Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Wednesday Squats

I will do a short write up on the events and highlights of the trip to Boston, but until then...the squats from tonight.

Buffalo bar free squat:
415 X 8
505 X 6
595 X 5
685 X 4 
Added a shit ton of chain (310 lbs worth) for the next three sets.
685 and chains X 2.  The only thing about using this many chains is they deload unevenly sometimes, so we raised them up a bit more the next set so only a few links were on the floor. 
Just an FYI, raising the chains up 2-3 inches compounded by a ton of chains = way heavier at the top.
735 X 1 Slow grinder.  This was supposed to be a double, but not to be tonight.
705 X 1 and a miss.  I got out of position on the second one (hips shot out and got foreword) and I sucked.
685 X 6

Hanging high leg raise with Spud, Inc. hanging ab straps: 2 sets of 8.

It wasn't the squat night I had hoped tonight.  I was going to use my boss briefs, but on my last warm up with 685 they split down the side, so I changed into my old ace briefs.  They are tight, but after being stretched by my ass for 3 years they are lacking in the pop department. 

Russian squat hell is over!

Friday, August 24, 2012

Week 3 workout 2 Squats

Squats with straight bar:
415 X 8
505 X 6
595 X 5
585 X5
675 X 4
Started adding chain at 685.  We added 220 lbs of chain. We added the chains all at once, so the first set was a bit of a shocker on the first set.
685 and chain X 3  This set was technically ugly, and I made it harder than it should have been.
725 and Chain X 3
725 and chain X 3  These sets were hard up top, but good strain.
725 X 5 without the chain
455 X 8 No chain.

Reverse Hyper: 1 set of 15 with 500 #.  Back was smashed as usual, so that was it. 

Spud and I flew up to Boston to hang out with and help Murph at his Strongman Contest Saturday.  Should be a fun week end.  Going to get some benching in while we are up here.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Deload Monday Bench night

It was about time to deload on the bench as my shoulders and Biceps were a bit cranky from Saturday's squats.
Flat DB Bench:
40 X 15
60 X 15
80 X 10
90 X 10
95 X 10
100 X 10
105 X 10

Floor Press with 235lbs
X 8 eps
X 12 reps X 3 sets of 15 reps

Double KB Overhead Press:
16,20,24,28 Kg all for 1 set of 10.

Band Flys with Light Bands: 3 sets of 12

Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns: 5 sets of 10

Ate a ton today....327 and slowly climbing.  I may be 340 by November....

Saturday, August 18, 2012

That looked like it hurt...

I was the loan squatter today, and I sucked it up pretty good as I was still smashed from Wednesday's squats.
415 X 8
505 X 6
595 X 6
635 X 5
685 X 3  After this set that I made look apparently painful Charles said...that looked like it hurt...It hurt from 145 on.  My back and Biceps are all jacked from squatting twice a week.
735 X 2 sets of 3.  I had planned to go up to 775 for 3, but as bad as the first set went, I figured I'd be conservative one the "light" day to save a bit for Wednesday's squat.

Pull Through with green band: 4 sets of 10
Lat Pulldowns with wide grip: 5 sets of 10
Hanging Knee Raise with Spud, Inc. hanging ab straps: 4 sets of 15.

Bent over DB Raise for rear delts/upper back: 3 sets of 10.

Single leg curl: 5 sets of 10 on right leg and 7 sets of 10 on the left.  Normally I don't do a lot of single leg or arm exercises, but in doing these today I noticed my left hamstring was quite a bit weaker than my right.  Now is the time to hit some weak points, so left hamstring extra work is in order.

Seated Calf raise: 2 sets of 15 with 200 #.  I did these with/for one of our members who was baffled that none of the powerlifters worked their calves.  I told him I didn't work my calves because they were already bigger than his and I didn't want him to feel insecure.

First time I have done leg curls and calf raises in about 5 years...

