06/27/07 ME Bench - -2 Board PR

2 Board Press 185x5, 225x3, 255x2, 300x1, 350x3, 375x3, 410x1PR

4 Board Press 410x3x6

One Arm Row 110x3x8

Chain Reverse Curls to Overhead press 3x8

Pretty good night, hit a PR on the 2 Board Press despite not going really heavy on bench in ages (shoulder injury for you newbies). The shoulder was acting up as per usual, at this point it is more of anuisance than performance impairing. It mostly hurts when I unrack the weight and move it forward, then its fairly smooth sailing.

Originally I planned on only working up a 375 for a bunch of singles, but I ended up hitting a triple on that and decided to go for a small PR, Given the recent perfromance, I was unsure, but I got it anyway....Thats always good for confidence.

For the 4 Board Press I left the bar weight at 410 and decided to hit some reps. My shoulder was on fire by the end of these, but I felt they got a good workout with all thing considered. Look for this weight to go up in the future and the reps to drop a bit.

One arm rows were well, one arm rows.....

The chain Reverse curls to overhead press were interesting. I attached D-Handles to the chains and did these, man, these were friggin brutal.. Three times worse than doing them with Dumbbells, those friggin chains are all over the place...3 more weeks with these should be fun...

Well Thats It......wait a minute....

Question:

If one develops sauce crack while lifting alone, is it really sauce crack?

Apparently...

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

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APT Pro Wrist Straps - Dont Let Your Grip Rob You of A Lift
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06/25/07 ME Squat

High Box 205x5, 300x3, 350x2, 405x1, 450x1
Suit Bottoms 505x3, 525x3, 555x3
RDL's 225x3x8
GHR's 3x10
Obliques Pull Down 110x3x10

Was quite happy with tonight given my recent lower back muscle strain. My original plan was to only work up to 505 and do 3x3, but the first set felt way too easy so I kept bumping it up. The limiting factor on these was my breathing. With the tight belt its hard to take in air properly. Overall though, these sets felt very strong. In case any of you were wondering, my high box squats are set at parallel.

RDL's tightened the old back-a-rooni up, these were performed super fast, sort of a dimel deadlift.

I have devised a way to pefrom Glute Ham Raises. I take my bench with the leg curl extension and anchor my feet on it and use average bands choked to the top of my rack for assistance. The assistance gets varied depending on how close I place the bench into the rack or out of it. I will try and get a video up to give some of you an idea...definitely felt the hamstrings after this one.....

Again, pretty happy with tonights efforts. So until next time...Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

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APT Pro Wrist Straps - Dont Let Your Grip Rob You of A Lift
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06/18/2007 De-Load ME Squats/ Deadlift

SE Free Squats 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x3, 365x6,4,4,4
SE Deadlifts 405x6,4,4,4
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Whoa, for an Sub-Maximal Effort day I think, this gave me a hard time. MY GPP is in the crapper for sure, course I kept rest period to under a minute and cranked this work ou tin 31 minutes. My shirt was soaked as well as my scivvies with a fresh batch of swamp ass....Thats about it, Deloads Rule!!!
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
APT Pro Wrist Straps - Dont Let Your Grip Rob You of A Lift
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sepultura....Not as Intense as Liberace, But They'll Do....

Tell me this shit doesnt make you want to do some Max Effort Step Aerobics?





APT Pro Wrist Straps - Dont Let Your Grip Rob You of A Lift

Soulfly, Who'd you think it was? Lionel Richie...

Special Treats for the Peeps....



APT Pro Wrist Straps - Dont Let Your Grip Rob You of A Lift

06/13/07 ME Bench

Shoulder Press w/Chains 95x5, 115x3, 135x3, 145x3, 165x3
SE Bench Press 305x5x3
One Arm DB Row 100x3x8
Rear Delts....dont remember what

Forgot to post this the other day, so here it is....shoulders were brutal!!! Thank god next week is deload. Bench felt alright, still not even close to 100%, but I'll take it.....forgot to list it, but messed around with sandbag swings, throws, and other shite....thats it....

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy.....

APT Pro Wrist Straps - Dont Let Your Grip Rob You of A Lift

06/11/07 ME Squat - Ugh....

High Box Squats w/Chains 245x5, 285x3, 330x2, 385x1, 425x1, 475x2
GM's 155x3x10
Built and Played Around w/Sandbags

Squats did not go as planned, I strained something in my lower back on the right side. But on a good note, i didnt just keep going to further aggravate it!!! The 475 felt light, but on the second rep I tried to adjust myself in mid squat and got out of postion, thus the strain occurred. I was originally projecting 3x3 at 475, oh well.

In light of my Squat issue, I dropped the poundage on Wide Stance SSB GM's and went all the way down to facilitate a bit of stretch into the lower back. Good Stuff I tell you.

So, feeling a bit beat, I went up stairs and built a sandbag for throwing, cleaning, pressing, and whatever else I can imagine to do for GPP Conditioning. I built a 50 lbs sandbag and messed around with it before giving up due to severe back pain.

Here's to a Healthy Back!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

06/10/07 DE Bench - Shirt Blowouts

Speed Bench w/Monster Minis 165x9x3
HD Blast 315x2, 365x2, 365x1-Blew out on Chest
HPHD 365x2, 365xBlew Out On Chest
Rage 365x3x2
Lat Pull Down 120x10,10,8
Shrugs 345x3x10
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Almost forgot to type this one up. Long story short, Harold T Estes gave me two bench shirts he got off ebay, one was a size 50 HD Blast, the other was an HPHD size 50. I figured I would take this session to work lockout power via Shirt work.
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
The HD Blast stood up to the 315, though I heard some stitching give, just thought it was the logo tearing. The 365 wasnt too bad, kind of a grind at lockout, then on the second attempt at 365 the shirt blew out right down the middle....Cool!!!
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
The HPHD was up next, I figured this might stand up a bit better, Wrong!! Got one set of 365x2 in and on the next, all the stitching blew out and the shirt did a massive stretch out....
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Figured I would throw on the Rage and hit a few doubles for speed....My lockout strength aint what it used to be working around my pec injury, but they were productive nonetheless....
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
And who really gives a rats ass about the accessory crap....
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

06/07/07 DE Squat - I Quit

DE SSB Free Squat w/Avg Bands 250x8x2
Messed Around with overhead Box squats....

