7/25 Bench

Bench Press: 135x5
155x5
165x5
185x3
205x5 PR
185x5, 5 (2 second pause on chest)

Press Behind Neck: 95x10, 7, 5, 6, 9

Barbell Row: 165x10x5

Weight: 210

Well, my bench looks like it is headed in the right direction, and the weight I am losing is mostly water/fat. The only thing I think I have to change here is the Press Behind Neck. As awesome as this exercise feels for building my delts, it tears the hell out of my shoulder. It will be replaced next week by Seated Press.

Other changes will be the addition of Chin-ups on Tuesday, and the replacement of Shrugs with Leg Presses on Thursday.

Deadlift

Deadlift
warmup
315 x 3
335 x 1, 1
265 x 3, 3, 3
I'm trying to focus on keeping the lower back arch throughout the movement and I think because of this I'm finally learning how to push my hips through at the top.

Good mornings
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5

Lying leg curls
90 x 10, 10, 10

Hanging leg raises
4 x 15

The Return of BULL STEWART

Went to Bull's new place today. Very nice. He got business of the year award last year and tripled his gym membership since I last saw him. His new gym has a dedicated powerlifting room in the back with chalk, bands, ss-bar, hex-bar, and a front squat hardness. The wall back there is lined with team pictures too, which is awesome. Got the form for the Alki beach meet, so it looks like I'll be deadlifting in 4 weeks. We spent so much time talking that it was a bit of a rushed workout, haha. I'll probably try to train at Bull's place on Saturdays from now on.

Good Mornings:
365 x 5
405 x 5
435 x 5
455 x 5

This may or may not prove that my GM is better than my squat :/ Warming up, I did a bit of form adjustment and my back now feels much straighter and I'm able to get lower. The lower back did feel somewhat tired at the start, but 455 felt easy. This may have been because Bull was standing behind me with a "why do you need a spot on this?" look on his face.

Supersetted light (225) speed pulls with chest supported rows. Speed pulls felt so-so, as the lower back really was tired. I think last week's deadlifts took more out than expected since I haven't really gone that heavy in a while.

Then did a superset with kettlebell pull-throughs and hamstring curls.

Lighter day overall, need to keep strength up for my last deadlift before the meet, which will be next thurs. May do it suited just to see how that feels. If the suit is too lose, I'll see about getting it tailored.

f*ck wooden, i'm using chalk

Deadlift
310x1x3
360x1x3
380x3x2
360x1x3

Cleans
133x3
153x3
163x1
183x1
199x1
209xfail 3 times LOL
204x1

Stability Bench
135+30lb. dumbells x3x4


Seated Good Mornings
135x3x5

Abs


Today was an exhausting workout. I was tired today from a busy week, not getting as much sleep as normal, and doing spin class and playing basketball in Chucks (which is a terrible idea and I shall never do it again).

I was happy to increase my clean max. I tried putting on 5s and failed 3 times, so I got mad and just put on the 2.5s and hit it. I will work jerking next week.

Also, I ordered some weightlifting shoes via ebay.

Slogan for the the shoes is "Dominate the deadlift in the Nike Romanelo"
LOL. we think it's because "Dominate the snatch" just didn't cut it.

Also, I used chalk today. Luckily, no one bothered me. Jake, is it legal to rub a little chalk on the shoulders/chest? was doing it because of sweat...

7/22 & 7/23

▼ 1. 7/23/09 - Thu - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: 218 (after gym). Time: 1:00.

• Dumbell pullovers 40x10x3

Upper back has been hurting me for a few days now. This is a great stretch.

• Cardio - bike 130-150 bpm x 25 mins

A bit more intense than usual.

• Flexibility - soleus, adductor on leg press, hamstrings, hip flexors, seated groin, glute

I felt really flexible today -- maybe because I was more warmed up?

▼ 2. 7/22/09 - Wed - SHEIKO #17

Weight: ??. Time: 2:45.

  Had enough time to do everything today so I took my time without doing any supersets. This is usually the hardest day of the cycle, but not today.

• Drag sled 90x2 trips, 180x2 trips

• Bench 155x5 (50), 185x4 (60), 215x3x2 (70), 245x3x2 (80), 260x2x3 (85)

These felt pretty good, but not super-duper easy. Did press command for the last set.

• Deadlift 135x5x3, 225x3, 275x4 (50), 335x4 (60), 385x3x2 (70), 445x3x2 (80), 

465x2x3 (85)

These felt great.

• Bench 165x5 (65), 195x5 (65), 225x4x4 (75)

• Band flies green band x10x5

Can't decide if I like these or not. My pecs were feeling a little sore the next day.

• Lunges 135x5, 95x5x4

135 felt heavy so I dropped it back down.

7/23 Deadlift

Deadlift: 225x3
275x3
295x3
315x3
225x8, 8 (stiff-leg)

Shrugs: 275x10x5

Leg Press Calves: 400x25x2

Rainbow Dragonfly Ponies: 5x5

My arms are still sore from tuesday lol, so I guess I did something right. The deadlift poundages are still low b/c my back is still not 100%. I am trying to work everything else hard, so when I get my back up to par again (doing stiff legs with 308 for reps) I can have a bigger and better deadlift. Oh, and all of these are being done conventional.

bench trening

Bench Press w/chains:
185 + 44lbs chain X 4
185 + 76lbs chain X 4
185 + 108lbs chain X 4
185 + 140lbs chain X 2
185 + 108lbs chain X 5
185 + 140lbs chain X 3

Dumbbell Bench:
100 X 9 (3 sets)
actual weight of dumbbell is heavier (~107lbs)

4 Board Press:
275 X 8
295 X 7

Triceps
Abs

Bench

Bench (paused)
warmup
155 x 5
165 x 3, 3, 3

Flat dumbbell press
50s x 8
55s x 8
60s x 8, 7

Skull crushers
65 x 10, 9, 9, 9

Pushdowns
85 x 12, 12, 12

Upper Back

Pull Ups
10, 8, 6, 6, 6 bw+45
25 second pull-up (25 seconds up, 25 seconds down)
20 second pull-up

