but another part is psychological. I have taken a "Shit-or-get-off-the-Pot" mentality and believe that it has helped alot. I have decided to use heavier weight (relative to my strength level) and say fuck the overtraining balancing act, if it happens, it happens. I honestly dont feel that with the poundages i am subjecting myself to that i can truthfully attain this condition. Though as my strength level increases i will have to keep an eye on it. Whoa that was a bit of a side track.......In Summation: This Squat Workout was a Keeper!!!

Again, i cant say enough about the SSB. This is one of the most versatile bars i can think of and it can be utilized in a number of ways. This friggin thing will thicken your midsection and just give you that feeling like your bulletproof when you press your gut against your belt in the hole. Best investment i have made thus far. GM's with this bar are a grind and you definitelly feel them all the way up your hamstrings, glutes, low back to your traps from trying to keep your head pushed back and not popping off!!! Enormous pressure builds up when you are past parallel and looking back through your legs, hence the lower rep range, but the benefits up to this point are worth the pressure induced headaches....In closing: Wide Stance SSB GM's 3x3, Grueling!!!


Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

Last Couple of Workouts.....

Last two workouts.......

11/18 DE Squat
Free Squat w/Avg Bands 225x8x2
Speed Deadlifts 275x4x3
EDT 10 Minute PR Zone
Leg Curls 65x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Hanging Leg Raise BWx5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5


11/19 DE Bench
Decline CGBP 185x12 225x4x8
Dips BWx3x12
EDT 10 Minute PR Zone
Upright Rows 85x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Lat Pull Downs 100x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Nothing fancy.....and nothing fancy to say......

11/15 ME Bench

CG 2 BD Press w/Chains 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x2x2, 275x2x5
Illegal Wides (Ultra-Mega Slow) 135x3x12
Mini Band Pushdowns and various Shoulder Crap Supersets
EDT 12 PR Zone Triples
BB Rows (Pendalay) 215x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Rear Delts 40x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Not as good as i anticitpated, went Close Grip on the 2 Bd to rest the shoulder a bit, though it still hurt. Each successive time the pain is less and less so thats a good thing. After the Board Presses i did a bunch of Mini Band Pushdowns and shoulder traction movements, didnt keep track of any of it, just went for like 15 minutes straight of various crap.

I also did some Illegal Wide Bench Press with a molasses tempo, slow as hell, these hurt quite bad but i think they will be worth it in the long run for recuperative purposes. I intertwined these with the traction crap.

Finished out the session with EDT and this was brutal after the Illegal Wides and traction crap, but my upper back was quite pumped and felt like it had accomplished something, definitely a good way to end the session.

I think my tentative plan is for the next 5 or 6 sessions of bench is to go with a more bodybuilding approach to heal this shoulder correctly and lay off any type of ME stuff, i just seem to keep aggravating this thing just when it starts to feel better. So for the next three weeks the only heavy sort of stuff will be in the shirt, and if there is any sort of twinge in the girdle, then i will end the session then and there. With any luck i will be 100% before the meets in the beginning of the year. So, if you would, keep your fingers crossed for me, and Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

11/13 ME Squat

High Box Squat w/Chains 135x5, 185x5, 275x3, 315x2, 365x2, 405x2, 455x2, 500x2, 525x2
Wide Stance SSB GM's (into Chains) 185x4x6

Kinda surprised myself tonight. Wasnt planning on getting that high on the Squats. I set the box so it was just around parallel, i took some pictures and all the angles led me to believe it was parallel, it sure as hell felt like it. I only did two movements because the squats took longer than i had anticipated working up to my top sets. I originally planned on hitting around 455 for doubles but that felt way too easy, so i just kept going. The hardest part was unracking the bar, i aint a tall fella and it i should have changed the pin settings oh well. The 500 set was gonna be the end set but after i smoked that weight i figured what the hell, go for it, and 525 fell. The weight felt light on the back, especially on the box (Chains Deloaded) and my speed was good on these, no grinds. Cant wait for the next shot at these, now that i know what i can do. Time now for the GM synopsis....

This variety of Good Mornings with the Safety Squat Bar kick ass, and i literally feel them in my ass, lower back and hamstrings. I performed these into chains that were set a few inches below my belly button which made them harder than i anticipated. But i got em for the reps i intended and called it a night. Tomorrow i will finish the EDT accessory work with KB Swingthroughs and hanging leg raises with a 20 minute incline treadmill walk...Thats it for now folks, take care and Eat at Joe's!!!

11/09 DE Squat/DL

Speed Squats w/Bands 225x9x2
DL Off Platforms (Just Below Knee Level) 405x2, 475x3, 525x3, 545x3

Well i threw a new twist into the mix tonight, the original call was for DE Box Squats with Average Bands, However, i decided to go Free Squat and work on form, depth, etc...This was a good move as it provided me with a chance to work the speed side of things without the box, which i suspect i need. The speed, form, and depth all were good. I really like working with bands as you are forced to generate a alot of force to outrun the bands before they try and topple you. Pain, but good pain. This pain is usually in the form of a wicked lower back pump caused from constantly stabilizing your core and keep from falling forward, and sometimes backward. Anyway, all in all it was fun and different, which nutures interest and motivation.