Man, I should have warmed up better. My lower back cramped up big time after the Safety Squat Bar Free Squat w/Average bands. After grinding out those I lost all motivation and abandoned the rest of the work out to try out something I read on Dan Johns site. Overhead Box Squats.

These things are brutal as all hell. My first set was atrocious but did get better with succeeding sets. I only ended on 135 for like 12 reps, but man, I felt like puking. My shoulders are not accustomed to bend back like they needed to. Anyway, they were fun to try, not sure if I will ever incorporate them full time, I am toying with the idea of putting a couple Dynamic effort sets after the main movement on DE Squat day, but we'll see. This appears to be a great overall movement.....anyway

Keep It Dark, Keep It Heavy

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

06/06/07 ME Shoulders/SE Bench

Overhead Press w/Chains 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 145x3, 155x3
Bench Press 225x3, 255x3, 275x3, 305x6
Barbell Bent Row 225x6, 275x2x6, 300x6
Rear Delts (Low Cable) 20x4x8

Chains Suck!!!

No time for Love Dr. Jones......

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

06/04/2007 ME Squat - A Couple PRs & A Side of Lasagna

High Box w/Chains 235x5, 285x3, 330x2, 385x1, 425x1, 455x1, 475x2PR, 500x1PR
Wide Stance GM's to Pins 245x4x6
Single Arm KB Swingthroughs & AB Raises

Holy Crap, that 500 was a grinder. My upper back rounded a bit but I still got it. Lost concentration in the hole and stalled at midway, thought about quitting but stuck it out (and almost passed out). Was Quite happy hitting this number after easily doubling the 475, I expected to the 500 to sail a bit faster but you cant always get what you want right?

Saftey Squat Bar Good Mornings kicked my ass. Period. I actually felt my abs after the squats and GM's. I have never had that happen before, guess they got worked. This morning my erectors are tight as hell but all in all I feel pretty good.

The KB Swings and AB Raises rounded it off. Nothing too flashy, just got the work done and scrammed, I had lasagna waiting for me, so who could really blame me for not keeping track......

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

06/03/2007 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/Monster Minis 155x9x3
3 Board Press 315x3, 345x3, 375x3, 345x3x5
Lat Pulldown 120x4x8
Shrugs 345x3x8

Pretty good workout, Monster Mini's were a nice change. I most definitely felt the difference between these and regular minis. Speed was good, with the added tension, I felt more comfortable, not so herky...

3 board Press was a relief. I worked up to a fairly heavy triple just to see if I had lost anything. Apparently I didnt lose much, but to err on the side of caution, I dropped the poundage and hit some reppage.

I supersetted the Pulldowns and Shrugs with between 45-60 seconds rest between. I was quite beat by the end needless to say...

Thats it for now, next up is ME Squat woo-hoo.....

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05/31/2007 DE Squat/DL

SSB Speed Free Squat w/Average Bands 255x8x2
Speed Pulls 330x9x1
Monster Mini Leg Curls and SSB Calf Raises

Holy shit, bands on a Safety Squat Bar are simply brutal!!! Needless to say I am in a fair amount of pain today. Not much else to say really....Thanks for stopping by....


No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/30/2007 ME Bench/Shoulder????

Overhead Press w/Chains95x5, 105x5, 135x5, 145x3, 155x1
Bench Press 135x5, 225x3, 260x3, 275x3, 300x6
Barbell Bent Row 225x6, 255x6, 275x6, 300x6
Low Cable Rear Delts 20x4x6

Holy Crap, my shoulders are killing me today, as a matter of fact my whole upper body is toast!! this is the first week in a new approach to sort of train around my left Pec Strain/Tear or whatever the hell that thing was....and I can sum it up in one word....Painful!!!

The Overhead Presses with chains proved hard, this isnt your garden variety chain work as the chains are off the ground the whole time and swingin-n-swayin...all the little muscles for stabilizing got owned on this movement. My top set will go up next week as I now know the movement, and wont waste as much energy getting there.

The Bench Press felt pretty good, no twinging in the titty. I am guessing it was a minor tear, but I still stopped short. Actually felt like working up but checked the ego and moved on...this was a good sign. I probably had a couple more in me but didnt want a break down in form to cause another booby-tear.....

Barbell Bents rows were done differently than normal, I did them in the pendalay fashion, but used a bit more body english than in the past, this definitely caused an overload effect for me on this. I used straps on the top set as my grip was wearing thin. (I have been doing grip exercises in spare time to compensate for my DL miss a couple weeks ago)

Low Cable Rear Delts was a new movement, I discovered I could probably do it after determining dumbbells are just too boring...Could definitely feel remnants of my right shoulder problems on this one....will keep an eye on this pain and manage it accordingly.

Well, thats it from here. Guess we'll see where this approach takes me, hopefully to a shoulder-pain-free life of extravagance!!!



Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!


No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/28/07 ME Squat

High Box Squat w/Chains 135x3, 235x5, 285x3, 330x2, 380x1, 425x3, 455x2
Wide Stance SSB GM's to Pins 245x4x6
KB Swingthroughs and Hanging Leg Raises

Not a bad night with all things considering. I spent the weekend up on Maine, and the bed I slept on screwed with my back a bit. Coupled with 6 hours of travelling I was quite happy with tonights results.