Rows
Alternating arm Lat Pull Downs
Lat Pull-Down/Row machine thingy
Reverse Flies
Dumbell Curls
Abs

7-22

P. Cl. +Pu J. 92/2 x 4
C&J 92/2 x 2 105/2 x 4 112/1 x 3 105/2+1 x 2
Cl. Pull 105/4 x 2 120/4 x 3
Pu. J 100/2 x 3
Bench 70/5 85/5 95/3 x 2 102/2 x 2
Back Squat 115/4 135/5 x 3
Bench 70/5 85/5 90/4 x 4 failed on the very last rep

Overall this was a pretty good workout. Amazing what not having to shit after every set does for your training. The 85% clean and jerks felt really good. I'm using 120 (264) as my bench max for this round because I'm pretty sure I could've made that at the meet. I won't be benching quite as much though because I want to focus more on the Olympic lifts to break my 110/132 records, but I'm keeping them in to keep up the upper body strength. Also, I'm not going easy on the volume or intensity at all right now because I'm going to move back home July 29 and to Michigan on Aug 1. My ability to workout may be slightly impaired by not having a place to train. The local Crossfit gym is a little pricey (and by that I mean fucking insane) so I am looking into a few other options right now. If any of you know someone in or around Ann Arbor please let me know.

Upper back

Pullups
BW+25 x 5
BW+45 x 5
BW+50 x 5
BW+55 x 5, 5

Dumbbell rows
90 x 8
100 x 8
110 x 15 PR - had to regrip after 12 for the right hand
110 x 8

Barbell shrugs
225 x 15, 15, 15, 15

Hammer curls
35s x 10
40s x 8, 8

Squat

Squat
225x1x3 unbelted
245x1x3 belted.
265x1x3
275x2x2
225x2x5

Press
95x1x7
105x2x5

Front Squat
155x1x3
175x1x3
185x2x3


Cleans
Spin Class
Abs

ME Bench

Bench:
all 1 second pause on chest
285 x 5
295 x 3 + 1 fail
295 x 2 + 1 fail

Felt pretty strong on these, but at the end of the set, I just felt gassed, but not weak, which resulted in failed reps.

Dumbbell Bench:
the weights go 90, 95, 120, 130, which I hadn't noticed. The gap is right where I wanted to work today, sadly.

120 x 4, 2 sets (+1 fail on 1st set)
95 x 8, 7

Again with the tiredness

Standing Press:
135 x 5
155 x 4 + 1 fail, 2 sets
135 x 5

Supersetted tricep extensions + shoulder dislocates.

I think a combination of not sleeping and having to rush to the gym right after work is cutting into my work capacity. I was planning on doing a creatine cycle to counter this, but I'm concerned about the associated water weight gain. I may try half doses and see how my weight adjusts.

7/20 & 7/21

▼ 1. 7/21/09 - Tue - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: 219 (after gym). Time: 0:40.

  No time today so I just did minimal crap.

• Row 2000 m in 7:35 (1:53 pace)

Upper back was feeling really sore (like many of us have experienced) because of bench and/or squat yesterday. Not really sure exactly why -- maybe loose during squat set up? Anyway, feels way better after rowing.

• Flexibility - soleus, adductor on leg press, hamstrings, hip flexors, seated groin, IT band

• Ice knees

▼ 2. 7/20/09 - Mon - SHEIKO #16

Weight: 215 (morning). Time: 2:30.

  Heavy-ish today. Altogether, it went amazing. I feel like I'm back on track. Dee said I was pretty intense about lifting today, which is exactly what I think I've been missing.

  In other news, I've managed to completely avoid adductor pain for a few weeks running. I think the key is squat-specific stretching on the leg press and the lunges to warm-up/cool down.

• Squat 45x8x3, lungesx15x3, 135x5x2, 225x5 (50), 274x4 (60), 315x3x2 (70), 

365x3x2 (80), 385x2x3 (85)

I was feeling pretty focused on these lifts, and they went really well. Sleeves and belt for everything heavy.

• Bench 45x∞, 155x5 (50), 185x4 (60), 215x3x2 (70), 245x3x5 (80)

Press command on last two sets to make sure I was actually pausing. Went fine.

• Dumbell bench 50x10x5

• Dips BWx8x5

• Squat 225x5 (50), 275x4 (60), 315x2x3 (70), 365x2x4 (80), lungesx15x3

Feeling tired going into these, but I got my head back into it and it went well. Belted last two sets, sleeves only before this. I was worried that I would feel off, but I still dominated.

• Good mornings 135 + 80 # chain x5x5

These felt good. I figure I'm going to try to work chains into my next training cycle, so I should start with them now.

7/21 Press

Weight: 212

Barbell Press: 95x5
105x3
115x3
125x3
105x10 (PR), 8

Dips: 11, 11, 8, 8, 8, 4 (shooting for 50 total reps)

and some swimming afterwards to stretch things out. Not much variety in the workout, but I think its best for me to stick to just a few basic exercises at this point, and work the hell out of them.

7/20

• P. snatch: 55x4, 65x3, 75x2, 85x1x2
Practicing hook grip.
• P. Clean + Jerk: 95x2, 105x2x3
• Squat: 45x6, 95x5, 115x4, 135x3x2, 155x3x2, 165x2x3 (85)
• Bench: 45x6, 65x5, 75x4, 85x3x2, 100x3x5 (80)
• Elastic band flies: Nx3, where N>=10
• Squat: 95x5, 115x4, 135x3x2, 155x2x4 (80)
Had an epiphany during these sets: sitting back on my heels going down, but once I've bounced out of the hole, shifting my weight forward and using mostly quads to squat up, works so much better for me. I hit depth solidly, and never get stuck or slow down as I'm coming up. Nathans commented that they looked really easy and solid.
• Pushups: 20x5
&&
• Good mornings: 45x8x5
I hate good mornings.

