Bench

Speed Bench:
Quadded minis; alternated close, middle, regular (formerly wide)
185 x 3, 6 sets
205 x 3

Dips:
bw x 10
bw + 45 x 10
bw + 90 x 10
bw + 135 x 7
bw + 135 x 5

Pull-overs:
225 x 10
270 x 10
315 x 6 (elbow hurt)
270 x 12

finished with heavy sets on some Isometric High Row™, and the band pull-aparts I saw at 4-star on Wednesday. Then ab weel

CARDIO/LOWER BODY RECOVERY

• A: Bench 45x15x3

Experimenting with set up to avoid pressure on the lower back. I think if I keep my core really tight it might help a lot. So I will be trying benching with a belt to see.

• A: Back squat 45x5x3, 135x5

• Front squat 135x5, 185x5, 185x8

I remembered why I don't more than 5 reps. Weight was easy but it was still hard.

• B: Lunges 135x5x3

• B: Kneeling cable abs 110x15, 130x15, 150x15

▼ Cardio

Difficult cardio is difficult.

• Rowing machine 2000m in 7:40 (+300m of cooldown)

• Bike 160 bpm x 15 mins

DE Bench

So, I showed up at 2 (the time Dave said training would happen), but nobody was there :(. Because of this, there is no video from today.

Bench Press: 135x3x4 (med grip)
135x3x4 (normal grip)
155x3
175x3 (easing into it - besides my pecs were a little strained still from wed and fri)

DB Incline Bench (neutral grip): 50x12
60x8x4 (amazing how much harder the neutral grip is)

HS High Row: 2px10
3px5x8
4px5, 5

V-Squat Shrugs: 4p (per side) x 20
5px20x4

Parallel Bar Extensions (bar weighs ~20 lets say): 70x20
80x10, 9

Aside from the super pec tenderness, this was a pretty good session. I probably should have done some pec work in the past few weeks, but my benching feels as strong as ever. I need to be eating more to prevent these little injuries. Since dietary experiments have revealed that my digestive system cannot handle fats well (particularly milk fats), I am loading up on carbs and protein. Main carb sources are rice, bread, pasta (when available in the dining halls), fruit, and fruit juice. Protein sources are eggs, canned chicken, chicken breast, hamburgers, and deli turkey (BCafe). Main fats are peanut butter and whatever oil they put in the dining hall food. Supplements are Aleve and Vitamin C. Still shooting for 5000kcals a day, but appetite is the main variable in that.

As for training, I am returning to the Diablo Barbell Template in terms of workouts so as to prepare for training there this summer. I need to be in the 230-235 range by 7/15, which seems fairly reasonable considering I am 215-220 right now.

Speed Bench and Upper Back

5/30/09

Bench

quadded red bands

115 x 3 x 6

135 x 3 x 3

Dips

BW + 25lbs x 8

BW + 25lbs x 8

BW + 25lbs x 8

BW + 35lbs x 7

BW + 35lbs x 5

Pullovers

4 plates x 8

4 plates x 8

5 plates x 6

6 plates x 5

Band Pulls (Rear Delts)

reds x 10 x 3

Isolateral High Row

230 x 6 x 3

Ab Wheel

Upper Back

Skipped upper back on Tuesday.
Barbell rows (off the ground)
185 x 5
195 x 5, 5, 5

Close grip chinups
BW x 12, 10, 10

Rear delt flyes (dumbbells)
20s x 12, 12, 12

Hammer curls
40s x 10, 10, 10 (per arm)

CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

• Cardio - bike 35 mins

• Stretching - hamstrings, lower back, groin, hip flexors

As boring as it gets...

Deadlift Trening

This was week #4 of the Ed Coan program. Suited up in the Inzer Fusion with straps up.
Deadlift:
496 X 3
Song choice inspired by Trey Long [Classic by Kanye West with Rakim, Nas, and KRS One]


T-Bar Rows:
2,3,4,5,6,7 plates X 10
8 plates X 5
Obviously did not use strict form on these, but shit, moving that much weight has to make something stronger, right? And if it doesn't, than f*ck!

Some other Upper Back stuff
BICEPS

DE Squat

I am mildly sick (again) so I knew this session would be good.

Box Squat (15"): 185x2x10
205x2
225x2
245x1
255x1

Sumo DL: 308x3
318x1x6

Squat Walkouts (been feeling a little shaky with heavier weight): 315x1 (back and forward length of rack)
365x1x3

Spud (aka Pulldown) Abs: 100x10
130x8
150x5, 5, 5

My box squats and deadlifts all felt pretty fast, especially when I got in the right "groove" (sitting back on squats, and pulling the slack out on DL). This is all very comforting. Time to drink Gatorade and nom some BruinCafe.

Linky time

Section 7 of this book on powerlifting says it all.

Deadlift Videos

I should be sleeping or preparing for class, but instead I did this.

CARDIO/UPPER BODY RECOVERY

After doing circa-max effort bench and manpon press, my pecs and delts are very sore. Especially since I was supposed to be resting this week after the meet. More worrisome, my lower back pinch came back full force after doing my arch yesterday. I need to seriously address this before it becomes a big problem.

▼ Cardio

• Rowing 5 min

My back has been annoying me lately, so I decided to start with this. I think it's a good idea, but I am incapable of pacing myself on a rowing machine for some reason. So I was done after 5 mins.

• Bike 30 mins

▼ Upper body

• Foam roll back (esp. lower)

In between all sets. Surprisingly, I didn't really feel the foam roll in the lower back. I'm taking this as a good sign that I didn't do anything too bad to it.

• A: Push ups BWx10x3

• A: Pull ups BWx8x3

Actually this was slightly difficult. Probably because I never do them anymore and I was a little tired from rowing?

• B: Conventional deadlift 135x5x3

For the lower back.

• B: Standing dumbell press 40x8x3

For the luls?

• Hyperextensions BWx20x2

• Flexibility - calves, hamstrings, groin, hip flexors

Week C #2

Gear:
None / no belt

SHoulder-Stance Back Squat:
285 x 5/5/5

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts w/ 45 lbs plates:
326 x 3
376 x 5

Medium-Grip Bench Press w/ Pause
275 x 5
265 x 5
245 x 5

Chin-ups:
BW x 5/5/5

Good stiff-leg session, felt pretty easy.

Max Deadlift

Deadlift
warmups
(belt on)
381 x 1 PR
401 x fail - This went up fine until right above my knees where it completely stopped.
401 x fail

Back raises
BW x 50, 50, 50, 50

Abs
2 sets of bridges with 50 lbs

Deadlifts ME^2

5/28/09

Deadlifts

381

401 SELF PROCLAIMED ULTIMATE HITCH MASTER

PR x 2

LE Deadlift

Wasn't feeling it when lifting. I think I may be overtrained this week on legs due to just coming back. Also, the traps are still sore from tuesday and I have a crazy bruised sensation right on my sternum. (Manpon?) Went light intentionally.