The Squats were fast and had my lower back not been stiff from the aforementioned events, I would have gone higher. Taking note from last weeks titty tear I stopped at 455, Cant wait to see what I have in me in 3 weeks, should be fun!!!

Wide Stance Good Mornings to pins were absolutely brutal, My whole back was in pain after these, I dropped the pins to # 12 which gave me a bigger range of motion than previous cycles. I kinda felt pukey afterward but nothing came up.....

KB Swingthroughs and Ab Raises were supersetted, I did not keep track of sets and reps, I figure it was around 5 set of 6-8.....my head wasnt in it at this point, I had food on the mind.....

Thats all, next up is ME Bench, figure to insert overhead ME work and do some repetition type stuff for chest and see how the tear is.....stay tuned.

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/23/07 SE Bench - Partial Tear?

Well, i did something to my left pec on SE Day. I finished my warm ups and went to the work sets, I planned on hitting 320 for 4x4 or 3x5. The first rep at 320 went nicely, and on the second rep something in my left pec twinged and I lost all power at midrange, I grinded out the weight to lockout somehow.

I figured I would give it a 2 minute break as nothing hurt, there was no pain at all. Well, just cuz there werent pain doesnt mean somehting aint wrong!!! i unracked the 320 and about mid way down the twinge was back, I should have just dumped the weight but I didnt, I still performed the lift but stopped after that to avoid any further damage.

This pain is weird as it is in the middle of the muscle, not near the insertions. Like a mid muscle tear or something. I believe I may be in a state of overtraining which I anticipated going into this cycle, too many variants of Deadlifting in there but I wanted to see if my body could handle it, well it didnt....

So, I will revamp this cycle and most likely do all overhead pressing for ME Bench day and use Repetition work to hit the bench and hopefully repair whatever it is thats wrong with my titty....


Keep yer fingers crossed......

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/21/2007 ME Squat Deload

SLDL 385x3x3
10 Minute EDT
Ab Pull Down 110x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
SSB Calf RAise 265x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Deload week, nothing fancy....was kind of refreshing not to have to do any squatting.....

Now Thats A Deload......

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/17/2007 DE Squat - Squat Critique Night

DE Box Squat 315x8x2
DE DL 315x9x1, 405x1, 505x1
Ab Pulldowns
Pull Throughs

This workout was done at a commercial gym called Planet Fitness here in Manchester. I had a couple guys from work that needed some pointers on how to do squats. All is what I can say is that I am glad I have my own gym, this place was a friggin social club for chrissakes.

And, sure as shit when we first walked up to the squat racks what do you think I saw? The oldest cliche in the book, to jamokes doing curls for the girls. You know, cus pickin the bar up off the floor to do curls just aint cool!!! Unbelievable I tell you....Then the little looks for actually doing a box squat, holy crap....got peeps from the other side of the room like I had a turd hanging out of my pocket. Enough of that rant....

315 went smooth and fast, it was a bit weird as the bar had no knurling in the middle of it and the bar whipped like hell with only 315, imagine if it was heavy day? Regardless, after giving some pointers and correcting some technical flaws in form for these guys, I figured I would check their Deadlift form.

Again, a few minor tweaks and they'll be fine. Due to lack of knurling again, I got a decent impromptu grip workout. I worked up to 505 to see what the bar would do, this sucker bent pretty good, if it could hold its straightness and have proper knurling this bar might make a good Deadlift bar. Frig that, I'll stick to my Texas Power Bar!!!

The Ab pull downs I did like as the pulley system is better than the one I have at home and the angle felt a bit better, but it aint worth joining a gym over I can tell you that much. Plu,s couple all of this with the fact if you grunt, clang weights, or make any noise even resembling a struggle you will literally sound off an alarm and be asked to quiet down. What the fuck is this place? Hell?

Anyway, this just reinforces that I did the right thing by turning my basement into a gym. This place is a joke, they cater to the person who wants to socialize and sit on a excercise bike while doing so....my rating....Two steaming Turds and a splash of the Green Apple Splatter.

Keep it Dark, Keep it in the Basement!!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/16/2007 ME Bench

Floor Press w/Mini's 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245x1, 280x3, 290x2, 300x1, 280x3, 290x2, 300x1
#8 Pin Press 315x5,5,3
12 Min EDT PR Zone
Pull Ups BWx3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Straight Arm Pull Down 70x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Tonight went pretty good, the pin press actually surprised me on the first two sets. The third I simply got gassed and the triceps quit on me....Next week will be a deload for Bench, I thin I will be gonig RAW in the 80% range I.A.W Prilipens.....Not much else to say, will actually be attempting to do DE Squat tonight at Planet Fitness, got a couple dude I'm gonna show how to squat correctly...should be fun....

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy.......

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/14/07 ME Squat

SSB Low Box Squat 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 360x1, 405x1, 460x1PR, 475x1PR
SLDL 365x4x4
EDT 10 Min PR ZOne 1
AB Pulldowns 100x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Calf Raises 245x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Well I am quite happy with tonight, I set a goal and hit it. Good Stuff. I had it set in my mind that 475 would fall on the Safety Squat Bar Low Box Squat. My previous best was 455.

Now, working up the 460 went nicely,better than expected, so the confidence went up. However, upon unracking the 475, I hit the rack and had to calm the bar down a bit before starting. So as I was standing there the negative thoughts came to town, bull headed as I am I continued.

Off the box I was fast and hit the top portion of the lift and my back rounded over, I felt a black out coming on so I forced the sucker up and somehow racked it (dont really remember this part). Surprisingly the top part turned out to be the grinder of the lift, its usually right out of the hole for me, so I guess thats good. Now I got to hit the upper back more, good to know!!