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Week 2 workout 2 Squats

Free Squats in briefs (Save the warmups)
415 X 8
505 X 6
595 X 5
685 X 4
735 X 4
645 X 4 with 150 # in chain.  I took off a bit on the % we were supposed to use, but it was a bit light for the first set so we went up the next two.
685 X 4 with 150 in chain
705 X 4 with 150 in chain. 
735 X 6
635 X 8
This was about right up top and in the hole for week 2.  I feel like I Could have gone a bit more, but figured we still have 2 more weeks in this cycle, so Not going to blow it up week 2.

That was all for me tonight.  It was my Wife's birthday so I was told we were going out to eat for the fourth time....  Somehow my wife's birthday is celebrated for at least two weeks with many nights out to dinner.  Once I got a good beer in me on an empty stomach I was more agreeable.

Thursday I didn't have much in the tank nor did I care to make much effort to train so I just did a little to get the blood moving around.  Squatting with the straight bar twice a week gets my huge biceps angry.
Overhead press: 2 sets of 20
Machine Biceps Curls: 2 sets of 20
Triceps Pushdowns with rope: 2 sets of  20

Done till Saturday Squats


Monday, August 13, 2012

Shirted reverse band carnage

So I have decided that I am just going to use my loose shirt instead of trying to use my tight one and bombing any more.  I figure once I hit a svelte 335-340 I should fill this shirt out decently.  Time will tell.
We did reverse band bench so that almost all the bands let go at the top... It weren't pretty.
255 X 2 sets of 10
305 X 8
335 X 5
395 X 3
525 X 1 off 2 foam boards
575 X 1 off 2 foam boards with maddog slangshot
shirt went on from here on out...let the suck ass night begin.
665 X 2 off 2 board
755 X 1 off 1 board
795 X nope. off my fat belly.  I fought this one most of the way down, flared my elbows once I finally touched and made it about 2 inches off my chest.  Form and brain failure.
755 X almost 1.  This set went much better and I almost (should have) locked it out, but instead of staying inside of it I flared my elbows and turned it into a partial bodybuilder press.  Most of our gym members would have counted it so it counts right...

Seated overhead Shoulder press:
135 X 8
185 X 8
225 X 8
245 X 8
275 X 5

Triceps extensions laying on bench using plate(s)
70 # X 12
100 # X 3 sets of 12

External Rotator work: 2 sets of 12 each arm.  Should have done a bit more pre-hab work, but my wife had gotten me takeout Chinese from our favorite place and I had some home brew beer to try one of our gym members made, so that was all she wrote for me...

Squat Death Wednesday looms....

Sunday, August 12, 2012

Saturday squats week 2 day 1

Free Squat with Buffalo Bar:
Lots of warm ups, then I put my briefs on
415 X 8
505 X 6
595 X 6
645 X 5
685 X 2 sets of 5

Stiff Leg Deads standing on 3-4" Box
225 X 5
315 X 5
365 X 5
405 X 5
405 X 2 sets of 8 with Spud, inc wrist straps.  Squatting twice a week has my biceps a little tight, so I figured I'd save them a bit with the straps.

Reverse Hyper: 2 sets of 15 with 600#

Carrabba's and World of Beer to help recover.  

Thursday, August 9, 2012

Just a short one...

I didn't have much time or energy so it was a short workout to get some blood moving around.
Floor DB Press:
60 X 15
75 X 15
90 X 15

Incline Barbell Press:
135 X 10
185 X 8,10,12,15 reps

Side DB Raise:
50,55,60 lbs X 10 reps per side

Glad swimming is done so my wife will stop talking about how hot Ryan Locte is...  Now I'm is all about "volleybutt" as spud says.

