08/04 ME Bench

Floor Press 275x5x3
SSB Triceps Ext 115x4x8
Pull Ups Bwx6, BW+15lbsx4x4
KB Side Swings 33x4x8

Decent day, i dont generally lift that well at 3 in the afternoon and this 80% felt more like 95% of my max on this movement. God i hate Floor Presses!!! All reps had a 2-3 sec pause at the bottom and shot up like cold molasses, did i mention i hate floor presses? The SSB Ext's were new obviously because i just got this bar yesterday and had to use it for something. Thanks to Paul Childress for this gem of an exercise... somehow the load gets placed differently than a standard bar and the guns ballooned to 18's i swear.....the fuckers hurt and the skin felt like bursting, hell the weight wasnt anything to write home to mom about, what up with that shit?......the pull up sucked as my left bicep got tweaked during preparation for lifting (i lifted a loaded bar and curled it to the rack without being warmed up, Nimrod!!!) By the time i got to KB's i was sapped, its still humid in the basement and all motivation seems to leave my body after the first two movements, but then i thought about my one true inspiration, Benji, and i perservered.....i mean really, there you have a friggin mutt of a dog saving lives when the chips were down, what more could you ask for? Fucking Lassie had a network of support, what did Benji have? a bad case of fleas and diarrhea from eating garbage, Rock On Benji!!!!

08/02 DE Squat

DE Box Squat 225x4x3 235x4x3
Rev Hyper 60x3x10
SuperSetted 30 sec's rest
SLDL 185x5x5
AB Wheel 5x5

Holy Shit is it hot up here, broke 101 degrees earlier and seems hotter now. needless to say it was a draining workout that lasted a whopping 35 minutes. I was sucking wind by the end but overall felt pretty good. Speed was good. The rev hypers kicked my arse as i havent done them in awhile. I supersetted the SLDL with the ab wheel and thought i was going to pass out by the end. I would perform the two back to back then rest 30 sec then go back to back again etc....I felt these puppies in the lungs, felt like that 350lb fat chick i had a few years ago sittin on my chest......ugh......anyway, back to reality, got to get them planes flying........

07/31 DE Bench

Speed Bench 175x4x3, 185x4x3
4 Board Press (CG) 315x8,6,8,6
BB Rows to Upper Chest 135x12, 165x10, 175x8
Supersetted
KB Upright 53x3x10
Mini Pull aparts 3x10

Almost skipped this workout, got some kind of head cold, probably from the travelling, lack of sleep, CNS is working overtime........After i got down there i felt much better. Again, DE arent much fun to write about, or probably read about for that matter so on that note i will end it...from my piece of the universe to yours, be weary of the traveller with finger extended asking if thou wouldst pull thy digit!!!!

07/29 Back from Cali, 3 Lifts Day

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

Duration (60 Minutes)

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

07/24 ME Bench

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

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

07/23 DE Squat

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

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

07/21 DE Bench-Back to Work

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

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




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

07/15 Meet Results

BW: 196lbs
198 Open Division

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. remember to stay calm and listen to the commands

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

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


Later......

07/09 No Posts for the Week

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

07/05 DL Opener

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

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

07/04 SE Bench

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

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

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

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

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

06/30 Opener Work in Shirt

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

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

06/29 DE Squat

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

Boring......

06/27 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/Bands & Chains 145x4x3, 155x4x3
4 BD Press 315x3, 365x5x4
One Arm Cable Rows 50x4x12 (No Rest Between sets)
Rear Delt Raise 20x3x15

Yet another hot day in the basement, but it went well so i cant complain. Like Jon said at least i dont have to worry too much about warming up.
This was the last week of Speed Work with chains or bands, its straight weight from here on out which should allow for complete healing and recuperation between now and meet time. Next Week i will take my opener and figure out where i am at, tentatively i am planning on opening with 330, again this will be dependant on next week, two weeks ago this weight seemed really easy and im hoping with the form work (feet out in front of me more) will help, it seems to be. For a while there i was getting caught up in trying to get them as far back under me as possible and it was compromising any leg drive i did acquire. As i remember back when i started making alot of progress on bench i was doing it more like i am now, i had to revisit a few articles to reinforce this for me.
I was just thinking today that time is flying and didnt quite realize i am this close to the meet. Am pretty excited to get it over with, though i wished i could have done a full power meet this time around i will have to wait until november, though i think i may have read on John Macdonalds blog that there is an APA Full Power Meet in CT somewhere in september which i may hit instead of the one in November. Given my new situation with expecting a 2nd child i think that time frame may work better but we shall see......anyway, thats it from here, didnt talk too much about the actual session but there's a reason for that, it just wasnt all that exciting.....well take it easy.....l8r