Straight Leg Deadlifts were brutal and a foray from the routine. I originally had 5x4 planned, but much like last week was too wiped to do them all, so 4x4 made a visit.

My abs were burning by the end of EDT. I think next time I do this cycle I will have to plan the KB Front Swinging accordingly, I did these the day before ME Squat/DL Day. These require the AB's to fire and stabilize the torso which essentially pre-exhausts my core. I either have to move this movement or have a day of rest between. And now that I think about it, this could have contributed to the Rounding on the SSB....Hmmm....Very interesting.....enough banter

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy.......

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/10/07 DE Squat

Free Squat w/Chains 275x8x2
Deadlift 405x3, 475x3, 525x2, 560xMiss (lost grip at lockout)
Giant Set
Pull Throughs 120x3x8
AB Wheel 3x10
SSB Calf Raise 315x3x8

Speed on the Squats was nice, had me huffing and puffing by the end, those 30 second rests dont last long enough. I need to figure out a way to change the space time continuum to my liking.

Deadlifts could have gone better, I shouldnt have doubled as high as I did as it weakened my grip and caused the miss, coupled with a weak chaling. I blew the 560 up to lockout but as I was rolling the shoulders back the bar started going south, so I aborted. Still, am happy with it as my training kind of took a dump there a few weeks ago...onto bigger and better things now.

Giant set had me feeling sick, again, 30 second rests killed me....

Thats about it from La-La Land.......L8R...

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/09/07 ME Bench....Wavy Gravy.......

Floor Press w/Minis 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 255x2, 275x3, 285x2, 295x1, 275x3, 285x2, 295x1
#8 Pin Press 315x3x3
12 Min EDT
Palms Facing Pull Ups x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Straight Arm Pulldowns 70x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Went with a different approach tonight, decided to Wave Load ala Ian King. I went with a 3,2,1,3,2,1 pattern. This proved to be quite brutal and the last half of the wave was full of grinders. And i aint talking the delicious variety found at your local sub shop.
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Not sure if I doubled the minis with more tension this week or the low carb-ing is getting to me....but this shit felt heavy!!! As previously stated the second half of the wave was brutal. The first part was strong, I figured out the volume difference from last week to this week and I did around 900lbs more, so i dont think it was that, but who knows. My CNS hasnt exactly been wired to work this way over the last year or so. Will see if it improves next week.

Pin presses proved equally as hard as the triceps were burned from the Band tension of the previous movement. I thought I was stapled on the first rep, then cleared my head and finished up. My triceps were huge, too bad there werent any Betties around to admire them. Maybe i should install mirrors for vanity's sake?


EDT Hurt. Period.

That was about it, all this was accomplished in around 45 minutes, including set-up and tear down. This has been a concern for me the last couple workouts. Life has been trying its damnest to throw monkey wrenches at me and discourage my training. I am sure this has contributed to my thoughts of "Heaviness" and "Sluggishness". Oh well, thats what its all about right? See how much you can take and still progress?

Keep it Dark, Eat Yer Gravy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/08/07 ME Squat/DL

SSB Low Box 155x5, 205x3, 245x3, 295x2, 335x1, 385x1, 405x3x3
SLDL 365x3x5

Had to cut it short, my old lady got called into work and the babysitter could only stay for 45 minutes. I squeezed this out in around 35 minutes, almost puked, and laid down on the ground to recuperate for the last 5 minutes.

The 405 felt the same on all sets, heavy as shit. I think this is due in part to my Low-Carbing thru the week and whooping it up on the weekend. I felt tired and all that, but I promised myself I would hit 405 for 3 sets of 3. The first two on all sets flew, but the last ones were grinders, the very last set I dont remember racking the weight and got visited by the fireflies...you know, those little blue sparkly lights you see tight before you pass out?

The SLDL's were no different, slow as molasses and puke inducing, almost...I was originally slated for 4 sets of 5, but with this weight I fell short and modified it by cutting off one set....no big whoop as I know I got a good workout in. My lower back and hamstrings were screaming by the end of these....

I will squeeze in my accessory work tonight......Enjoy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/06/07 DE Bench

Bench w/Chains 195x9x3
Dips
Seated Face Pull
KB Front Swings

Wasnt all that motivated, cranked this sucker out in 35 minutes and lost a couple pounds of sweat....Thats it.

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/03/07

DE Free Squat w/Chains 255x8x2
DL Block Pulls 475x3x3
Giant Set
Pull Through 105x5,5,5,5,5
AB Wheel x5,5,5,5,5
SSB Calf Raises 315x5,5,5,5,5

Was quite happy to discover I had Free Squats w/chains. Prior to finding this out I didnt have much motivation to get down to the basement.

All sets were fast with a deep concentration of pushing out the knees in the hole. This helped with some great explosion out of the bottom. Next week I will go 255 for the first 4 sets, then 275 for the last 4 and check the speed. If all is good, the third week will see speed work with 275.....see the pattern, so pretty.

The Block Pulls (Think Rack Pull from Mid shin) went well. I focused on really snapping the weight up to lockout. I would be sure to take out all the tension then in one concerted move, pop to lockout. Felt very effective, especially this portion of my lift is weak. Productive.

Giant set was a pain in my arse, all movements performed back to back to back....a sweaty mess and a batch of Ball Soup. Now I just need some oyster crackers.....

Apparently there is a bench meet in a couple of weeks, I missed this one so will most likely attend to view and help out. With my added mass to my upper body I am not sure how my shirt fits and where the groove may be. But on a good note, my previously "Too big for me Rage" may fit just right. Unfortunately, being so close I dont think I would be properly prepared, and forking over $50.00 for a crappy bench meet doesnt seem to make sense right now......anyway, will keep you all posted.