• Foam roll back, hips/it band, quads, stretch.

Bloodspot Benching

From now until competition, I will be benching on Mondays at OC Strength Club. My goal is to hit 300...it'll take work but I know I can get there.

Bench
lots of warm up
225x1x2
265x1x3 off 3 board. shirted, belted.
275x1x2 no boards. about 2.5 inches off chest
285x4x2 got to within an inch of chest.

Narrow Grip Bench
135x1x6
165x1x5
185x1x4
195x1x3

Tricep pull downs
Abs


I'll be working most of my sets without boards so I can work on staying in the groove and pulling the weight down. Stability bench has definitely helped keep everything tighter/more stable, but still needs some work. For the first 2 sets of 285, my feet were moving. I did get everything set MUCH better for the last 2 sets.

As usually happens when I haven't used the shirt for awhile, I got bloodspots around my eyes/face. It looks like I got beat up/aged 40 years. Hopefully I don't keep getting them.

squat trening

Squat:
375 X 3
375 X 3

Low Box Squat w/Green Bands:
185 X 2
225 X 2 (5 sets)

Calves
Home Made Reverse Hypers
Shrugs
Biceps
Chain Drags

LE Squat

So I'm thinking of doing a deadlift-only at a meet in a month, which means I need to start cutting weight.

Went a bit over overboard on the cardio and biked 25 miles on saturday and then played ultimate for 2 hours on sunday. (It's easy to do in nice seattle weather). Feeling a little beat up from the deadlifts last week and the cardio, so lowered the volume and poundage today.

Squats:
Returned to my old friends, the chains

315 x 5
365 x 1
315 + 40lbs x 5
315 + 80 x 5
315 + 120 x 5
315 + 160 x 5

All sets felt easy, which was what I wanted. USAPL judge said i was hitting depth. Another noticed the chain was deloading completely at the bottom, but was off the ground at the top. I measured and my squat stroke is 28-29" which is longer than I would have thought. Not sure how that compares with others though.

SS-bar box squats:
(no belt)
145 x 8
195 x 8
215 x 8
235 x 4

These kicked my butt today. My core was obliterated and I couldn't keep upright with the SS-bar. Good training though. I will probably keep this in the rotation all summer.

Zercher Squats:
tried pausing on the legs. Feels good actually. Hits a range of motion that I can't quite express yet.

135 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5

Ran out of time due to external commitments, which was fine since I needed to keep it light for recovery.

Squat

Squat
warmups
185 x 5, 5, 5
155 x 8, 8

Lunges
115 x 5 (per leg)
125 x 5
135 x 5

Glute ham raises
BW x 10, 10, 10, 10

Seated calf raises
90 x 15, 15, 15
supersetted with Side bends
45 x 12, 12, 12 (each side)

7/20

Today's top sets:

Squat: 220x5
Bench: 200x5 (PR I think)
Deadlift: 295x5 (my back afterwards felt like complete crap)
Military Press: 110x5

The first week of this program seemed pretty good, but now it seems like I have to spend a half hour warming up for everything. I may just revert back to the Jurgens template of lifting. Stay tuned for more.

7-20 and indigestion

Pwr Snatch ab. kn. 77/2 x 3
Pwr Snatch 77/2 x 2
Snatch 88/2 x 3 95/1 x 3
Jerk 105/2 x 3 110/1 x 3
Snatch pull 100/2 x 4
Front squat + jerk 105/4+1 x 5
Bench 60/3 70/5 85/5 x 2 97.5/3 x 3

This workout shouldn't have been hard, but it turned into a grueling 2 hour session because of my eating choices yesterday. I ate about 3/4 of a large pizza and had a rather large dinner yesterday with no regard for the fact that even when I'm not cutting I don't eat that much grease. Today I awoke to a terrible feeling in my stomach, horrible gas, and diarrhea. My burps tasted and smelled like they do when I have the flu (which is the only smell to make me vomit, ever). After almost every set, to stifle the onslaught of gas and discomfort in my stomach, I had to get water. The tension from lifting brought out all mannor of burps, farts, and 2 breaks where I needed to take very loose, gassy shits. I felt bad for the people in the stalls next to me. I courtesy flushed for them. My head felt funny too, as if my blood was all diverted to my stomach to try to get rid of what was in there ASAP. Overall I'd rate today's lifting experience as "completely horrible." Ironically, due to the forcing out of all the bad shit in me (literally) I now feel much better.

7/17/09

• P. snatch: 65x4, 75x2x2,85x2x2 (i think)
• P. Clean + Jerk: 95x4?, 105x2, 110x2, 115x2?, 125x1x3 (FAIL on jerk.)
Have been watching a lot of olympic oly videos so I wanted to go heavier today. The heavy jerks were just a bit too far forward and I just didn't get enough drive at that point.
• Bench: 65x5, 75x4, 85x3x2, 100x3x5 (80)
• Squat: 45x6, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5x2, 145x4x5 (75)
My hips were feeling really tight by these last sets.
• Bench: 65x6, 80x6x2, 90x6x4 (70)
The last sets were non-trivial.
• DB bench: 20sx10x5
&&
• Stiff legged deadlift: 45x8x5
Would rather it be single-leg, but was rushing to finish.

I need to make sure I get better sleep/rest before these heavy days, I was definitely feeling drained in the last half of the workout; the night before this I slept 5 hours, woke up at 4:30am, slept for another 1.5 hours until 9:30, and napped in the car/restaurant before lifting.