Onto the next one, Deadlifts from Platforms at 1 inch below knee caps. These new platforms rock!!! They place the bar at the worst possible position for me. Death by design? I'm not sure, i just thought up the idea one day and built the friggin things, a happy mistake i guess. These arent really unlike Rack Pulls but in this case i am able to get the bar lower than if i was in my Squat Rack. I probably should have kept the weight a bit lighter but what the hell, bring on the overtraining, i'll deal with it later....The last set was a bit of a bitch but i "pulled" (Har Har) it out of my ass.

Since i have been lifting in this fashion (pulling more and getting more reps w/90% weights) my upper body thickness has increased and my body weight is up to 218 lbs, getting yoke-i-fied by the day....I have also upped my protein intake since the bench meet and take in around 300 grams a day. I figured out my progress with my BF analyzer the other day. In the last month and a half i have put on 10 lbs, 4 lbs of which were fat. My arm measurement went up to 17.5 inches and my pant legs are pushing the limits of good taste, now i have to wear size 40 waist just to get my legs comfortable, ahh to be short and stubby...Thank god for christmas coming up....I need to overhaul my wardrobe a bit.

Well that is it for now, i must get back to work and help fix some airplanes, just doing my part to keep America flying......ciao!!!




BTW tonight i will finish up with the EDT portion and some light treadmill walking, like you care..........

11/08 ME Bench

2 BD Press w/Chains 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x4x2
4 BD Press 315x3, 365x3, 385x2x3
EDT 12 Min Pr Zone (Triples)
BB Row (Pendalay) 215x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Rear Delts 40x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Started out good but by the end of it my pec was killing me, i slapped on some icy hot and finished out, but i am seriously considering backing off this fucker for a good two weeks or so. The 2 Boards were all paused for around 2 seconds then pressed up with no jerking effort, same applied on the 4 Board press. Again no pain until after i let go of the bar and stand up, the only range of motion that seems affected is when i do an upright row sort of movement, not pressing. Kinda weird but what can you do. I will start doing some rehab movements in that plane and see where it takes me, i am sick of this shit and am too bull headed to back off. So i guess i gotta live with it or quit my pissin. Enough of that shit....

EDT was brutal as per usual, i like this pairing of movements as it hits the upper back area hard. by the end of it i am quite pumped and pained, so thats a good thing. I really dig doing the BB rows in this fashion as it totally eliminates any momentum, yeah the weights may be down but i feel it targets the area much better than the traditional bounce & row that you see everywhere....people say they can BB row 315 for 10 reps when in actuality they're doing 315 RDL's with a slight pull at the top...maybe i ought to wait to total elite before i start saying crap like that.....awwww who gives a shit.....Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

11/06 ME Squat- Deload

Squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x2, 405x1, 425x2
Rev Hyper 120x4x4
EDT 12 Min PR Zone (Triples)
SLDL 275x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4
AB Pull Down 115x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,4

Yet another ho-hum entry, but what do you expect for a deload week....have no fear fellow readers, next week should get exciting . So be sure to tune in.....

11/05 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/Chains 225x8x3
CGBP w/Chains 275x4x4
EDT 10 min PR Zone
Seated Face Pull 65x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
PF Front Raise 30x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

DE Day, whoop dee doo doo, as i am late posting this i really have nothing to say.....up next is Deload ME Squat...

11/03 SE DL

Deadlift 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x1, 405x1, 455x5x1
Pull Throughs 130x4x8
Leg Curls 60x2x15
One Legged Bounding in pool and swimming....

LAst workout at the vacation spot, could only work up to 455 as there was no chalk and i forgot my straps. Oh well, i really didnt want to make this into a ME workout. My lower back was good and fried by the end of this anyway, so all is well.

The Pull Throughs kinda sucked with a tight back but i pressed on, knowing full well i was gonna hit the hot tub in a bit to loosen everything up. After the leg curls i went to the olympic pool and did onel legged bounds up and down for a bunch of sets, then swam a couple laps for good measure. I was pretty wiped out when all was said and done, then i hit the hot tub and washed it all away.....good times, good times....Thats it for now, i think i am heading into a de-load week but am not quite sure, will have to rework the schedule a bit as i didnt take this vacation into account when i designed the original. No worries mate......

11/01 ME Bench-Not Really

Close Grip Bench Press 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 275x5x3
Smith Machine Pin Press 385x4x6
DB Tri Ext 50x3x8
BB Rows 205x4x6
Shrugs 255x3x12

As i am on vacation this week i am relegated to the crappy gym at the resort, i.e no rack, crappy bench, and nada on the spotters tip. But i trudged on and got a decent workout in, shoulder pain aside. The bench press was close grip, if i only had a spotter!!! I could have gone heavier but with no spotter, this was the rep scheme of the day, still good stuff though.

The Smith Machine Pin Presses were gay, i had to stack some mats under the bar to get the height just right, but it worked. I got the most god awful looks after doing this, kind of amusing to have all the gym ratz on their treadmills sweatin to the oldies looking at me like some sort of abomination, ugh....keep on walkin there Q-tip.....

I decided to be extra obnoxious to the soccers moms all in attendance, so i did the BB Rows penadalay style with a nice loud crash on the floor on each paused rep. Good stuff, the personal trainer dude came to look thru the glass to see what all the noise was, just me being a jive turkey.....woo-hoo

I ended on shrugs and through in super light rear and side delt crap between sets with high reps, didnt keep track of them, but got em in none the less. Well, that is all from Lincoln NH, so from the white mountains to you, if a bear poops in the woods, does it make a smell?

I am an idiot for this post.....