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

05/02/07 ME Bench

Floor Press w/Mini's 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 245x3, 275x3x3
Close Grip #8 Pin Press 315x3x3, 225x1x10
12 Min EDT (Triples)
Palms Facing Pull-Ups BWx3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3
Straight Arm Pulldown 60x3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Tonights Floor Pressing was brought to you by Preparation H, Feel the Burn!!!

Well, apparently all this extra pulling has paid off in the mass department. My Floor Presses are now to the chest where as they use to be around an inch above it. Or maybe my arms just got shorter!!! Anyway, my shoulder has flared up again, but I pressed on...Get it? 275 for 3x3 had my triceps screaming, I will look to up the poundage and keep the reps next week....

Close Grip #8 Pin press is around the 2 or 3 board region, these were brutal. I paused the weight on the pins for around 3 seconds per rep to make sure there was no stretch reflex utilization. Simply painful!!!

EDT kicked me arse as the GPP is in the dumper for now, I will look to improve that over the coming weeks.

All around I was happy with this workout, I felt I worked hard all things considered. Next up is DE Squat/DL....L8r

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

04/30/07 ME Squat

SSB Low Box 155x5, 205x5, 245x3, 295x3, 335x3, 385x1, 405x3x2
SLDL 315x4x6
10 Minute EDT
AB Pulldown 100x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5
Calf Raises 245x5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5,5

Not too bad of a work out, felt good to train with a bit of a purpose. But man, my GPP is in the crapper!!!

Worked up to some fairly easy doubles on the low box with the safety squat bar. Last time I performed 405 doubles I only got 2 sets of 2 in the 2nd week of them. So I guess I am ahead of the curve. I forgot how hard this bar is on you, today my upper back is sore as hell.

Stiff Leg Deadlifts absolutely killed my hamstrings. They are tight as hell today, which is good right? Next week I will up the weight and lower the volume. This will continue over the next 3 weeks until I am performing triples for this movement....

EDT was what it was, I was totally gassed by this time so these weights actually killed me, it felt like my lungs were gonna explode, thank god they didnt, I find them important to the breathing process!!!

Thats it from....Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy........

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

04/26/07 Bench Stuff...

Bench Press 135x5, 205x5, 245x3, 285x2, 315x1, 350x1, 375x1
Bench Press Negatives 405x1, 425x1
Chain Extensions 3x12
Pull ups3x8
Chain Clean & Press 3x10

Pretty good workout considering it has been so long, shoulder pain seems to be gone. Guess the 2 week layoff must have provided more benefit than I thought.

375 was a grind due to poor set-up, lack of focus, and timidity caused from the long layoff, pussy!!! This may have been a RAW PR but am not sure, dont really give a crap either, just want to get on with the next training cycle.....

Negatives? wtf was I thinking? I believe subconciously I was trying to re-injure myself. Though I justified it in my mind by saying if taking the weight to chest doesnt rip my shoulder off, Which it didnt, then all would be well in my universe...

The rest was made up as it went and is true to the best of my knowledge, my GPP is in the crapper due to 2 weeks of boozing, travelling, and no sleeping. The time has come to refocus, and get my ass in gear. Like a kid on christmas morning, I cant wait......

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

Welcome Back Kotter....

Free Squat RAW 135x5, 185x5, 205x5, 245x3, 285x2, 325x1, 365x1, 405x3, 455x3
Deadlift 425x10x1
Grip Work....

This week is more of a prep for the forthcoming 8 Week cycle....just wanted to get in there after 2 weeks off, man I felt like a weak ass......Oh well, at least I'm back right? Up next, SE Bench....

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!


No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

04/11/2007 ME Bench - Out of Comission

Bench Press w/Chains 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245x1, 275x1, 325x1, 295x4x2
Giant Set
Dips---------------\
DB CSR-------------->7 sets of 6 w/30 sec's rest between giant sets.
KB Front Swings----/
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Not much to write home about, Strep Throat has kicked my ass!!! Still not too bad considering....
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Off to Switzerland next week so I guess its a forced deload, I really probably need it after Strep and not really backing off from it, funny how the universe has a way of forcing its hand on you.....oh well, until I return....

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

04/09/07 ME Squat - New Power Bar!!!

Low Box Squat w/Chains 135x5, 225x5, 275x3, 315x2, 365x1, 405x1, 455x1, 475x1, 500x1PR
2" Deficit Deadlifts 405x15x1 (30 Seconds Rest)
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
First night using the Texas Power Bar, and all I can say is what a friggin difference between that and my trusty old Sports Authority Special!!! I cant really complain, that bar served me well for my journey to this point, and for a hundred buck how could I really complain.
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Anyway, it seems somehting is going around. My son has Strep Throat and I fear I may be coming down with it as well. My throat is sore, I got a cough, and a headache that comes and goes. No swollen Glands as of yet. Fingers crossed.
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
That being said, I was not gonna let that come between me and my first work out with this bar. It is amazing how much easier the squats were with a bar that is not bent and trying like hell to roll off your back!!! Pulling seemed easier too....
powerlifting poowerlifting powerlifting
455 and 475 blew up on the box squat, the 500 went but she was a bit ugly, I pretty much Good Morning'ed the sucker on the top half, got it to rack so it counts right? I was quite happy with this feat given the current sickness...onto deficit pulls....
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I did these off 2 mats which added to the already smaller diameter plates I have made it around a 2" deficit. I performed these in the following fashion: 1 pull followed by 30 seconds rest, repeat 14 more times....quite brutal to be honest.
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
After the Deadlifts is when I fully realized I must be coming down with something, so I stopped there and went upstairs for some Meat covered pizza and King of Queens.....The End







No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

He's Going the Distance....He's Going for Speed...

