Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Lots of catching up to do...

Squat last wednesday:
Safety squat bar raw with with a slightly below parallel box:  worked up to 435ish for 4 or 5 sets of 3
45 degree back ext with cambered bar:
Bar X 8
105 lbs X 8
135 X 3 sets of 8  These were absolutely awful.  My low back was blown up so much I couldn't walk more than 10 feet before I wanted to sit down.
Chain Leg lifts with 1 big chain: 3 sets of 10
Reverse Hyper: 4 sets of 15 with 400 #

Thursday Upper Extra work:
Standing log press:
100 X 3 sets of 8
150 X 5
200 X 3
245 X 2 sets of 3 and 1 set of 4.

Close grip Bench using 2 foam boards adding a chain each set.
Bar weight was 185 and worked up to 5, 6 then 7 chain per side for 1 set of 5 each. 

Hammer Machine press: worked up to 3 plated for 3 or 4 sets of 10

Saturday Dead less day again.
Cambered bar suspended good mornings.  It has been too long since I have done these.  Since everyone hates them except Spud I said figured we should do them.
worked up a plate at a time to 575 for 2 sets of 3 and a set of 5.  I was a bit hung over and sleep up until 5 plates so it all felt bad until then.  But once I woke up everything felt better.
Front squats: 135 X 8, 225 X 5, 315 X 5, 405 X 2 sets of 5, 455 X 3 (sucked it on this one.  Looking for 5, but not gonna happen).
Straight leg lifts with chain on ankles: 3 sets of 5

Monday RAW Bench Work!
145 X 3 sets of 10
235 X 2 sets of 8
285 X 3
325 X 2 sets of 3
345 X 2 sets of 3
365 X 2 sets of 3
375 X 2 sets of 3  I have not gone this heavy raw in honestly and shamefully at least a year or two.  I absolutely hate raw benching, but need to work on it some more (by evidence I can barely triple my body weight raw....)
EZ bar triceps ext with chains (a bit more than a 90 degree angle in the bottom to save the elbows a bit)
85 lbs and 1 super fat chain X 8
85 lbs and 2 chains X 8
85 lbs and 3 chains X 8
85 lbs and 4 chains X 6 or 7
Side Shoulder raise: 40 X 10, 50 X 2 sets of 10, 60 X 10

External rotator cuff work: 3 sets of 15 each arm.  All that raw work had my left shoulder crunk up pretty good. 

Suck ass Everything is heavy  Squat Wednesday with the straight bar:
145 x 2 sets of 8
235 X 5
315 X 3
405 X 2
Briefs on from here out
595 X 2
685 X 2
Suit bottoms on
775 X 2
Straps up from here on
865 X 2
915 X 2  Honestly these last two sets felt heavy as hell and mechanically ugly.  I did what I wanted to though (just not as heavy), and kept the feel for the suit.  I was a svelte 315 tonight though so the suit and briefs were not giving much pop, but I will fatten up after a while.
Reverse hypers:  I had an idea and it worked out pretty well.  I looped a blue band under my arms and had someone choke it off to a machine in font of the rev hyper during my set.  The band gave extra traction to my upper back when my legs came unde and helped with decompressing my spine. We did 2 sets of 15 with one blue and 2 sets of 15 with 2 blues choked off.  It worked well, so if your back is crunk up, give it a try.


Monday, June 18, 2012

Back in the Shirt Monday

I wanted to see how the new bench set up felt in my shirt, so i put my loose phenom on tonight.  Still felt as crappy as it did the week before, just with heavier weights.
135 X 10
205 X 10
225 X 6
315 X 2
405 X 2 off 2 foamies
Put 58 Phenom on
495 X 3 off 3 board
545 and 2 chains per side X 3 off 2.5 board
545 and 3 chains per side X 2 off 1.5 board 

Took the shirt off for some slingshot close grip work:
315 and 3 chains X 2 sets of 5
315 and 4 chains per side X 2 That was about all the benching my arm was going to give me today so just called it there.