Deadlift:
random sets of 5-10 reps, between 225 and 450?

I just jumped in whenever people were warming up still and hit a few sets. No pain on the deadlift.

Lunges:
225 x 12, 4 sets

Finished with 200 reps of hyperextensions for p/rehab + planks (is this what they're called? I forget).


Seven guys hit PRs tonight on deadlift. I got videos of almost all of them, so I'll post it soon.

5-28 Birthday Lifting!

P. Cl. Bel. Kn. 88/5 x 3
C&J 102/2 x 4
Jerk 102/2 115 - 2,2,(1+miss), 2
Cl. Pull Bel. Kn. 102/4 x 4
Back squat 110/3 130/3 150/1 170/4+miss

Came back tonight and did

Back squat 170/6 (PR)
Bench 4x6 - 155,165,175,185

Bench was pretty easy. I'll be able to so some pretty significant volume on it once I get accustomed to it. Still have to figure out the jerk though...

Good to know I'm still competitive in the squat. Still, no idea how to add deadlift into this. Actually, I don't care about deadlift, I'd rather use any extra energy on the jerk.

RANDOM BENCH/DEADLIFT

Went to 4-star to hang out with Brent, Dave, and Phils. Ended up doing random stuff that other people were doing.

• Bench 135x5x2, 185x5, 225x3, 245x2, 275x1, 295x1

I paused most of these, except maybe the 295? Considering I just did a meet and I had no build up to this whatsoever, I'm pretty happy with hitting 295. Especially since I totally lost my arch and tightness at the bottom and touched a few inches higher than I want to, yet still managed to muscle it up.

• Deadlift 135x5, 225x5, 275x5, talk to Dave, 135x5, 275x5, 335x5

Trying out Texas deadlift bar. Dave gave me some good tips on my lockout that I think will be helpful moving forward.

• Bench w/ chains 135x5, add manpon, 185x5, 225x5

I think I got the reps right on this. Not sure. Using chains was weird, made me feel unstable, but probably good for me.

Bench With My Mentors

Almost decapitated myself today in my KATANA

Bench:
295 X 2 (shirt seater)
345 X 1 (~3 board)
365 X almost broke my shit (shot the weight up too far back and it fell toward my head. thanks nathan for helping catch it)
375 X 1 (uneven extension and weight dipped slightly but I did a touch and go with it)
Gonna have to figure out this shirt soon...

Manpon Press with 140lbs of Chain:
185 X 3
225 X 3
245 X 3
255 X 2
225 X 9

Standing Overhead Press:
135 X 6
155 X 5
155 X 6
155 X 5

Side Lateral Raises
Skullcrushers
Dumbbell Shrugs

Good luck to all those MAXING on the deadlift tomorrow...I wanna see some vids.
P.S. Don't crowd the bar Greg.

ME Lockout

Bizarre workout today. I felt like going heavy and maybe doing shirt work, but couldn't find a shirt to use.

Bench:
315 x 1 (PR)

Nathans gave me a press call so it was legit. Felt reasonable.

3-board:
365 x 1
405 x 1
425 x fail
415 x 1 (easy?)

I think I misgrooved the 425, but this was taking forever so I stopped.

Chain work:
135 + 140 chains x 5
185 + 140 chains x 5
225 + 140 chains x 5
275 + 140 chains x 5 (off manpon)
315 + 140 chains x 5 (off manpon)

455 at the top? wtf?

Standing Press:
135 x 8
155 x 5
175 x 3
155 x 8, 2 sets

These are starting to bother my right shoulder. BILL STARR LIESS.

Bench

5/27/09

Bench

215 x 5 PR

215 x 3 + 1 fail

1 Board

205 x 5

205 x 5

2 Board

215 x 4

3 Board

225 x 2, next rep touched way too high and failed

Incline Bench

135 x 8

155 x 8

145 x 8

I stopped early to test my VO2 max for Phy Sci 5.

ME Bench

2-Board: 155x3
165x3
185x3
205x3
215x1
225x1 Stopped here to kind of take it easy. Elbow seemed fine and strength felt a-ok.

3-board: 225x5, 4, 5

Chest-Supported Row: 2px5
2p+25x10x5

Rear Delt Raise: 45x10/10x3

EzBar Curl: 80x10, 5

And some light band pushdowns to finish. It seemed like my benching strength did not deteriorate while I was healing, which is a good thing. My back felt stronger on the rows today too, so that is a plus.

Jake, I will film my DE benches on Saturday and post them to the blog.

Bench

I got sick yesterday and i'm still not 100% so this workout kinda sucked.

Bench (paused)
145 x 5
155 x 4
145 x 4
155 x 3

Dips
BW x 12, 10, 10, 10

Machine flyes
145 x 10
135 x 8, 8

Rope Pushdowns
110 x 10
80 x 15, 12

Late Night Bckr

Seated Cable Rows:
250 x 20, 16, 11

I thought this might be close to approximating Brent's Kroc rows... I got wrecked after the first set from being exhausted.

(superset)
Shrugs
315 x 30
405 x 20, 2 sets
315 x 30, 5 sets

Pull-ups
25 (chin-ups)
wide-grip x failure, 6 sets

Brent wins under same conditions :'(

Hammer curls:
(wt. x reps per arm)
75 x 8
90 x 6, 8, 7

5-26

P. Sn. Bel Kn. 72/4 82/2 x 5
Snatch 78/2 88/2 x 2 100/1 102/1 105/1 100/1 102/1 105/1
Sn. Pull. Bel. Kn. 88/4 x 2 102/3 x 2 110/2 x 3
Jerk 110/2 x 2 100/2


Came back tonight and did:

Back squat 100/4 110/4 150/5 x 3
Bench 185/3 x 5 I wish this was kg

So as you can see I have added in bench. This is for two reasons. 1) So, should I feel like it, I can compete in powerlifting without looking like a total pussy, and 2) So my upper body looks like it actually has muscle. Today I took it light (although I wasn't sure how "light" this would be. I was pleasantly surprised) because I want to avoid any pec soreness while I get used to benching again. For the first weeks I'll keep it light, then I'll start looking into how Sheiko programs bench training more and turn my bench training into a watered-down Sheiko-style program. I'm not really the afraid of bench hurting my training because the jerk is my weakness, so any additional upper body strength I gain should be advantageous. Besides, some weightlifters have pretty huge benches (in the heavier weight classes at least).

Not really sure how to incorporate deadlift into all this, considering like 80% of my training is pulling as it is...

Week C #1

Gear:
Belt (squat + pull)

SHoulder-Stance Back Squat:
385 x 4
375 x 4
365 x 3 (man, ran out quick)

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
315 x 4
295 x 5
275 x 5

Conventional Deadlift:
466 x 2

Standing OVerhead Press:
185 x 5/5/5

This was actually pretty good considering how hectic my weekend was.