04/06/2007 DE Squat Workout

Plyo Jumps Up Stairs 12x2
Dbl Average Band Good Mornings 4x12
Leg Raises and Calf Raises...
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting

04/07/2007 DE Bench

2 BD Speed Bench 225x3, 235x3, 245x3
Floor Press Pin Press 285x4x5
Super-Setted, 30 sec rest
Pull Ups BWx4x8
Chain Clean & Press Chainsx4x10

Pretty much the same as last week.....Next up is ME Squat with my Brand New Texas Power Bar!!!! Cant wait!!!
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting

Thats it for now, until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

04/04/07 ME Bench

Bench w/Chains 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x1, 295x1, 320x1, 290x3x3
RAW Bench Downset 320x5
Dips 6x6
CSR 50x3x12
KB Front Swings 33x3x12

Had a pretty darned good night on the bench. I was actually more surprised with the downset I performed after my Max Effort crap. I have never done this many reps with 320, never really tried I guess. But I also believe I never would have been able to. So needless to say I was happy.

320 on the Bench with Chains was alright, probably could have gotten more but I wanted to hit some volume with 90+%, so I did. In Hindsight I should have added more weight, but thats what next week is for right?

Anyway, the downset was a last second decision as I wanted to see how it would feel in the hands after the heavy shit, the first one flew and I firmly believe had I only performed regular bench tonight, I could have gotten between 8-10 on this weight. I left a couple in the tank on this as I was pretty shocked and didnt want to push it. Given my crappy shoulder I am very happy with tonights performance.

The dips opened my eyes to one thing.....My fucking shoulder is porked!!! I am gonna leave these in for the next few weeks as I feel they will benefit. The first rep about had me in tears, that sucker hurt!!! So in normal stubborn fashion I decided to hammer the snot out of it as best I could. This was a bit depressing as in the past I usually perform weighted dips and warm up with body weight dips. Perhaps I have discovered the source of my shoulder pain.....cross your fingers folks, time will tell!!!

Thats about it, until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!




No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

04/02/07 ME Squat

Low Box Squat w/Chains 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x3, 365x1, 405x1, 435x1, 455x1, 480x1PR
Romanian Deadlifts 315x3x8
One Big Super-Set
Leg Curls, Ab Pulldowns, SSB Calf Raises
Powerlifting Powerlifting Powerlifting Powerlifting Powerlifting Powerlifting
It sure didnt feel like I was gonna do much on this night, I had a wicked headache from my daughters incessant crying, couldnt figure out what was wrong with her, gas or something. So anyway, she calms down right before I go down to lift but not before she has caused a massive thumping in my head...This was strike one.

Strike two came around 275 on the Low Box w/Chains, this sucker felt heavy and I thought I was in for a long night, so what do I do? Fuck it, I have to do this tonight, cant lift tomorrow.....so I press on....

Finally around 405 things seemed to lighten up a bit, I still wasnt sure how high I was gonna go, I havent done low box squats in ages and my record board shows 430 straight weight as the last PR. Well, 435 got smoked, wasnt even funny, so onto 455.....

Again, 455 flew up, at this point I am very surprised, starting out I didnt expect to crack 405 the way I was feeling...woo-hoo...onto 480, This one flew up, I have total confidence that had I done a normal warm-up and approach 500 would have been attainable, I stopped here. The original goal was to get a ball park of where I was so I will have something to base next weeks percentages off of, I guess I got that.

Romanian Deadlifts were a last second add, I knew I didnt want to do any full range pulling, then went through the Rolodex of money movements in my head and remembered RDL's. I just loaded the bar to 315 and figured go to work, nothing too fancy, but if my memory serves me correct this is much more than I have ever done on this movement, I'll take it. I think next week I will up the poundage and drop the reps....who knows....

The accessory work was uneventful and there wasnt much to write about it, got it done and called it a day....

This week was supposed to be a De-load week, but my trip to switzerland got pushed back two weeks, so I will push the bounds of overtraining and go hard for the next two weeks. As there arent any gym facilities near where I will be staying, I will be relegated to whatever bodyweight exercises I can think up while sitting in my room....Thats it from the Land of Oz.......

Have you said Hi to your neighbors lately?

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

Last Two Speed Workouts.....

03/30/2007 DE Squat Workout

Plyo Jumps Up Stairs 12x2
Dbl Average Band Good Mornings 4x12
Leg Raises and Calf Raises...
powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting powerlifting
Couldn't get downstairs due to kid duty, so I made up a DE routine whereby I perform plyo jumps (Box Jumps) up my hall way stairs. I performed these in the same fashion as I would DE Squats, and let me tell you. These suckers had me in some serious pain the next couple of days. Who would have seen that coming? I may just leave some jump work in the next couple of weeks to supplement my DE Squatting, very interesting.

04/01/2007 DE Bench

2 BD Speed Bench 225x9x3
Floor Press Pin Press 285x3x5
Super-Setted, 30 sec rest
Pull Ups BWx4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4
Chain Clean & Press Chainsx4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4,4

Well my strength endurance was better today as I managed 3 sets of 5 on the Floor Press Pin Press, so I am happy with that, considering I killed an 18 pack on saturday I was very happy with this.

Also notable, the 2 Board speed today was phenomenal, I was gonna work up to a PR but had other crap to do, and I didnt want to neglect the Accessory work. I dropped the Reps per set to focus on explosiveness but beat my previous workouts in volume, seemed to work pretty well with 30 second rests between super-sets....