Kettlebell Double Snatch Press:
20,24,28,32 Kg All for 1 set of 8 each

Lying KB Triceps ext:
16,20,24,28 Kg all for 1 set of 10 each

Did a little pec and biceps stretching afterwards with a band.  Fairly sure I will feel this in the morning...




Sunday, June 17, 2012

Saturday Deadish workout

I am trying a little something different for my deadlift right now....No "deadlifting".  That is a bit over simplified, but I am trying to work all the movements that will help my pull without actually pulling off the floor for a whole workout more than once a month.  One thing is for sure, it makes you be more creative in exercise selection and it has gotten me smashed two Saturdays in a row.

Romanian deads:
135 X 2 sets of 10
225 X 8
315 X 5
405 X 3
495 X 3 Straps on
545 X 3 Straps on
585 X 2 sets of 3 straps on
635 X 2.75 with straps.  I should have stuck with 6 plates, but what the hell....The third was almost locked out, but not convincing enough to call it good.  I think my eyes almost fell out in the bottom this set.

Elevated Band deads conv off about a 5-6" Deficit (high enough to smash the top of my feet when I dropped the bar the first rep):  Not sure why I did these, but Desi had it all set up and it looked painful so I tried it.
135 X 5
225 X 2 sets of 3
275 X 2 sets of 3  My lower back was sufficiently toasted

Hanging Leg raise with Spud, Inc. hanging ab straps:
my Fat legs X 10
1 chain around feet X 2 sets of 10
a fatter chain around feet X 2 sets of 10

Reverse hyper: 3 ssets of 15 with ~500#

Friday, June 15, 2012

Upper accessory Day

Strongman Log Press:
100 # X 3 sets of 8
150 # X 2 sets of 5
200 # X 3 sets of 5

Incline DB Press:
60,70,80,90,100 # all for 1 set of 10

Chest supported Row:
1 plate X 8
2 plates X 8
3 Plates X 3 sets of 8

Close Grip Press with chain off of 2 foamies.  I did more of a strict press than the normal belly toss.
1 plate and 2 chains/side X 5
1 plate and 4 chains/side X 5
1 plate and 5 or 6 chains/side X 5
185 and 6 chains X 3 sets of 5.  These were not killer hard, and could have pushed it more, but I will add a little bit at a time since this is only my second upper accessory workout in about 2 years.

It was a decent day.  Still having a lot of forearm pain from what ever I did to it at the meet, but it hasn't fell off yet so I will take that as a good sign.

Wednesday, June 13, 2012

Box Squats and Rack Pull'en

Box squats with Buffalo Bar:
145 X 2 sets of 8
235 X 2 sets of 6
325 X 3
415 X 2
505 X 2
Put size 50 ACE Briefs on.  Down about 10 lbs since the meet so they were a bit looser than I was hoping.
595 X 2
645 X 2
685 X 2
735 X 2
775 X 2 sets of 2 around parallel.  Neither of these sets were particularly impressive.  I started doing my little shift to the right in the bottom of the squat on the second set so just called that good enough for the night.  Not sure if I am protecting something or why I do it, but it happens every once in a while.

Rack Pulls Conv with the bar an inch or so below the knee.
315 X 3
405 X 3
495 X 3
585 X 3 sets of 3  I didn't plan on going super heavy with these, but wanted to include them in the workout.  I will do these more often with sub maximal weights to work on learning how to keep my form and use my glutes to lockout stronger.  I have to be one of the most frustrating people to coach on the deadlift, because I will pull what ever is on the bar fast as hell off the floor then stall about 3" from lockout because I can't figure how to use my ass.  I'm going to figure it out and get my pull respectable soon!

Reverse Hypers: 4 sets of 15 with 500#

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Monday's Band Benching

I tried a new bench set up to see if it helps my arch.  I absolutely hate it so far, because I am used to using no arch and more leg drive, but I will keep using it and see how it goes.
Close grip Bench with doubled up light bands: worked up to 275 X 3 off of 2 foam boards.
Close grip 3 board work with the bands: 225 X 5, 315 X smashville.  The 225 didn't feel bad, so I thought I'd make the jump to 315.  I worked on getting a bigger arch and had Spud and Charles pushing, pulling, and contorting me into position.  I had a much better arch and exactly zero dive in the bottom...