ME Squat

Banded Box Squat (14" w/purples): 155x3
175x1
185x1
195x1
205x1
215x1
235x1 PR

Goodmornings: 135x5
155x5
185x5, 5, 5

Sumo SLDL: 220x10
242x10, 10

GHR Abs: BWx10
50x10, 10

Weighed 214 today. My appetite has taken a hit after my illness a couple weeks ago, but it is pretty much back. I want to weigh about 225 by the end of the quarter, so I need to get on this. The box squats were good today, and Terence said my form looked good on all of them. The GM's I took slow and focused on form. The sumo sldl felt pretty good too.

Squat Trening

Squat:
424 X 3 (straps down w/knee wraps)

Front Squat:
185 X 7
225 X 5
265 X 4
275 X 3
Wrapped knees lightly.

Calves on Leg Press
Hamstring Curls

Chain Drag Around Block:
X 1 backwards
X 1 forwards

Squat

Squat:
275 x 8
315 x 5
335 x 5
355 x 5
375 x 5

All of these felt pretty solid and form was much better than last week. I was planning to try 405, but my right hamstring felt a little tender and I want to make sure that heals up.

Hang Cleans:
Did a few full cleans, but too much on the hamstring. Switched to hang clean

145 x 5
155 x 5
165 x 5, 2 sets

At this point the gym got crazy busy because it was closing in an hour, so we did whatever we could.

Superset of adductors, leg extensions, calf extensions. Finished with bridges.

Squats

5/25/09

Squats

185 x 5

185 x5

195 x 5

205 x 5

Power Cleans

139 x 5

149 x 4

149 x 5

Calves superset Leg Extensions

Ab Bridges

MEET REPORT

Today was a lesson in meet preparation.

• Making weight Success. Weight: 198.

...Or 190? I was a few lbs under but the scale was heavy, so I came in at 198.2-ish. But the meet director misread the scale and put me down as 190, so that was my official weight. Go figure.

• Gaining it back

This went fairly well. I drank a gallon of water and a gatorade immediately after weigh in, then proceeded to eat/drink myself through the rest of the day. Went to all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ for dinner, which was awesome. I felt pretty good, although maybe not 100%.

• Day of the meet

Hot and sunny, as expected. This was a little draining but I felt decent in terms of tiredness through warm ups. My left hip had been bothering me all week long, so it was a little distracting, but I don't think it was a significant factor.

  The suit fit tight, but I wasn't feeling the blood pressure rush to my head. So I'm not sure what that says about my hydration/body weight.

  My flight was 18 lifters, which wasn't optimal, but I don't think it was a big factor.

• Warm ups 135x5, 225x4, 315x3, 385x2, add suit, 425x2, 475x2, 520x1

These felt great. Some coach that we were warming up with was using me as an example of good form for his lifter.  :)  Jake said that my upper back was rounding on the first rep for 425 and 475, but I corrected this on 520 and smoked it. I was feeling really good.

• First attempt 562 (255 kg) x miss

...And then we switched to a real deadlift bar on the platform. After this miss, I knew I was in a lot of trouble. The deadlift bar is much longer and I think a little thinner, and this means that it flexes a TON. You first pull for a little while and then it finally comes off the floor. If you aren't prepared for the rebound, it then proceeds to wobble around a lot and eventually you drop it.

• Second attempt 562 (255 kg) x 1

Managed to change technique to account for the flex in the bar, but there was still a point where the bar whiplashed and it messed me up. Spectators said it looked easy, but through the mid point it felt quite difficult. Basically, I had to pull very slowly off the ground until it came up and use the rebound to explode. I only half did this, but it wasn't how I'd been training so it felt pretty bad.

• Third attempt 603 (273.5 kg) x miss

Wasn't much hope for this. I got it off the ground but not much more than that. Changing to a slow pull off the floor totally killed my set up for the rest of the lift, and I wasn't even close to locking it out. I'd say I got it just a few inches off the ground. I also was only half mentally engaged for the lift --- missing the opener and feeling awkward with the second really messed with my head.

• Recap

I need to find some way to train with the equipment that will be there on meet day. Or at least account for it in my attempts (lower them). Does the Gold's at Fenway have a deadlift bar?

  Today was my first 2 misses (where I was actually mentally engaged and prepared) in a very long time (since I started Sheiko). It wasn't a pleasant experience, but it was clear immediately that I was ill-prepared for the meet and there wasn't much I could do about it.

  Based on warm ups, I think if I had been able to stick with a stiff bar like I'm used to, I would have got this weight. But it wasn't in the cards today. This is pretty clear to me considering I made 570 my bitch a few weeks ago in training, but failed 562 today.

  Thanks to Brent, Jake, and Dean for helping me warm up and helping with the attempts. And thanks to Dee, Ita, Alex, etc. for coming out to watch.

Fund. prep. Stage 1

P. Sn. 67/6 78/4 88/2 x 3
Sn. Pull 100/4 x 2 110/2 x 4
Jerk 95/3 x 4
Front Squat 95/4 127/3 x 4
BTN Press 52 x 4, 55 x 4, 57 x 4 59 x 2

Bench

5/24/09

Bench

195 x 5

195 x 5

195 x 5

195 x 5

205 x 5 (PR -- pre-powerlifting 175 x 5)

Decline Bench

195 x 5

200 x 5 (the weight was loaded unevenly but I didn't notice until the 4th rep)

215 x 3

225 x 3 (PR -- pre-powerlifting 185 x 3)

Parallel Grip Skull Crushers

65 x 8

65 x 8

75 x 8

75 x 5

Pullups Superset Shoulder Shrugs

Forgotten bench

showed up late, had to skip ending sets
Bench:
2 second pause
275 x 5, 2 sets

Decline Bench:
275 x 5
295 x 5
315 x 4 + 1 fail
335 x 1 + 1 fail
325 x 3

Military Press:
(originally going to skull cruzhers, but tricep tendon is still irritated)
135 x 10
185 x 5
195 x 4
135 x 10

Pull ups:
bw x 31 (HI BRENT)
bw x 24
bw x 19

Shrugs:
405 x 20
495 x 8 + 8 (knurling sucks on the wooden bars)
455 x 15

beNch Trening

Bench Press:
275 X 2
295 X 2
275 X 4

Incline Bench Press:
225 X 5
225 X 5
205 X 8
135 X 23

Standing Overhead Press
Skullcrushers
Rear Delt Machine
Side Lateral Raises
Cable Pressdowns
Abs

Highland Games

Hey, so I guess the UCLA representation is Dave, Gary, Phil, and myself. What time do we need to be there is the morning to check in and stuff? It says the whole fair starts at 9, so is that it?