Thats it for now, until next time, Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/28/07 ME Bench

Bench Press w/Minis 135x5, 185x3, 225x2, 245x1, 275x4x3
CG 3 BD Press w/Minis (Long-Pause) 275x4x5
Super-Set
Chest Supported DB Rows 50x12,10,8
KB Front Swing 33x12,10,8
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Wanted to go heavier but had to lift late at night due to old ladies schedule. Guess I was a little too tired, so I just threw in an extra set on the Bench Press to beat last weeks numbers.

I was simply too lazy to remove the bands and did Close Grip 3 Board Presses with a long pause. These hurt and surprisingly my good shoulder gave out before my bad shoulder, go figure...

To finish out the evening I went with the CSR and KB Super set, this killed me...thats about it for this night. I really need to pick a meet and train, so I guess thats my new goal....

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

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/26/07 ME Squat

SSB High Box Squat w/Chains 155x5, 205x5, 245x3, 295x2, 335x1, 385x3x3
Conventional Deadlift (Deficit?) 455x3, 475x3, 505x3
Leg Curls, Ab Pulldowns, SSB Calf Raises

Well I am one glad puppy, this cycle of Safety Squat Bar High Box Squats w/Chains is over!!! Next cycle will see Low Box Squat w/Chains, or maybe bands, havent decided. Next week will most likely be a De-Load week as I must go to Switzerland for work. Perfect Timing.....

I probably could have gotten more out on the box squats, contemplated going 4x4, but at the last second I decided I was going to pull some, so 3x3 remained. As previously stated, when doing any kind of rep-work for squats I am now using my elitefts belt, this one allows me to breath better after the first rep...So anyway, the 385 felt pretty good, and did I mention it was fast?

Onto the Deadlifts,or should I say deficit pulls...Last time Harold came over for heavy squats he brought a couple of his 45lb plates. Well needless to say we discovered that my plates are in fact 1 3/4 smaller in diameter, resulting in me basically pulling from deficits every time I pull...imagine that? Mine measure 16 inches, and from a little internet research we found comeptition plates to be 17.5 inches. Guess this should help at meet time huh?

Anyway, these deads killed me as my lower back and legs were beat from the squatting. 455 was slow as I didtn do any sort of warm-ups (Felt I was plenty warm-up from the Squats), 475 was much faster, and easier. The 505 moved much better than I figured it would. I was pretty wiped by this point and figure I would get 2 at most, but not this night....the last one was a grind, no hitching, just slow as all hell....

I really wanted to quit after the Deadlifts, but didnt want to neglect my accessory work, so I sludged my way through some Leg Curls, Alternating Ab Pulldowns to hit the obliques, and some Calf raises to try and add some size to my tiny ass calves....I was almost physically sick after this workout for some reason, it took me a good hour to recover fully....

Well that is it from my world, until next time....Where's the Beef?

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/26/07 DE Squat & Bench Days....

03/23/07 DE Squat
Free Squat w/Average Bands 250x8x2
DBL Average Band GM's 2x12
Mini Band Hip Movements, dont remember sets/reps

To be honest, this workout kicked my ass, I had a hard time sitting down for two days after this...

03/25/07 SE Bench
Bench Press 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x4, 285x4, 295x4, 305x4
Floor Press to Pins 285x5,4,4
Pull Ups 4x8
Chain Clean & Press 3x11

Shoulder felt pretty good today, thats about it......

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/21/07 ME Bench

Bench Press w/Mini's 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 245x3, 275x3x3
3 Board Press 365x4x3
Chest Supported DB Rows 40x3x12
KB Front Swings 33x3x10

Bench Press w/Mini's, ugh....I beat the reps per set, and overall volume from last time so I guess I cant complain. Just messes with your head when you se a bar weight of 275 and it feels heavy. Anyway, the shoulder felt pretty good, I guess since its not hurting every time out now something must be working. Anyway, the weight at the top felt about the same as 365 so I am guessing that is the tension up there, at the bottom its probably around 320-330, I just know the weight leaves the chest pretty quick but the brakes get clamped down at the top. After the first set my triceps are pumped to the gills, so you better have your tickets!!! The gun show has come to town!!! (I am an Idiot)

3 Board Presses are grueling after the first movement where the triceps get a beat-down, but I figure its gonna develop some good lockout strength for sure. 365 is arond 85% of my last known 1RM so I would venture a guess and say my 3 board max has gone up, maybe next cycle I will throw them in to test the waters. But who really cares as long as my RAW and shirted bench go up right?

Chest supported rows will get weight added, I was simply being too lazy to add weight and decided to hit some reps. Man, my endurance sucks!!! Then the KB swings reminded me of my injury as my left shoulder was burnin with pain by the end of them. So what did I do? Hammer the snot out if more, this sucker is either gonna break or get better. Symptoms sound like that of a torn labrum in which case there aint a damn thing I could do anyway but get surgery, and I hate doctors!!!

Thats it from tinsel town, (yeah tinsel, like the kind that hangs out of your dogs butt at xmas time) What is wrong with me?

Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/19/07 ME Squat

SSB High Box Squats w/Chains 155x5, 205x5, 245x3, 305x3, 335x3, 385x4x2
Block Pulls(2" below knee caps) 315x1, 405x1, 505x3x3, 455x3
Ab Pulldown 110x3x10
Mini Band Leg Curl 3x20
SSB Calf Raises 205x3x12

Whoa, this shit is brutal. Safety Squat Bar w/Chains is a nut-buster. I didnt beat the prior top set poundage but beat my previous attempt in volume by around 1000lbs. So my lower back was good and pumped going into block pulls.

The first two sets were done with my lever belt on, which I discovered keeps me from breathing when doing any sort of rep work. So I swapped to my Elite belt and had no problems with near black-out situations there-after. Again, the weight at the top is arond 455 and at the bottom around 425 if I had to guess....