2009 California State Games

2009 California State Games
San Diego, July 18, 2009

Making weight was pretty exciting-- seeing how my dieting wasnt cutting it this time. It was VERY stressful ..and taxing. So I ended up doing excessive cardio and not eating leading up to comp. Yea, this probably took its toll meetday. And yea, weigh-ins will probably be the highlight of my month.

Congrats to Jake and Phil on their awesome lifting. It was great lifting with you guys. and thanks to everyone that came out to support.. especially a BIG THANKS to Big Brent (..his bench hand-offs got mad skillz , yo)

Results, 132 RAW Junior Division

Bodyweight
130.2 Yes!

Squat
248.00 Yup.
275.00 Yup.
292.00 Yup.

Bench
231.25 Yup.
248.00 Fail.
248.00 Fail.

Deadlift
374.25 Yup.
418.75 Yup.
446.25 Fail.

Total, 942.00

Meet Results

BW: 81.6kg

Squat - 180, 185-miss, 185-miss
Bench - 112.5, 117.5, 125 - miss
Deadlift - 185, 190, 197.5

Overall I'd say for my first meet this was a huge success, especially with a 30 pound pr on the deadlift. Opening with 1 pound greater than my best ever on deadlift may have been risky, but I totally nailed it. I'm a little disappointed with squat, but I think my lack of any heavy squat training and my lack of ability to stay tight in the hole killed me. I tend to relax at the bottom and bounce out of the hole. Not a good idea when trying to max. Would have beaten the other guy in my weight class if I'd gone for 120 on bench instead of 125 (I don't know if I could've pulled a 200 deadlift), but oh well, a loss on bodyweight isn't bad for the first time. Maybe I'll just cut more next time!

I am going to modify my training to compete in both, but really it won't have to change too much overall. Just doing more pressing, some deadlifts, and a more Sheiko-like squat routine.

My weight tonight: 195. 15 pounds gained back in 36 hours. Not too bad.

Also, BIG thanks to Brent for being my liftoff guy and general meet-advice guy while I was there, and for the singlet. It was really fun lifting with Trey and Phil as well. The smelling salts provided by Say Tan (a guy who we met there) were fucking crazy! Definitely fun, although I did miss every lift I used them on, lol. Congrats to Trey for a few new records and to Phil for defying Nathan and posting a total.

3 wheel bench and trening

Took the last two days off to help the guys at the USAPL meet in San Diego. Did the best job I could as surrogate Dave. Congrats to Trey for his nice 942 RAW total and his massive squat/deadlift PRs. Big props to Jake for stepping out of his sport and doing a powerlifting meet with his oly flair. "Phil The Power" had an off day but still set a PR so congrats for that. After taking Fri/Sat off, I decided it was finally time to take the skirt off and attempt 3 wheels on bench.

Narrow Grip Bench:
255 X 1
285 X 1
315 X 1 (PR)
275 X 5

Incline Bench:
185 X 5
225 X 6
225 X 5
205 X 8

Dumbbell Shoulder Press:
65s X 8
75s X 8
85s X 7
90s X 4

More Tri/Shoulder stuff

7/19 - BORING DAY

▼ 1. 7/19/09 - Sun - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: 218 (after gym). Time: 0:45.

• Cardio - bike 130-150 bpm x 20 mins

Actually pushed myself a little bit toward the end.

• Flexibility - soleus, adductors on leg press, hamstrings

Hamstrings and lower back felt really tight. Not much stretch time today, normal desk girl that hooks me up is on vacation.

In other news, a friend of mine that is new to lifting but has been accompanying me and Dee to TPS set a 60 lb squat PR on Friday (squatted 245 lbs). His form was pretty bad to start, so we dropped the weight down a lot and focused on using the right muscles. This has been steadily improving and on Friday he wanted to go for a max. He had good form throughout, I'm so proud of him.

LE Bench

Bench w/ chains
had 80lbs of chain on there.

225 + 80 x 3, 5 sets

The first 2 sets were weird because not enough of the chain deloaded. I messed up the second reworking and I think it was near 305 the entire lift. Right pec felt irritated during that set, which was disconcerting.

The gym was busy today, but the coach doesn't really have other people lift off that often, so I got stuck waiting around for an hour trying to finish this set. I need to improve this situation somehow so I can get my workout done more quickly.

Close-grip:
1 second pause on these
225 x 5, 4 sets

Harder than I would have liked from the chest.

Super sets of t-bar rows + banded tricep extensions.
Then a super set of band pull-aparts and front raises

7/17/09 SHEIKO #15

▼ 1. 7/17/09 - Fri - SHEIKO #15

Weight: ??. Time: 2:15.

  A pretty good day. I think I figured more stuff out on the squat. Back was feeling beat up during the week and knees were a little tired so I played it safe today.

• Foam roll throughout

• Hang snatch (warm up) 95x5x5

This made my elbows feel weird and my traps very sore the next day.

• Bench 155x5 (50), 185x4 (60), 215x3x2 (70), 245x3x5 (80)

Good.

• Squat 45x10, 135x5x3, 225x5 (50), 275x5 (60), 315x5x2 (70), 335x4x5 (75), 

45x10x3, lunges bwx15x3

Felt pretty good. I think a major missing component for my squats this cycle is intensity. Even with TPS's good atmosphere, I've been too worried about why my squats aren't feeling good enough and not just getting pumped and making the weight my bitch. Today was a good day.

  Knee sleeves (APT, not Inzer) and belt for all these sets.

• Bench 165x6 (55), 195x6x2 (65), 215x6x4 (70)

I may have read my program wrong and was supposed to do 4x6 on the last weight, I'll need to check. Doing 6 reps is weird now.

• A: Band flies purplex10x5

These were suggested to me by Carlos to help stretch the front delt/pec connection from all the presses. They felt pretty good, but I was rushed so my shoulders started feeling a little painful, especially the rear delts (??).

• A: Good mornings 135x5x2, switch to SS bar, 135x5x3

Again, don't know how much SS bar weighs so I just assume 45 even though its more than that. Definitely harder that way.