Pull

Starting the triples phase of the program. Used the Inzer Fusion with straps down.
Deadlift:
474 X 3

Dumbbell Rows:
worked up to 125s X 20 (each arm w/straps)
really tiring doing these for reps

Pullups:
BW X 30
BW X 28
BW X 20
BW X 22
100 reps total

Bent Over Rows
EZ Bar Curls
Dumbbell Curls

Press

Overhead Press: 95x5
105x5
120x5, 5

Pull-up: 10, 8, 5

Dip: 12, 10, 7

Chin-up: 9, 4

Well, I took Phil's advice and did only these exercises. The result? A damn good workout. I think with the addition of Bench, this would make a pretty good DE day.

Deadlift

Deadlift
warmup
(belt on)
369 x 1 + 1 fail right above the knees PR
I got a little ambitious with the weight selection.

Back raises
BW x 50, 50, 50

Deadlifts

5/21/09

Deadlifts

worked up to

375 x 1 + 2 fail (PR)

first rep was fast and felt easy

Speed Pulls

band-resisted with reds

155 x 3

205 x 3

245 x 3

Good Mornings

185 x 6

225 x 6

225 x 6

Band-Resisted GHR Abs superset Medicine Ball

Leggs

Low-pin Zerchers:
Dropped these so I was about at parallel with a wide stance. This is about 4" below where I would set up for a sumo.

275 x 7
315 x 7
365 x 1
315 x 5, 4 sets

365 was much harder than I expected. Things felt much easier at the end, so perhaps it was just getting used to the positioning.

Speed pulls:
155 x 3,
205 x 3
245 x 3, 5 sets

Kept it light for recovery

Good Mornings:
135 x 10
225 x 6

Right hamstring has been bothering me for a week, but got really aggravated on these, so I stopped. The good news is that the lower back feels fine.

Did a quick circuit of free-motion calf extensions, adductors and abductors for groin stretching.

Finished with band-resisted GHR abs + ball toss.

LAST TWO WORKOUTS

▼ 1. 5/21/09 - Thu - SHEIKO #26

Weight: 210. At Wooden, so this is 'official' weight. This was after a workout that I drank a lot of water at.

• Squat 135x5x4, 225x3 (50), 275x3x2 (60), 325x2x3 (70)

• Bench 155x3 (50), 180x3x2 (60), 210x2x3 (70)

▼ 2. 5/20/09 - Wed - CARDIO

• Cardio - bike 45 mins

Proper way to miss a squat

http://weightliftingexchange.com/index.php?option=com_smf&Itemid=39&topic=5416.0

KATANA Trening

Still having some trouble getting lighter weights to touch.

Shirted Bench:
295 X 2 (shirt seater)
325 X 2 (~3 board)
350 X 1 (~2 board)
355 X 1 (1-2 inches from chest)
365 X 1 (touch and go off chest)
I had to sacrifice my form and break my wrist a bit at ~1 inch from my chest in order to get the 365 to touch.

Flat Dumbbell Press:
80s X 10
90s X 8
100s X 8
110s X 7

Raw 4 Board Press:
275 X 6
295 X 8
295 X 9

Cable Pressdowns
Rolling Dumbbell Extensions
Plate Raises
Band Pull Aparts

RE Bench

My pecs were painfully sore right where they insert into the sternum. Maybe this is from the pull-overs? I haven't experienced soreness there like I did today.

Bench:
2 second pause
255 x 8
245 x 8, 2 sets

Foam-rolled Bench:
1 second pause
315 x 5
335 x 5
345 x 5
365 x 5 (no pause)

Floor Press:
245 x 5 (too light; my fault)
255 x 5
265 x 4
245 x 7

I seem to just hit a wall on these at some point. Rep x will be easy, but x+1 will be impossible.

Front Deltoid Raises:
db x reps per arm
35 x 8
40 x 8
45 x 6
50 x 6

Bench

Bench (2 second pause)
135 x 8, 8, 8
Felt drained and hungry after these and started craving for a chicken sandwich.

Foam press
175 x 5
185 x 4 + 1fail
175 x 3 + 1fail
165 x 5

Floor press
165 x 5, 4, 4

Laterals
20s x 12, 12, 12

Pushdowns
110 x 20, 15, 15

Bench

5/20/09

Bench

2 second pause each rep

155 x 8

165 x 8

175 x 8

Bench off Foam Roller

195 x 5

205 x 5

215 x 5

225 x 4

Floor Press

185 x 5

195 x 5

195 x 4

Side Raises superset Front Raises

20 x 8

20 x 8

27.5 x 4

27.5 x 4

DE Squat - Advanced Technology

So before my box squats, I was re-locating one of the plyo boxes. I was stopped by a Wooden trainer who asked me where I was going with the box. I replied "to the squat racks to do box squats" and started to walk away. He ran after me, and proceeded to tell me that rearranging the equipment was not allowed (turns out he was the manager -John?). I argued with him for a bit and he backed down provided that this was the last time. He also said that "they would get right on finding the wood box" that dissappeared from the gym. BS.

Box Squat: 165x2x10
185x2
205x2
225x2
245x2 PR

Sumo DL (a bit rusty on these): 275x3
295x1x6

Seated GM: 135x8
155x8, 8

Week B #2

Gear:
NOne / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
275 x 5/5/5

Conventional Deadlift:
365 x 5/5/5

Dumbbell Bench Press:
135s x 5/5/5

Chin-ups:
BW x 6/5/5

Nice and easy session. Had to deadlift since my mid-back is sore as hell right now, and that's where all the power clean pull comes from. In general, need to stop beating myself up so much.

Upper Back

Wide grip lat pulldowns
190 x 8
200 x 8
210 x 6

Cable rows
170 x 8, 8, 8, 8

Dumbbell shrugs - haven't done these in a while
95s x 30, 20, 20

Rear delt machine
130 x 10, 10, 10

SHEIKO #25

Weight: 207 (after lifting, before cardio, hydrated). Time: 1:30.

  Took my time with everything today since I was stuck at gym for a while waiting for a ride back home.

• Bench 45x5x2, 150x3 (50), 180x3x2 (60), 210x2x2 (70), 225x1x4 (75)

Arch pinches my back bad.

▼ Deadlift 135x5x3, 225x3, 275x3 (50), 335x3x2 (60), 385x2x4 (70)

Took lots of time to foam roll and stretch, etc. Forgot my belt also, but it wasn't a big deal. Also had no chalk, who cares.

• Foam rolling

• Cardio - bike 140-150 bpm x 25 mins

Watched Laker game. Go Lakers.

kcab

Latt Pull Downn:
250 x 10
295 x 8, 8, 7, 9

Pull Overs:
250 x 10
295 x 10
340 x 6, 5

Reverse Flyes:
205 x 10
250 x 10
280 x 8
295 x 6

Standing Curl:
w/ cambered barr

100 x 10
130 x 10
150 x 5
130 x 8

Finished with some cable abs. Lower back feels 95% on theses, which is a good improvement.