Block Pulls are essentially rack pulls off of some blocks I made that put the bar a bit lower than my rack will accomodate, also saves the pins. These were hard as hell after the Squats, my lower back was fried,and guess what? This movement is pretty much all lower back....ugh, well to coin a phrase from my 5 year old son, "you'll get what you get and you wont get upset".

The rest was a big yawn, I was too wiped to care and almost threw in the towel after Deads.....Next up on the plate, ME Bench....so until next time.....


Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy!!!



No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/17/07 DE Bench

2 Board DE Bench 205x3, 215x3, 225x3
Pin Press (Lying on Floor) 275x5, 285x4, 295x4
Pull Ups 3x8
Clean & Press (D-Handles w/Chains) 3x10

Well, I cant be sure but I would have to say my shoulder does not like DE day. It hurt pretty bad today after the first couple sets. Will have to think about what to do with this, I have pretty good speed and wonder if I may benefit from leaving DE out for awhile and subsitute it with overhead work. As preciously stated since adding overhead stuff my shoudler feels much better....something to think about I guess.

The Pin Press while lying on the floor is pretty much a floor press from pins. These proved harder than I thought they would be, but definitely had the triceps screaming. Two more weeks of these then on to something else.

Pulls Ups...yawn.....

Cleans w/chains.....these friggin hurt. My shoulders were burning afterward. Most likely from the unbalanced load the chains provided. For this movement I took my D-Handles and attached my chains to them and did clean and presses. i will leave these in for 2 more weeks, as painful as these were they were still fun to do, something different....

Anyway, thats it for that day, next up is ME Squat.....Yee-Ha!!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

03/15/07 ME Squat (Gear) - No PR's for me...

RAW 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 405x1
Suit, Straps Down 455x1, 525x1
Suit (Straps Up) w/Knee Wraps 605xMiss, 605xMiss, 575xMiss
SLDL 375x3x5
Ab Pulldowns 120x3x12

Well I was psyched up all day for this, but my apparently training mind and body missed the memo!!! I believe I had myself talked out of this on Monday, I was sore from the SE Deadlifts, and not previously training the Deadlift with more than 2 reps with a weight over 80% killed me. So needless to say I wasnt as fresh as I needed to be. So here's the rundown baby....

1st 605 Attempt - I forgot to put the collar on the left side, hit the rack on walk out and made the mistake of carrying on, in retrospect I should have re-racked the weight, and hit it next time around. But being the jive turkey I can be, I didnt listen to myself and continued on. I took the weight down fine, started back up but the weight started sliding off the left side, Enter the Dump!!!

Luckily, From training alone so long I have sort of mastered this method, lean forward, throw your ass up and let it hit the pins.....Damn I was pissed at myself.
I should have stopped here.

2nd 605 Attempt - This attempt never should have taken place, I was mentally beat, which I dont normally let happen but some how allowed it this time. My head just wasnt in the game, a sign of overtraining? Possibly...Again took this sucker into the hole, started back up and my mind was anywhere but under the bar. I am truly amazed by how many thoughts can race through a persons head in only 1-2 seconds...needless to say not one of these thoughts was on holding my arch and trying to stand up, so I dumped it....Son-A-Ma-Beach!!!

Well, being the stubborn bass-turd that I am, I wanted to try and PR this friggin movement, I hit 550 around a month ago with plenty in the tank, hence my attempts of 605. You would have thought I would have learned by this point nothing good was coming out of this night. But no, So I took 575 for a ride, hit the hole hard, popped out, and on the ascent I started thinking about other shit and lost it again.....Damn it!!!

Anyway, I have quite a few take home points and a laundry list of what went wrong this night, and here they are:

1. I should have waited a week to do this, Still beat from SE DL for some friggin reason.

2. Dont Squat heavy if you arent into it, I should have changed to an SE Gear Night upon realization that my head was not in the gym this day.

3. Get a better suit!!! This piece-o-crap Inzer Champion is too big for me, I have a short torso so the suit never really "loads" in the hole. I need one with adjustable shoulder straps to accomodate this malady.

4. If something seems wrong upon unracking the weight, just put the shit back on the pins and sort it out, this kind of goes with the mental issue, I should have known better but.....

5. Dont let one bad workout deter you from your end goal, I learned alot from this debacle and this alone will only make me stronger. I know my body is strong enough for this weight, but on this night my mind just wasnt...

6. Choose a better approach to 605, this would have avoided the whole thing if I would have taken this route: 500, 550, 575, 605....I simply went at 605 unprepared....Like Icarus, I flew too close to the Sun!!!

Anyway, thats my dissection of this workout, not gonna comment on the accessory crap as we were pretty wiped by this point and just wanted to end this session. I am sure there are other points I am missing. But at the end of the day I am still happy with a couple of things and here they are:

1. A PR of sorts with the 525 straps-down-no-wraps.

2. Confidence that 605 on my back, and in the hole didnt feel bad, the misses were psychological in nature and not lack of strength.

3. Finally have a method for putting on my knee wraps the same way each time, very important!!!

4. Re-Remembered that I need a faster descent...

5. Didnt get injured with heavy weights even with the mindset I had...

6. I have lived to fight another day, 605 will fall the next time, and then some. You dont really know what your made of until you fail, what will define me is what happens next. Quit and run because of one crappy workout, or run with it and smoke this shit next time its on my back?

On a good note, Harold got 425 with his straps down, looked picture perfect too!!! He had issues when the straps went up, his suit is still new and with a few more sessions in it he will smoke upwards of 450-500...Great Job Harold!!!


Keep it Dark, Keep it Heavy, and Keep Your Head in the Game!!!

No Nonsense Nutrition DVD

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!!!!