• Dumbell curls 25x15x2

Hopefully to help with the elbows that were feeling a little weird from snatches.

Results

242 Men's Open Raw Powerlifting

BW: 107.9 kg
Squat: 451
BEnch: 352
Deadlift: 529
Total: 1332 (+20 PR)

Well, this didnt go as well as I wanted. Got 4 hours of sleep due to my goddamn sleep problems. Then I weighed in at 107.9, which is about 5 lbs less than last contest (109.7 kg). So lessons learned:

- rent a hotel for out-of-city meets, its seriously WORTH IT just to make sure you get enough sleep
- bring more food (we had to go to the local mall to find food)
- be aware of the meet tempo. This meet only had 30 lifters and went MUCH faster than all of the other meets I've been to

Here's the video.

Light Bench

Bench (paused)
warmup
125 x 8, 8, 8, 8

Dips
BW x 10, 10, 10

Chinups (close grip)
BW x 10, 10, 10

7/17

Today's Top Sets:

Squat: 215x5
Bench: 195x5
SLDL: 255x5
BB Row: 185x5
PBN: 110x4
BB Curl: 85x5

Well, I was shooting for a 115x5 today on the PBN, but everything seemed kinda funky and unstable. I'm just going to stick with military presses from here on out, just so I don't have to worry about screwing up my shoulder. My back is feeling better, so I will start doing conventional deadlifts on Wednesdays starting next week.

Good luck to all those competing tomorrow!

Photorecap of the 2009 USA Powerlifting California State Championships

Blast from the Past:

Per some request and for your entertainment, here's some photos from the USAPL meet not too long ago.. (that i've been meaning to post..)

It's just a few (of the thousands; my bro was snapping away all day).. but as they say, "a picture is worth a thousand words." Enjoy!

2009 USA Powerlifting California State Championships
February 21, 2009
7:30 am - 10:00 pm
Santa Clarita, CA

*photo credits:
special thanks to Harrison, for taking these and spending the whole day supporting the ucla powerlifting team; he turned down his work/$$$/a wedding contract that fell on the same weekend in a beautiful beachside resort, instead, only to be trapped in a gym full of sweaty men. grunting men

*also:
on the same note, should any of you know anyone getting married or need special event shooting, if you could pass along Harrison's information, that would be great!
Find his info at: http://www.harrisonlongphotography.com/blog/

Deadlift

Deadlift
lots of warm up
310x3
330x3
360x3
380x3
380x2


Cleans
135x5
165x3
185x1
195x1
200x1
These were "real" cleans...I've been working on them to get form down the last few weeks. I'm finally starting to understand how to really get down under the weight and "catch" it on the shoulders. Also, my flexibility is getting way better so I can get all the way down and still keep my back straight. Next week I will be working a full clean and jerk. Hopefully I don't hurt myself, someone on the leg press, or break a mirror.

Cleans are fun. And I think I want to do an olympic lifting competition sometime in the future..


Stability bench
Curls
Plate raises
Abs

Deadlift

Deadlifting two days after a heavy squat day was a bit rough. Lower back was at 90%.

Deadlift:
575 x 5



Fairly pleased. My upper back rounds a bit more than I would like. Hopefully some work with the SS-bar and more heavy DB-rows will improve this.

Deadlift off Blocks:
Todd set these up in an intentionally horrible spot for me where the bar was right below the knees. Lots of hips and the movement started with me grinding my hands into my thighs. Definitely a good spot to work on in the future.

405 x 3
495 x 3
545 x 3
595 x 3

Todd also suggestion holding the last rep for 5 seconds to work on grip strength. My hands hurt.

Good Mornings:
225 x 12
275 x 10-12, 3 sets

Feeling pretty beat up by this point. Just got in some light movements.

Finished with hyperextensions.

Deadlift

Good luck to everyone competing on Saturday!

Deadlift
185 x 5
225 x 3
245 x 3
265 x 3
(belt on)
285 x 3
305 x 3
315 x 1
325 x 1

Good Mornings
95 x 8
115 x 8, 8

Power cleans
135 x 5, 5
145 x 3

Kneeling abs
3 sets of 15

7/16

▼ 1. 7/16/09 - Thu - MISC/CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: 219 (morning). Time: 1:00. This is the most I've weighed in the morning in a long time. I'm getting fat. Hooray. Feeling really beat up. Upper back very sore from yesterday.

• A: Foam roll lower back

• A: Dumbell pullovers 40x10x3 + 15 lb stretch each hand

To stretch back/tricep area.

• A: Dislocates with mini band

• Cardio - walking 15 mins @ 4.5 mph

Extra light cardio since I feel really beat up.

• Stretching - gastroc, adductors on leg press, hamstrings, seated groin, hip flexors, IT band

Everything is so sore that stretching is intensely uncomfortable -- the way it is when you haven't stretched in months. It really sucked.

7/15/09

• Sled drag: 90x down&back x2, 180x down&back x1

• Deadlift to knees: 135x5, 160x4, 185x4x2, 200x4x4

• Bench: 45x5, 55x5, 65x6, 75x5, 85x4x2, 95x3x2, 100x2x2, 105x1x2, 100x2x2, 95x3x2, 85x4, 80x6, 65x7

These felt pretty good, form looked solid.

Nathans: "You should get 4hours sleep more often."

• DB bench: 20x10x5

• Deadlift from knees: 135x5, 160x5, 185x3x2, 215x4x4

Straps on after first set of 4, so as the pain in my hands would not distract me from form.

• Lunges: BWx10x5

• Abs: {raised leg x20, bicycle x20, v-ups +10lbs x10} x 3

Ran out of time.