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

The Begining of Squat Hell

The first 4 weeks of this training cycle we are using a condensed version of the 6 week Russian squat pyramid we used before.  This time we are adding chains on the work sets so that at the end of the 4 weeks we will be using 110-115% of our brief max up top.
415 X 8
505 X 6
585 X 5
675 X 5
735 and 2 chains per side X 5.  This almost killed me.  I got all 5, but it was ugly and felt terrible.  We had considered adjusting the percentages a bit to account for the chains, but decided to try it and see what happened.  What happened was we realized real fast we should go down about 5 % on the percentages when we used chain.
685 and 2 chains per side X 2 sets of 5
685 X 5
595 X 6
505 X 8

Reverse Hyper: 2 sets of 15 with 600#.

Absolutely smashed.  It will be a 4 week battle the first wave of this cycle, but should be great for our conditioning if we survive.

Thinking of installing the high seater handicap toilets in my house....

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Bench night

Bench with bench bar:
135 X 3 sets of 10
185 X 8
225 X 5
275 X 3
315 X 3 off 2 soft boards
365 X 3 off 2 soft boards
455 X 1 off 1 or 2 soft boards with slingshot (it's only a day later and I can't remember what I did...)
545 X 1 off 1 or 2 soft boards with maddog slingshot
Put my loose Phenom on for the rest of the sets.
635 X 2 off 3 board
675 X 2 off 2 board
725 X 2 sets of 1 off a 1.5 board.  I was looking for a double on both of these, but not tonight. 

Close grip bench off 3 foam boards:
335 X 8
385 X 8
405 X 8

Upper back bent over row with double KB's:
20,24,28,32,40 Kg all for 1 set of 8

Not a bad night back holding heavier weight in my hands.  First time using this much weight in the size 58 shirt.  I was going to go with the smaller shirt, but I was too fat this week (324).  I am hoping by the next week or two I can get my body weight to around 315 so I can try to touch something in my tight shirt.


Sunday, August 5, 2012

Saturday Squats

Saturday was the start of our official "training cycle" for worlds that includes squatting twice a week for 4 weeks. Saturday will be the Lighter squat day and Wed is the heavy day with chains.
415 X8
505 X 6
585 X 6
635 X 3 sets of 6  Most of these sets felt ugly and slow.  I am going to try and use my old stretched out ace briefs for the cycle instead of my boss briefs. I am not sure if it is accurate or not, but a lot of people say the boss material stretches out and loses pop quickly, so just in case I am trying to save them for later.

Vogelphuls from the floor:
SSB 125 DL Bar 315 X 5
SSB 145 DL Bar 315 X 5
SSB 145 DL Bar 315 X 5
SSB 165 DL Bar 365 X 5

Hanging leg raise with 35 lb chain on feet:
3 sets of 8 reps

45 * Back Extension holding kbs (a Hyper ext KB Deadlift sot of)
24 Kg X 3 sets of 10 reps.  These fired up my glutes pretty well.

Let the pain begin.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Upper extra work

Crazy bells (kettlebells suspended by bands on a bench bar):  I ended up doing 3 or 4 sets with a 12 and 16 Kg on each side for 10 reps and 3 sets with 95 lbs and a 16 Kg suspended for 8 reps.

Log Strict press: 
100# X 10
150 X 2 sets of 8
190 X 5
240 X 3
170 X 3 sets of 10

Dick's Press:
45 X 10
95 X 10
115 X 10
135 X 8
115 X 15

Monster Mini face pull for Rear delt/external rotator work: 4 sets of 15. 

Nothing special, but a little work.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Squat night rack pulls

Since we squatted Saturday and I will start squatting twice a week this coming Saturday we skipped squats and went with some rack pulls.

We started with the bar about an inch or two below the knee and added mats to stand on every set.
We worked up to 495 for 3's and added mats from there ending with 7 mats.  A decent amount of work without killing us (4 or 5 sets with 495 lbs)
Hack Squats: 1,2,3,4 plates per side all for 1 set of 8
reverse hyper with blue band for added back traction: 2 sets of 15
Lying leg raise with chain on feet: 3 sets of 10 with 35 lbs of chain.

The countdown to Saturday has begun.