ME Press

Was a little stir-crazy this afternoon, so I decided to go and lift early.

Push Press: 132x3
142x3
155x1, 1
165x1 PR

Seated Overhead Pin Press (eye level): 135x3x5 <-- This is my sticking point

Pull-up: 8, 8 ; Chin-up: 6, 5

Cable Row: 150x12, 12

Pushup/GHR Abs (45lbs) Superset: 20/10, 20/10

A good workout today. The last time I did push presses, I failed at 145, so good progress. All of the push presses were power cleaned (although it looked more like a continental) from the floor to get a little extra back work in there.

Squat

Squat
205 x 5, 5, 5

Pause Squats (5 second count)
175 x 2
175 x 1 + 1 fail

Power Cleans
129 x 5
149 x 5
159 x 4
169 x 3

Standing Abs
100 x 10, 10
110 x 10

squat trening

5 weeks of training left before the AAU meet. time to quit dicking around.

I'm doing a squat program similar to my deadlift program that calls for a progressively heavier triple each week, let's hope it works just as well.

Squat (straps down, no wraps):
391 X 3

S-S Low Box Squats (RAW):
245 X 4
275 X 4
295 X 3
295 X 3
315 X 2
265 X 8

Hamstring Curls
Calves on Leg Press

Dragged 70lbs of chain around the block:
1 time backwards
1 time forwards

LAST TWO CARDIO DAYS

▼ 1. 5/18/09 - Mon - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: 206. Time: 0:40.

  This weight is after a workout according to the scale in the gym. My home scale says 204, and according to that scale I was 199 this morning (hydration cycle has started to kick in -- 204 yesterday morning and 204 after today's breakfast). So I should be able to easily make weight and I'm going to make sure I get enough to eat this whole week. I'll be using Wooden's scale to make sure I hit 198 on Sat morning before weigh-in.

• Cardio - bike 30 mins

• Flexibility - calves on leg press, hamstrings, seated groin, hip flexors

• Foam roll - back

• Ice knees

▼ 2. 5/17/09 - Sun - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: ?? (no reliable scale). Time: 0:40.

  Back home in LA ...

• Cardio - bike 30 mins

• Flexibility - calves on leg press, hamstrings, seated groin, hip flexors

• Foam roll - back

Last 3 workouts

5-14(?)

P. Sn. 72/3 85/3 x 3
Snatch 78/3 90/2 x 2 102/1,1, 105-miss
Sn. Pull 90/5 102/3 x 2
BTN Press 50x5 55x5 50x5


5-16

C&J 95/1+2 110/1 x 2 125/1 x 3 missed the second jerk
Back squat 160/2?

5-18

P. Sn. Ab. Kn. 80/3 x 4
Snatch 80/2 90/2 x 5 missed the second snatch of the first rep
Back squat 140/2 150/2 160/2 x 4
BTN Press 52 x 5 55 x 5,4,2

Solo Effort Squat

No one else showed up today? Pretty unexpected...

Squat:
warmed up slowwww. 135 x 10, 185 x 10, 225 x 10, 275 x 10
315 x 10, 4 sets

Wooden was ruthlessly humid and my legs were so pumped i felt pretty nauseous. Actually it might have been the food as well. My pre-workout, at-school dinners have been making me feel pretty nasty lately.

The squats themselves were so-so. My form has suffered from not squatting for 2 months. I am also self conscious about hitting the hole like I'm used to which is throwing off my explosion at the bottom. The weights still felt light, but I need to improve.

Front Squats:
225 x 5
245 x 6, 5
185 x 10

Decided to go light to help my knee recover and to avoid having the FSH push my abs and cause me to boot all over.

High Pulls:
235 x 3
205 x 5, 3 sets

Finished with repeated sets til failure of hyperextensions. Just trying to get some blood in my lower back in case I messed it up again today. Also did some transversus. Another guy wanted to try them out, which was fun. He got the movement right away but he was sucking wind pretty hard after each set. I think it's a good exercise, especially if you're not used to it.

Week B #1

Gear:
Belt (squat)

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
365 x 1
385 x 3
365 x 4/4/4

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
325 x 1
335 x 1/1/1
305 x 4

Stiff-Leg Deadlifts w/ Quarter Plates:
355 x 3/3

Standing Overhead Press:
195 x 5/5/5

This sucked complete ass. Sleep has been screwed up and I drove 12 hours over the weekend. Started bad and got worse. Oh wells.

ME Squat

My upper back was tired from yesterday and post-flu weakness lingers on...

Front Squat: 185x3
205x1
225xFailx2
185x4, 4, 3

GM: 155x10, 10, 10

Decline Abs: 70x10, 10

bench trening

Narrow Grip Bench Press:
275 X 4
275 X 3
275 X 4 (4th was a grinder)

Incline Dumbbell Press:
80s X 8
90s X 8
100s X 8
100s X 5

Decline Bench Press:
225 X 10 (regular grip)
225 X 10 (wide grip)
Thought I was a bodybuilder but then realized I wasn't.

Arnold Dumbbell Press
Incline Skullcrushers
Cable Pressdowns

Bench Evaluation

5/16/09

I had to evaluate my bench press strength and endurance for Phy Sci 5...

One Rep Max

115 x 5

135 x 4

175 x 3

195 x 2

215 x 1

225 x 1

235 x 0 not sure why I failed this one, next set felt easy

235 x 1 tied previous PR

245 x 0 x 2 fail

Here are the somewhat arbitrary strength (1 RM) ratios (bench weight to body weight) for a 20-29 year-old:

Excellent > 1.26; Good 1.17-1.25; Average 0.97-1.16; Fair 0.88-0.96; Poor <0.87

Mine: 1.47

Endurance Test

185 x 8 (80% of 1 RM) (possibly PR)

Again somewhat arbitrary ratings for muscular endurance:

Good: >= 10 reps; Fair: 7-9 reps; Poor <= 6 reps

Overall not terrible numbers -- somewhat disappointed that my max didn't go up, but I think the endurance test set was a PR.

Band-Lightened Bench

red bands

225 x 4

Arnold Press superset Shoulder Shrugs superset Seated Rows

45 x 6 x 2 180 x 12 x 2 160 x 8 x 2

SE Bench

Bench:
no pause
275 x 1
315 x 1
335 x fail
325 x 1

Not sure what happened. 315/325 felt easy. I think I just gave up too soon on the 335. Not really in a great lifting mood today.