7-11, 7-13, 7-16

7-11

Snatch 77/2 88/2 100/1 x 3
Sn. pull 110/2 x 3
Jerk 95/3 105/2 x 2
P. Cl. 95/3 x 2
Back squat 125/3 142/2 x 3
Bench 135/6 155/4 185/4 x 2


7-13

Snatch 77/2 x 3 88/1 x 5
C&J 95/1+2 x 2 105/1 x 2
Front squat 132/2 x 3

7-16

Not great, but not completely shitty test day:

Snatch 105, 110-miss, 112-miss, 112-miss, 100, 105, 112-miss
Really annoying to regress on the snatch. I felt like I wasn't quite catching the bar properly. I need to work on my pull at the very top, which I think I'm cutting a little when I do snatch pulls. It leaves the bar slightly forward, which actually manifested itself in some of my warm ups. Also, I need to make sure my catch at the bottom is more upright and solid in general. This will be fixed in the upcoming phase.

Clean and Jerk 125, 130, 132-miss, 135-miss
Not that bad, at least I got 132. In this case I think definintely the lack of food and my odd hydration status (I've been drinking a shitload of water) may have come into play. I got 132 overhead though, my left leg just spasmed and gave out once the bar was fixed. I'll only be making some slight modifications to my clean and jerk training for the next test competition.

On the last note, I'm not cutting weight for any future competitions other than this upcoming powerlifting meet. It's definitely affected me already. I'm simply not strong enough for the cut to matter in competition anyway, so I'm not going to bother. I can't keep not setting PRs for stupid reasons. If I want to actually get anywhere I need to just be smart and consistent. When I'm strong like Dave I'll cut weight. For now I'll just GFH.

7/15

▼ 1. 7/15/09 - Wed - SHEIKO #14

Weight: 226 (after gym, dinner). Time: 2:30.

  Don't know how to feel about this weight. Success, I guess? I should weigh a lot less tomorrow morning. Another day that I didn't have nearly enough time. I need to stop this shit. Lower back feeling terrible from Monday.

• Sled 90x2 trips, 180x2 trips

• A: Deadlift to knees 135x5, 225x5, 275x4 (50), 335x4 (60), 385x4x2 (70), 415x4x4 (75)

After first set, I thought there was no way I could do deadlifts today. My lower back was killing me. So I foam rolled like crazy and my back felt better. I really destroyed it on Monday, and it actually felt good through deadlifts. Just definitely on the brink of feeling really really awful.

• A: Foam roll

• Bench 155x6 (50), 185x5 (60), 215x4x2 (70), 225x3x2 (75), 245x2x2 (80), 

260x1x2 (85), 245x2x2 (80), 225x3x2 (75), 215x4 (70), 195x6 (65), 

165x7 (55)

I was benching on this terrible bench that slipped all the time. It was bad. But still got all my sets fairly easily.

• Dumbell bench 50x10x5

• Deadlift from knees 335x5 (60), 385x3x2 (70), 440x4x4 (80)

Easy. The bar moves like 2-3 inches. These hurt the back a little bit more just because it was tired, but not an injury or anything.

• B: Lunges 135x5, 45x5x4

Back feeling bad, so I dropped to stupid weight for these.

• B: Foam roll back

• Decline abs 60x10, 40x10x2

60 felt a little heavy, I was past the closing time for the gym so I was really sprinting at this point. Dropped weight again.

DL and BP trening

Added a bit of assistance DL shit in today because I'm going down to watch TREY, PHIL, and JAKE dominate in San Diego on Saturday (we are leaving Friday).

Extra WIDE Stiff Leg Sumo Deadlifts:
209 X 5
275 X 5 (2 sets)
319 X 5 (2 sets)
352 X 5
275 X 5
Dave Muro preaches these for the hamstrings/hips and they felt pretty good.

ME Floor Press w/wide grip:
255 X 1, 285 X 1, 305 X 1, 315 X 0
275 X 3
A lot harder than expected.

Dumbbell Bench:
80s X 8, 95s X 8, 115s X 6, 115s X 6

Incline Dumbbell Bench:
80s X 8, 90s X 8

Home Made Reverse Hypers (no, we don't have one. but the english guy got creative and threw some boxes under our GHR and apparently it feels just like a rev hyper)
Stability Bench
Chain Drag

Bench + UW Gym Review

Went to UW's gym because I don't have a key to S S&P. Got in late, so the entire workout was rushed in 50 minutes.

Bench:
Shoulder started hurting 2 days ago when I wasn't doing anything, so I avoid any long pauses at the bottom.

275 x 5
285 x 5
275 x 5

Standing Press:
135 x 5
185 x 2 (ughh)
155 x 5
165 x 5
175 x 4 + 1 fail

I need to do these more often. Especially in the 175 range where I tend to get stuck.

Close-grip Pin Presses:
These were really low on the pins, almost touching my chest

225 x 5, 4 sets

Doing these third seemed to make it much more difficult.

Finished with side deltoid raises and seated abs

---

UW's gym is ridiculous. It's easily 3 times the size of UCLA's. I counted 8 platforms, each with a squat rack, and another 4 free standing squat racks. Then there were 12 benches. Also all the racks has pins for attaching bands. They had 3 dumbbell sets, one of which went up to 125. It seemed like 30% of their plates were bumper plates as well. Two GHRs as well. No reverse-hyper though.

The only bad side was that the place was so big, getting to the water fountain or the bathroom was like going to the moon. The place itself is gigantor with dedicated indoor archery ranges(?!), judo rooms, and even some sort of food place where you can get smoothies made for you.

Best part: they had a giant chalk bowl sitting in the middle of the gym for all to use.