Super wide grip Bench with slingshot:
315 X 5, 405 X 5, 455 X 3

Shoulder Machine Press:
50 X 10, 100 X 10, 150 X 66 or 7, 200 X an ugly 2, 150 X 6, 100 X 7

Kettlebell ext off floor (kinda like nose breakers, but a little more than a 90 degree bend at the elbow in the bottom to save the elbows a bit):  20 Kg X 8, 24 Kg X 8, 28 Kg X 7 or 8. 

Got some good work in.  A few more raw sessions before getting back in the shirt.

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Accessory and Ass whoopen Saturday

I have been slack in my upper body accessory work and it showed at the meet with sub par bench attempts.  Thursday was the first "upper auxiliary" day in a while, but will not be the last.
Straight bar close grip presses off the squat box out of mono:
bar X 10
105 X 2 sets of 10
105 and 1 blue band per side X 3 or 4 sets of 10
DB Row: 65, 75, 85, 95 all X 10 reps

Not a killer workout, but still feeling a bit beat up in the elbows from the meet, and my training client showed up so short and sweet for the first night back.

Saturday lowerbody day.  I had wanted to try some Chuck V inspired safety squat bar with deadlift training (vogelpohlz I have heard them called), and today seemed like the right day, so we went at it.  We did them in the rack for the first time with the DL bar about 2-3" below the knees.
SSB 1 plate Dead 1 plate: 2 sets of 5
SSB 1 plate, Dead 2 plates X 5
SSB 1 plate, Dead 2.5 plates X 5
SSB 1.5 Plates, Dead 3 plates X 3
SSB 2 plates, Dead 3 plates X 3 (max effort/shart city on these 2 sets)
SSB 2 plates, Dead 3.5 plates X 2 sets of 3.  These were freak'en awesome!  It absolutely smashed everyone who did them including me.  None of us were good at them, so hopefully we can do these every so often to help target our weak points and stop sucking on the deadlift.

Glute Ham Raise:
Bodyweight (a lean 322) X 8
Holding a 25lb plate X 3 sets of 8

Reverse Hypers: 3 sets of 15 with ~600#
Lying Leg raise with chain on feet:
2 chains X 10
3 chains X 10
4 chains X 10 dropped to 2 chains for 10 more reps. 

That was all that was in the tank today, but I am excited we tried these today.  More pain ahead.

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Meet Rundown and back to Training

So the meet didn't go as well as hopped.  I got a 953 squat in and missed 1028 once on depth and once on a balance issue.  Then missed 716 on the bench 3 times in a row.  The last one was actually pretty close, but no cigar as they say (at least that's what they say when you F it up).  Good thing I have a great wife that brought me a bottle of Captain to commiserate with while I watched the rest of the meet.

I got to meet a lot of cool people and saw some great lifting so not all was lost.  The highlight of my meet was the damn TV reported that kept trying to interview me after I bombed.  Good thing that drinking actually makes me a nicer person so I didn't want to punch him in the face too much when he came the second time insisting to interview me (although I thought my wife was close to hitting him).  Oh well.  Back to training on Wednesday.

Box squats with cambered bar:
165 X 2 sets of 10
255 X 8
345 X 3
435 X 3
525 X 3
605 X 3
Put old ace briefs on for these last two sets.  These didn't have as much pop in them as I had hoped.
705 X 2 sets of 3.
Kettlebell double swings:
24,28,32,40 Kg all for 1 set of 10 each
Reverse Hyper:
3 sets of 12 with around 500#
Wheelbarrow: 3 passes of about 40 yards or so with 2 or 300 #.

The plan for the next 3 months is to do about 5 or 6 weeks of training to bring up some weak points then put together a 5 or 6 week cycle to get ready for a meet in September to see what worked and what didn't.  I need more platform time and more experience to become a better stronger lifter.

-  Angry training ahead!