Band-lightened bench:
purples
315 x 5 (easy)
365 x 4
bands were too uneven (stretching?), switched to pinks
315 x 5 (pause on 1-3)
315 x 4 (pause on 1-2)
315 x 5 (no pause)

got stuck on the second set of pinks. Right arm feels like it's consistently dragging with the bands. I need to video tape to see if I'm doing this normally and the bands are just highlighting the imbalance.


Finished with a super set of:
seated rows, stack x 10, 4 sets
Arnold press: 75 x 8, 80 x 8, 85 x 5, 6
Shrugs: 4 sets of whatever

and then some weighted GHR abs. Not really pleased with my work out today.

Press

Standing Overhead Press: 110x4, 4, 4
120x2, 2, 2
132x1, 1

Ez-Bar Push Press: 95x5
105x5
115x5, 5

BB Row: 155x10x4
185x5, 5

Rev. Grip Bench: 135x10, 10

Parallel Bar Curls: 20's x 12, 12

HS Shrugs: 3px20, 20
4px12

GHR Abs: 45x10, 10

Well, my elbow is still jacked up but I am not sick anymore. I have lost some weight, which I will need to gain back pronto. Since overhead pressing (seated or standing) does not hurt my elbow, I will be doing a lot of that for the next few weeks. Dave recommended no triceps isolation to try and let the muscle heal. It should get plenty of work from the presses. I think on Wednesdays I will do Seated Pressing and on Saturday I will do Standing Pressing along with the usual lats/traps/arms exercises (the ones that don't aggravate it). Hopefully when I go back to benching again, all of this work will have a positive carryover.

LAST THREE WORKOUTS

▼ 1. 5/16/09 - Sat - SHEIKO #24

Weight: 206. Time: 1:15. This weight is a little misleading, as I was fairly dehydrated. I was back to 208 after the workout.

  Really starting to deload now. Easiest workout ever.

• Squat 45x5, 135x5x4, 225x3 (50), 275x3x2 (60), 325x2x2 (70), 345x2x3 (75)

• Bench 155x3 (50), 180x3 (60), 210x3x2 (70), 225x2x4 (75)

▼ 2. 5/15/09 - Fri - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

• Stretching - gastroc, soleus, hamstrings, lower back, seated groin, hip flexors

• Cardio - bike 40 mins

▼ 3. 5/14/09 - Thu - SHEIKO #23

• Bench 155x3 (50), 180x3 (60), 210x3x2 (70), 240x2x5 (80)

• Dips BWx8x4

• Deadlift 135x5x5, 225x3, 275x3 (50), 335x3x2 (60), 385x3 (70), add suit, 420x3 

(70), 450x2x5 (75)

Last day in suit. Reset fully between reps, seems to make lower back do better. Still using overhand grip until putting on suit.

• Good mornings 135x5x4

Deadlift Trening

I started the Ed Coan program last week after resetting my max at 551. For this cycle, I'm going to add my gear.
Deadlift (last week):
429 X 5 w/straps down

Deadlift (today):
451 X 5 w/straps down

Dumbbell Rows:
80s X 10 (each arm)
95s X 10
110s X 10
125s X 10
140s X 10
150s X 10

Weighted Pull Ups
GHR
Biceps

Deadlifts

5/15/09

Deadlifts

worked up to

349 x 3 (slight hitch on last rep)

Zerchers off pins

225 x 5

225 x 5

245 x 5

245 x 5

Seated Good Mornings

135 x 7 x 4

Ball Twists

3 sets

Pretty Amazing

All-time Raw Powerlifting Records. Great to see how everyone stacks up. It also underscores what a goddamn beast John Kuc was (especially because he was supposedly drug free and over 6 feet in height @ 242).

Week C #2

Gear:
None / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
325 x 5/5/5

Standing Overhead Press:
221 x 4/4/3

Power Cleans:
221 x 3/3/3 (easy-peasy)

Dips:
BW+70 x 8/7 (left hand started cramping)

SO HUNGRY during this. Went to In-N-Out immediately after and got a 4x4.

SELECT workout_title FROM day WHERE lift = 'zercher';

Zercher:
Middle pin.

405 x 5
495 x 5
545 x 2 (ughh)
495 x 5, 3 sets

These nearly cramp my pecs up. It's a weird feeling.

Finished with standing hamstring curls, seated good mornings, stretching and ball twist abs.

Deadlift

Deadlift
warmup
(belt on)
359 x 3 PR -hitched the 2nd rep and megahitched the 3rd
I felt dehydrated and tired when I started warming up but somehow I still got the weight up.

Stiff legged deads
175 x 8
195 x 8
207 x 8, 8

GHR abs
BW x 20, 20, 20, 20

bench trening

Threw on the shirt to work on breaking the sucker in more and to stay in the groove.

Bench Press:
295 X 2 (shirt seater)
325 X 2 (~.5 inch away from 3 board)
335 X 1 (~1 inch away from 2 board)
350 X 2 (~1 inch away from 1 board)
365 X 1 (~.5 inch away from 1 board)
365 X 1 (touch off 1 board)
All reps were speedy. I am hoping to open somewhere around 353lb for the next meet. Still got a lot of work to do breaking this thing in.

Bench Press off Foam Roller w/140lbs of Chains:
185 X 5
205 X 5
225 X 4
205 X 8

Standing Overhead Press
Barbell Skullcrushers off Floor
Weighted Dips for Reps
Front Lateral Raises
Cable Triceps

This guy offered Spencer $50 to drag the 140lbs of chains up the street, down our back alley, and back to the gym without stopping. Spencer did it, but said it was one of the hardest things he has done.

Bench

Standing overhead press
135 x 1
145 x fail x 2
140 x fail
135 x 1
140 x 1

Close grip bench (2 second pause)
135 x 5
145 x 5
155 x 3 + 2 fails
145 x 3 + 1 fail

Machine pec flyes
130 x 12
145 x 10, 10, 10

Flat dumbbell press
50s x 10
55s x 6
50s x 7, 6

Two major points to help my bench press:
1) Get better at dumbbell presses.
2) Grow a thick mustache.

Bench

5/13/09

Military Press

worked up to

135 x 1 (PR)

145 x fail

140 x fail

135 x 1

Close-Grip Bench

2 second pause each rep

155 x 5

165 x 5

175 x 3 + 2 fail

165 x 5

One Arm Tricep Extension

22.5 x 8 x 4

Dumbbell Bench

65 x 5

70 x 5

75 x 5

previous PR 75 x 0

80 x 5

85 x 1 + 1 fail

got some leg drive into it for the next set

85 x 5

90 x 2 + 1 fail

ME Standing Press

Standing Press:
155 x 3
185 x 1
195 x 1
205 x 1
215 x 2
205 x 1, 5 sets

Apparently, the elite is 218. Should've used the 2.5s and just gotten it over with.

Also, I feel like I'm going to pass out from these as soon as I set the weight down. Is that normal?