UW >>> UCLA

Bench

Bench (paused)
warmup
135 x 5, 5, 5
115 x 8, 8

Incline bench press
95 x 8
115 x 7, 7

Dumbbell shoulder press
35s x 10
40s x 8, 8

Rope pushdowns
3 sets of 15

Last Two Workouts

Tuesday 7/14:

Cardio: 32 mins elliptical
Stretching

Monday 7/13: Sheiko

Warmup: Hang Snatches, Drop snatches
P.Snatch: 65x4x3
P.Clean + jerk: 95x4x3

Squat: 45x5, 95x5, 115x4x2, 135x3x2, 155x3x3, , 155x3x2
Difficult squat day, but made them all.

Bench: 45x5, 65x5, 75x4, 85x3x2, 100x3x5
Worked on form, grip, and leg drive. Don't yet have the physical awareness to actually use it properly.

DB bench: 20sx10x5

Squat: 95x5, 114x5, 135x5x5
&&
Clap pushups: BWx10x5

Good mornings: 45x5x5

7/15

Top sets today are:

Squat: 210x5
Bench: 190x5
SLDL: 250x5
BB Row: 175x5
PBN: 110x5
BB Curl: 80x5

I added 1 warm-up set and one working set of BB curls to the end. I have been getting injured by neglecting to train things, so I figured that I probably shouldnt make that mistake again.

And for the record, the only gear I am using is wrist wraps for the bench press, PBN, and curl as well as knee sleeves for the squat. No belt, no suits or shirts.

Squat

First day of training over at Seattle Strength and Power. Amazing gym, with a set up much like Olympia Barbell (i.e. basement). Bands, chains, boxes, all the bars you could want - they have it all. The walls are lined with trophies and pictures of their record lifts. It's a great place and I'll post pictures here later.

Squat
405 x 5
425 x 5
455 x 3, 2 sets

Three USAPL judges train there and commented that my squats were deep enough. Apparently, I was just at parallel on the first rep, but buried all the others. I think I may be a bit too hesitant. I ordered some Versus lifting shoes so hopefully they come in time for next week's squat workout.

SS-Bar box squat:
13" box (measured); no belt
145 x 8
195 x 8
225 x 8
245 x 8

Lower back felt a bit exhausted from the squatting so I didn't push it on these. Focused mostly on working the adductors and hips. Also SS-bar seems to be great for the core, so I will probably stick with it for my beltless box squats.

Finished with a few sets of seated good mornings and reversed hyperextensions (w00t). Also, standing cable abs.

Upper Back

T-bar rows
135 x 5
145 x 5
155 x 5, 5

Dumbbell rows
90 x 10, 10, 10

Wide grip pullups
BW x 8, 7, 7

Barbell Shrugs
185 x 15, 15, 15, 20

LAST TWO WORKOUTS

▼ 1. 7/14/09 - Tue - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: ?? Time: 1:00.

  Feeling pretty sore/tired from yesterday. Iced knees today and took ibuprofen to hopefully recover a bit by tomorrow. Today was 100% recovery day, used a lighter setting on the bike.

• Cardio - bike 25 mins

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

▼ 2. 7/13/09 - Mon - SHEIKO #13

Weight: ??. Time: 2:15.

  Today was HARD. Especially because of the time constraint I put myself in -- only had a little over 2 hours to do the whole workout. No knee sleeves today.

• Prowler 70 # x 2 trips

Feeling very cold to start, so I did one set with prowler and that got me going.

• Squat 135x5x3, lunges, 225x5 (50), 275x4x2 (60), 315x3x2 (70), 365x3x5 

(80)

Form feels more solid, but squats still feel difficult. I am beginning to suspect that my squat max for this cycle was too high, even though I cut it by 10 lbs because I took off the Inzer knee sleeves. Belted 315 and up.

• Bench 155x5 (50), 185x4 (60), 215x3x2 (70), 245x3x5 (80)

Even the bench felt a little rough.

• Dumbell bench 50x10x5

• A: Dips BWx8x5

• A: Squat 225x5 (50), 275x5 (60), 315x5x5 (70)

The 315 sets were hard. This was when I started having to cut rest a lot to get all my sets in. I was already feeling like a tired-ish day, so this just killed me. Belted last three sets.

• B: Good mornings 135x5x5

• B: Lunges BWx15x4

@ Vit: The reason Sheiko is exciting is because of days like these, when you feel there is no way in hell you can get all your reps, but you power through and get 'em anyway.

Squat Trening

Squat:
345 X 3
345 X 3
345 X 5
315 X 6

Hip Belt Squat:
These are pretty crazy. We got the apparatus and set up from the English guy at our gym.
4 sets of 8

Hamstring Curls
Calves
Barbell Shrugs
Abs

***Bicep Tearing Deadlift at USPF Nationals.

Final Sheiko Workout

I haven't been doing this Sheiko program for long, but I've realized that these workouts are just too long and monotonous for me. I almost left halfway through today's workout because I really wasn't looking forward to any exercises I was doing. The whole workout really felt like a chore to do and I doubt that I can keep this up for another 10 weeks. I know that people have used the programs with great success, but I don't see how I can make progress if my head isn't in the workouts.

I'm probably going to switch back to a 4 day squat/bench/dead/upper back split, but I'll try to incorporate more high volume/low intensity work on deadlift day to address my form. Also, mad props to Nathan for having the discipline to be doing Sheiko programs for so long.

Training and stuff

After falling off the grid, I decided to post now that I have a definite training program. I re-tweaked my lower back again and it is still in the process of healing. I just neglected doing a lot of ab/low back work and it flared up again while I was doing rack pulls.

I'm going to the gym 6 days a week: 3 lifting and 3 swimming. Swimming is light stuff - just to stretch out and get in some cardio.

Lifting is actually the program that was featured in this article. It focuses on the basic exercises and should build good overall strength. It goes like this:
Warm-up - 1 x 20
Squat - 5 x 5
Bench press - 5 x 5
Stiff-leg dead lift - 5 x 5
Barbell rowing - 5 x 5
Press behind neck - 5 x 5
Leg raises 1 x 25

The first two sets are light and the next 3 are heavier, ramping up to a max set of 5 for the day (increasing in pounds or reps each session).