SE Squats/DL's

Free Squat 135x5, 185x5, 225x3, 275x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x4x2
Speed DL 290x8x1
KB Swing-Thru 73x3x10
Ab Pull Down 100x3x12

Tonight was supposed to be a ME Squat Movement but given my recent history i took it easy and did more of a SE type workout just to be safe. The squats felt nice, still lacking pop out of the hole but that will come back. The Speed DL's felt alright, nothing too big top report there, just worked the form with what explosiveness i have left. Not much else to report other than it was humid as hell and i must have lost abot 5 lbs of water weight, this weather friggin sucks.....On to DE Bench.....l8r

06/23 ME Bench

2 BD Press 185x5, 225x3, 280x2, 315x1, 340x1, 385x1PR 350x2x2
Rope Pushdowns 70x4x8
Lat Pulldowns 130x3x8
KB Armbars 43x2x3 (15 sec holds)

Took it easy today given all the recenet issues with my shoulder and shit, was actually thinking of going for another PR but held back (actuallyy listened to myself for once) The good thing is my shoulder didnt hurt at all after the 2 BD, granted most of the pain before was when doing a front raise type of motion. I rediscovered why i hate Rope Pushdowns, they hurt!! but in a good way. The pulldowns were alright, the loading probably should have been higher but what can you do, and the Armbars are bitches now that i know how to do them correctly. The holding is the key on these, before i wouldnt hold them wuite long enough and i made it mostly a delt movement which is opening a way for injury to creep in, once you get the form on these down they are a great movement for the shoulder and supposedly great for recuperative purposes as well, maybe thats why the pain has been subsiding....who knows....thats it for now, tonight i got ME Squat as i was feeling sick yesterday (Sunday), kept getting hot and cold flashes all day long and spent the day on the couch, feeling better today so we'll see, i may squat into chains today not sure.....well thats it for now.....l8r

06/21 SE Squat

11" Box Squat (Form Work) 135x5, 185x3, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 365x3
Free Squat (Form Work) 365xbunch of singles, lost count, then finished with 315x3x3
Rev Hyper 50x4x8
Ab Crap
Leg Curls

Decided at the last second to do some form work and see how the groin-a-roo felt in the hole. Very similar to the DL where i have apparently lost alot of pop out of there, this shit sucks!!! Pretty boring workout really then again form work usually is, its always the same, stay tight, keep arched, elbows forward, etc...so on that note, adios amigos................

06/19 DE Bench

Speed Bench w/Bands & Chains 145x8x3
4 Board Press 315x5, 365x3x5
KB Rows w/Mini's 73x3x8
KB Front Swing 33x3x12

Shoulder felt much better tonight. I skipped my ME Bench from the other day to rest up a bit and did some pathetic pulling on Sunday that is not worth mentioning other than this, my attempts at the meet will be below what i was expecting, probably less than what i started the training cycle with. No big whoop, will just make it easier to beat the numbers next time around. The 4 Board Press i took it a bit easy as i did not want to aggravate my shoulder, good news, i didnt....KB Rows against mini's were kinda cool will leave them in for another 2 weeks and the front swings felt good as well, i went lighter with more reps for a more recuperative effect....thats it for now, next up is DE Squat, til then....keep it dark, keep it heavy...........

06/15 DE Squat

Box Squat w/Bands & Chains 215x4x2, 230x4x2
Seated GM's 135x8, 185x8, 225x3x8
Lying Band Leg Curls Avgx3x10
AB Pull Downs 90x3x15

Good Night, not too exhaustive but definitely sweat inducing. The Seated GM's i will keep in for the next two weeks as i felt these will help to strengthen the lower back in the absence of DE Day pulling. those Leg Curls still kicked my ass and will stay in the mix for another 2 weeks as they seem to hit the posterior much different than any other Hamstring exercise i have been doing, i will try to post a video of how i am doing these to give you guys an idea. Thats it for now, i got ME Bench tonight but will probably take it easy as my right shoulder is still achy, at this point im not sure if i slept on it weird or if it is just the lingering wipeout pain.....we'll see tonight............l8r