Close-grip Bench:
2-second pause

225 x 5
235 x 5
225 x 5, 2 sets

Cable Triceps:
Right elbow tendon was feeling irritated, so tried to use the cable. (did it on the lat pull down station, so it's the actual weight)

100 x 10
110 x 10

Still felt it mildly, so switched to flyes.
Machine Flyes:
Douchie LaRue was taking 2 minutes per set with like 150, which pissed me off.
stack x 15
stack x 12

Dumbbell Bench:
95s x 10, 7, 8, 8

Pretty exhausted by these. Haven't been taking any creatine lately, which maybe is why.

Bench Accessory

DB Bench (neutral): 70x10, 10, 10
80x8 PR

Lat Pulldown: 140x10
150x10
180x5, 5, 5, 5, 5

Military Press: 95x10, 10 PR

Barbell Shrugs: 225x8
275x8, 8, 8

Cable Rows: 140x15, 15, 15

Parallel Bar Skull Crushers: 10'sx20
15'sx20, 10, 8

Sandbag GPP

My elbow still kinda hurts, and to top that off I have been having digestive issues this week. The good thing is that the military presses, high rep extensions, cable rows, and shrugs don't really hurt, so I will keep doing more of these.

Upper Back

31 minute workout:

Wide grip pullups
BW x 16, 13, 9, 9

Dumbbell rows
95 x 10, 8, 8

Smith machine shrugs (thumbless)
270 x 15, 15, 15

USAPL CA Games

So the USAPL is running powerlifting at the California Games. I think I'm going to do this meet instead of the AAU Vista meet (and the USPF Sept. meet). Seems more legit, and I don't feel like wasting another $80 for USPF/AAU membership cards. Gary's in.

Week C #1

Gear:
None / no belt

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
355 x 4
335 x 5
315 x 5

Medium-Grip Bench Press:
305 x 5 (ludicrously easy)
295 x 5
275 x 5

Stiff-Leg DLs w/ Quarter Plates:
355 x 5

Standing Overhead Press:
199 x 5/5

So lower back was still tired, but everything else felt great. Should be back in the saddle on Monday.

GPP

5/12/09

8 x 100m

30lb sandbags each arm

5 sets of stadiums

30lb sandbags each arm

4 Sets of Pullups

4 x 100m

30lb sandbags each arm

And yes, Alex did come back with a watermelon (16 lbs).

GPP

went to the track. Ran 8 x 100m with 30lbs of sandbags in each arm. Pretty decent workout after a few trips. Then we did 5 sets of stairs. Then 4 x 100m with the sandbags again. Knee felt good until the last set of stairs, then it became irritated when I put my heel down first. Ice + vitamin-I tonight.

SHEIKO #22

Weight: 210 (this was after gym, not in the morning...but still worrisome). Time: 2:00.

  Felt better today but still not 110%.

• Squat 135x5x4, 225x3 (50), 275x3 (60), 325x3x2 (70), 370x2x5 (80)

Felt pretty good about these. As in they felt easy and pain-free.

• Bench 155x3 (50), 180x3 (60), 210x3x2 (70), 240x2x3 (80), 255x1x3 (85)

Got a shot in my arm today so it feels a little weird. But bench went well.

• Dips BWx8x4

5-11, 5-12

5-11
Power clean 100/2 x 3
Cl. pull + clean 100/2+1
C&J 100/1+2 x 2

Tried to clean and jerk 115 and failed. Decided to call it quits.

5-12
Finished the workout:

Clean and jerk 115 - 1,miss,miss,1,1
Jerk 100/3 105/2+miss
Clean pull ab. kn. 123/4 135/2 x 2 150/2 150/1 x 2

Came back tonight and did:

Back squat 405 - 2+miss,1+miss,1+miss,miss

Disappointed in these workouts. I think the 170 5x5 must've got me harder than I thought, plus the BTN jerks on Saturday also must've messed me up. I'm going to keep the weight I do at 184 and just build up to 4x4 by the end of the cycle. I'll be quite happy with that. I'm not that disappointed since I just realized that 405 is 184, so I'm using more than I should. But I like doing 4 plates.

Squats

squats
315x5

box squats
315x2x2

band-resisted box squats
315x2
335x2
355x2
365x2(slow so I dropped weight)
335x2x2
315x2x4

pause squats
275x2 5 second pause
295x2 5 second pause
315x2 Dave counted and he started in the negatives and went to 5. That tricky bastard

Box jumps and transverse superset
1x6 on the second highest box
2x5-6 on the highest box

Did the stack on transverse twice, tiring
92.5 2 sets of whatever

Squat

Squat
warmup
(belt on)
225 x 5 PR - last 2 reps slow

Pause Squats (5 second count)
165 x 2
175 x 2

Power Cleans
131 x 5
161 x 4
181 x 1 PR
201 x 1 high pull (aka failed power clean)

Standing abs
100 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Squats

5/11/09

Band-Resisted Box Squats

purple bands, 2 reps each set

135, 155, 155, 155, 155, 165, 165, 165, 165, 175 x fail

Pause Squats

5 second reps, 2 reps each set

175, 175, 175

was easier after I moved my stance slightly closer together

Transverse superset Box Jumps

Front Squat Day

Knees are feeling kind of tender these days. I think all the front squatting and lunging is taking its toll. [Insert Bill Starr article link here]

Front Squat:
275 x 5
315 x 5
335 x 5
345 x 5
355 x 5

Nearly passed out after the 355. The front squat harness reallllly digs into the abs as the weight goes up. Great for ab training, horrible for catching your breath.

Powarr Cleans:
165 x 5
195 x 5
223 x FAIL x 4 (could not get it up the last 2" to get under it)
+ 195 x 3 (immediately after)
195 x 3

Finished with box jumps + transversus

ME Squat

Back Squat (raw): 225x3
245x2
275x1
285x1
295x1 PR

Front Squat: 155x3
165x5, 4 (Terence made me laugh), 5

GM: 145x10, 10, 10

GHR Abs: 35x15, 15

and some Calves

The 295 was a big PR, and I am 95% sure that it was depth. I feel like box squatting has really improved my squatting form as the squats felt a lot smoother. I think I may try to incorporate free squatting a bit more.

5-9

P. Cl. Ab. Kn 87/4 102/2 x 3
BTN Jerk 95/2 110/2 x 3 123- 1,2,2,2 125/1 127 - 2 x miss
back squat 140/2 150/2 160/2 Couldn't squat any more than that.

Monday = 405 4 x 4. That will be the most I've ever squatted, x4. Unless I die.

LAST THREE DAYS

▼ 1. 5/10/09 - Sun - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: 208. Time: 1:00.

• Cardio - bike 40 mins

• Flexibility - gastroc, hamstrings, groin

▼ 2. 5/9/09 - Sat -SHEIKO #21

Time: 2:00.