Today's top sets were (light for squats, sldl's and rows b/c of back)
Squat: 205x5
Bench: 185x5
SLDL: 245x5
BB Row: 170x5
PBN: 105x5

Last 3 Workouts + Tourney

Wednesday 7/8:

Sled drag: +90 down and back x2x2
Tried to sprint as much as possible. Will be alternating this with oly and prowler as warmup.

DL to knees:
135x4, 160x4x2, 185x4x4
This was hard for me to just stop at the knees, got the knack of it by the last two sets.

Bench:
45x5, 65x5, 80x5, 85x5x4

DB bench:
25sx20x5

DL:
135x4, 160x4, 185x3x2, 200x3, , 200x3x4
Focused more on keeping my back tight and straight, rather than arched, which screws me up.

Lunges:
BWx up and back x 3


Thursday 7/9:

Missed touch.
Cardio: 33mins elliptical, fast. Stretch.


Friday 7/10:

Prowler: +50, high down and low back x5
Low grip is brutal, my quads were practically fried by the end. Great training for pushing the rucks.

P. Snatches:
65x4x4

Hang Clean to Front Squat:
75?x4x8
I felt quite unstable in my sneakers instead of the usual chucks. Hurr.

DB press && SL Stiff-legged RDLs:
25x8x3
45x8eax3

Sand bag slam:
25x10, 30x10, 35x10
Murph: "You shouldn't be lifting that, it's too heavy!" /sarcasm

Raised leg, bicycle crunches and v-ups with 10lb? medicine ball. Reached way back on each v-up.
Stretched for a long while.


SATURDAY'S A RUGBY DAY:

Acton 10's Tournament 7/11, played winger all day.

1st Match vs. Worcester: 5 - 10 L
I scored the first try of the match, and even made the cocky move of running around to touch it down in the middle of the uprights, but we didn't make the kick. They scored before the half, then myself, Tammy and one more subbed out. They scored in the second and won. Smitty noted later that if they kept myself and Tammy in, we would have won that game. I kinda agree.

2nd match vs Brooklyn: 42-0 W
We ran all over these guys, but alas, no tries for me. Almost all of them were received off the kickoff and run up the entire field in one go. Zoe made some nice kicks and tackles.

This placed us in the cup finals (top 8 of the 16 teams)! We've never made the cup before. We arrive at the field to play Providence. Turns out we are instead playing Beantown (the best women's team in the country). Oh goodie.

3rd match vs Beantown blue(?): 0 - 24 L
Eh.

No more rugby until after the meet in August.

LAST TWO WORKOUTS

▼ 1. 7/11/09 - Sat - CARDIO/FLEXIBILITY

Weight: ??. Time: 0:30.

  Really fast "cardio" day before seeing movie with Dee. <3 >

• Cardio - bike 15 mins

• Stretch - soleus, gastroc, adductors on machine, seated groin, hip flexors

▼ 2. 7/10/09 - Fri - SHEIKO #12

Weight: 214. Time: 2:30.

  Today went pretty well, even if it wasn't super easy. I feel like I got my squat form back under control. I also didn't budget time very well today, and ended up sprinting through the last parts and supersetting them. Oh well.

  I also didn't mess up my adductors doing the faster drop with the 'old style', which I was slightly worried about. Yay.

• Prowler +50 lbs x 2 trips x 2

Grab high down, low on the way back. Prower is harrrrdddd.

• Squat 225x5 (50), 275x4 (60), 315x3x2 (70), 340x3x6 (75)

• Bench 155x6 (50), 185x5 (60), 215x4 (70), 225x3x3 (75), 245x2x2 (80), 

260x1x2 (85), 245x2x2 (80), 225x4 (75), 215x5 (70), 185x6 (60), 155x7 

(50)

• Dumbell bench 50x10x5

• A: Squat 245x3 (55), 295x3 (65), 340x2x4 (75)

• A: Dips bw x 8 x 5

• B: Good mornings 135x5x5

• B: Lunges bw x 12 x 3

Cooldown for squat.

VE Bench

On vacation, did a workout in the hotel gym.

4x10 bench machine
4x10 incline machine
4x10 military machine

25, 30, 35, 40 x 10 on one arm tricep extensions.

Still very sore from Wednesday. Taking 1.5 weeks off will do that, but I was not expected the intensity of the soreness. Focused on high reps due to lack of weight and wrist-wraps. Tricep extensions did not bother my right elbow, which has improved.

Bench Trening

Narrow Grip Bench Press (with a pause):
255 X 3
275 X 3
265 X 4
Haven't paused in a while but they weren't too bad.

Speed Bench:
135 + 140lbs chain (not even close to being deloaded at top so bar moved fast)
9 sets of 3 reps (3 different grips)

Overhead Press:
145 X 6
145 X 5

Skullcrushers
Cable Pressdowns
Side Lateral Raises
Front Raises

Deadlift Trening

Deficit Deadlifts (stood on ~7 inch box!):
335 X 1
405 X 1
455 X 2

Speed Pulls (standing on green band):
315 X 1
365 X 1
405 X 1
455 X fail

Pull Ups
Barbell Rows

Sheiko Week 1 Day 5

Workout time: 1:32, Glutes were pretty sore from lunges on Wednesday.
Bench
95 x 5
115 x 4
135 x 4
140 x 3
150 x 2, 2
160 x 1, 1
150 x 2, 2
140 x 3
125 x 5
105 x 5

Dumbbell flies
20s x 5 x 10 -these hurt the back of my shoulders slightly but I'm not sure if I should just stick with it for a little longer or switch to dumbbell presses

Squat
warmup
125 x 5
150 x 3, 3
175 x 3, 3
185 x 3, 3, 3, 3

Dips
BW x 5 x 8 -last couple sets weren't that easy

Good Mornings
115 x 5 x 5