  This day was extremely difficult. I definitely need the rest period before the meet...thankfully, its coming. :)

• Bench 155x3 (50), 180x3 (60), 210x3x2 (70), 240x3x5 (80)

• Squat 45x5, 135x5x4, 225x3 (50), 275x3x2 (60), 325x3x2 (70), 370x3x6 (80)

• Bench 155x4 (50), 180x4 (60), 210x4x4 (70)

• Dumbell bench 50x10x5

• Good morning 135x5x5

▼ 3. 5/8/09 - Fri - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Back felt a little beat up from deads, so I took extra long on the stretching.

• Cardio - bike 40 mins

• Stretching - everything for a long time

Flu Effort Bench

Still sick, but feeling better.

Incline Bench:
185 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 3
265 x 3
275 x 2

Right shoulder felt a little funny, so I stopped.

Arnold Press:
(throwing a little variation in on the shoulder work)
70 x 8
80 x 8
85 x 6
85 x 5

Stability Bench:
65s x 10
65s + 25s x 3 (ughhh)
65s + 15s x 10
65s + 25s x 6

Finished with 4 sets of pull ups and light cable flyes for prehab work.

Bench

5/9/09

Incline Bench

hit triples up to

175 x 3

185 x 2 + 1 fail

175 x 2 + 1 fail

definitely all PR's

Arnold Press

50 x 5

50 x 6

45 x 7

45 x 6

Stability Bench

45lb dumbbells purple bands

5 reps

7 reps

6 reps

45lb dumbbells purple bands + 15lb dumbbells blue bands

2 reps + 1 fail

Flyes superset Pullups

Week B #3: The Walking Dead

Gear:
Belt (squat + pull)
APT Knee Sleeves

Shoulder-Stance Back Squat:
405 x 1
435 x 1/1
415 x 1
405 x 1
365 x 3

Standing Overhead Press:
215 x 4/4/3
235 x 1
185 x 5

Conventional Rack Pull @ Below Knee:
455 x 3
485 x 2
505 x 2
525 x 1

Dips:
BW+45 x 8/8/8

Sleep has been really shitty this week (a sign of over-training). Thankfully, the Rack Pulls went well. Backing the hell off next week and hit it hard in two weeks.

Deadlift

Deadlift
(belt on)
349 x 4 PR - hitched the last rep
263 x 5
I watched the video Dave took on his camera and was pretty disappointed to see how bad the arch in my lower back was (non-existent).

Good mornings
135 x 8
145 x 8
155 x 8
165 x 6
Left knee hurts when I do these.

Back extensions
BW x 75
BW+purple band x 50

GHR abs
2 sets

Deadlifts

5/7/09

Deadlifts

345 x 4 (previous PR 1 rep)

253 x 5 (form set)

Good-Mornings

225 x 5

245 x 5

SHEIKO#20

Weight: ?? Time: 2:40.

  Felt really really exhausted today. Nothing in particular was sore but I just felt tired and weak. Everything turned out alright though, I guess.

• Deadlift to knees 135x5x4, 225x3, 275x3 950), 330x2x2 (60), 355x2x2 (65), 385x1x3 (70)

• Bench 150x3 (50), 180x3 (60), 210x3x2 (70), 240x3x2 (80), 255x2x3 (85)

• Dumbell bench 50x10x5

• Deadlift 135x5x2, 225x3, 275x3 (50), 330x3 (60), 385x3 (70), add suit, 420x3 (70), 480x3x5 (80)

Danny pointed out that the straps weren't tight, and I have to agree that the straps aren't up to par. Its really annoying that after three tailoring the straps still don't fit.

RE Lunges

I feel very sick right now; like weak and achy all over. Probably shouldn't have gone tonight..

Lunges:
275 x 10, 4 sets

Did some light good mornings, then standing hamstring curls.

Hyperextensions
bw x 75
bw + purple x 50

Finished with some GHR abs. I could barely stand upright at the end. I blame Groundhogs Day.

5-7

P. Sn. + OHS 72/2+2 x 2 85/2+2 x 3
Snatch 80/3 x 3 90/2 x 4 missed very first one
Sn. Pull 102/2 x 3 112/2 x 3
Back squat 140/2 150/2 170 - 5, failed opn first rep of 2nd set


came back for:

Back squat 175 - 4+1 rest-paused the last rep. Then I realized I put on 385 (3 plates and a 35) instead of 375 (170kg), so I switched the weight and got:

Back squat 170 - 5,5,3+fail

Not bad. I'm excited for Monday when I get to try 405 4x4.

FREEstyle bench

Bench Press:
255 X 4
270 X 4
270 X 4
270 X 4

Floor Press w/140lb Chains:
chains were not completely off the ground at the top
135 X 3
155 X 3 (2 sets)
175 X 3 (2 sets)

Close Grip Press off Foam w/140lb Chains:
135 X 8
185 X 5 (3 sets)
155 X 10
On these I let the bar sink into the foam and then pressed it out. A bit of Westside action today.

Incline Skullcrushers
Cable Pressdowns
Plate Raises
Rear Delt Shit

I don't know who this is, but he's a badass and his quads are freakin jacked.

Bench

5/6/09

Bench

2 second pause each rep

215 x 2

205 x 2 + 1 semi-fail

195 x 3

175 x 5

175 x 5

last 2 sets too easy

Floor Press

185 x 5

185 x 5

155 x 8

155 x 10

last 2 sets too easy again

Military Press

95 x 6 x 4

feeling progress on these

Cable Tricep Extensions

finished up with high reps, low weight

Bench

Bench (2 second pause)
175 x 2
165 x 3, 3
155 x 5, 4

Floor press
165 x 5
175 x 4
135 x 8 -little too easy
155 x 7

With my floor press being stronger than my bench, the problem with my bench I guess is the first half of the movement off of the chest. I might start doing some dumbbell presses or if anyone else knows exercises that have helped their bench off the chest, I'm all ears.

Standing overhead press
95 x 7, 6, 4, 4

Rope pushdowns
130 x 10
100 x 15, 15

The past 4 weeks I've been resting on Saturdays instead of doing another bench workout and I think this extra recovery time has helped my bench improve slightly.

Bench

Bench:
w/ 2 second pause
295 x 2
285 x 3, 2 sets
275 x 5 (PR from last week somehow)
275 x 3 (going for 5)

Pretty good improvement today. I didn't feel that fresh going in (triceps still sore from saturday), but the benching all felt good. Maybe could have gotten 305 x 2.

Floor Press:
255 x 5
265 x 5
235 x 2 + 7 (bar misloaded at first)
225 x 10

Standing Press:
135 x 8
155 x 5
165 x 5, 2 sets

Thought I had 175 on the last set, but forgot to check.

Finished with some light, high-rep cable triceps for prehab. The right elbow still has a bit of tendonitis, but it's getting better.