Nathan : 9/20

▼ 1. 9/20/09 - Mon - SQUAT

Weight: 217 (morning). Time: 1:45.

  Came into today with lower back being a bit sore. This escalated and I decided to cut the workout short. Otherwise, I am very happy with how my form looks on the lifts I did today.

• Warm-up : bike 10 mins

• SSB box squat 65x5x3, 155x5x2, 245x4, 275x4x6 @9

Right side of lower back, basically inside the hip, was killing me on these. I think I pulled this slightly on close-grip presses last Wednesday, and this movement killed it for some reason.

  I think form is pretty good on these overall, except Carlos said I was "plopping" (crashing) onto the box in my first couple sets. I could sit back a little more so my knees are past vertical, but where I am is OK. On some sets I rocked more than I would like, but when I focused on it, it wasn't a problem.

20090921-ssb box squat fifth set 275x4

20090921-ssb box squat sixth set 275x4

• Sumo deadlift with chains 135x5x2, 225x5x2, 315x3, 315+120x2x2 @8, 315+160x2x4 @8.5

I was worried about these going into it because of my lower back, but they didn't seem affected. The warm-up set with 315 felt the heaviest of any of them. I could have done more than 315+160, but I decided to keave it there even though its slightly below the RPE I was shooting for. Next week I will either go to 200 lbs chain or increase bar weight -- maybe both! I'm happy with form on these.

20090921-sumo dead w chain first set 315+120 x2

Fw: 20090921-sumo dead w chain sixth set 315+160x2

• Pause squat with chains

Skipped because of lower back and time running out.

• Twisting crunches w sandbag 25 lbs x 12 x 4

Was going to call it after 3 sets, but Jason did another so I had to too.

9-18

Power snatch 85,87,89 75/3 - 8,8,9,8,8,8

Snatch 100/1 @ 9 88/3 - (1,miss,1), 8,9 placement was a little off on the first set

Bench 240/1@9 205/4@7,7,7,7

Back squat 142/5@8 147/5@9,9 147/3@9 (147=325) I was just tired by the end. It'll be interesting to see how squatting goes during this cycle. I may focus on it during the next round, but I still don't feel like it's much of a weakness. Getting it stronger may still help though.

Nathan : 9/18 & 9/19

▼ 1. 9/19/09 - Sat - BENCH LOCKOUT

Time: 2:00. Weight: 222 (after gym).

  Realized that I could use bands instead of chains and I don't have to go to TPS. So I did my first lifting at the Z center in months.

  This ended up being a pretty hard workout. I'm quite satisfied; I feel like I hit all of my reps at the right RPE without overshooting at all.

• Warm-up : bike 10 mins

• Reverse band bench w/ purples warm-up, 245x3 @ 8 (too light, doesn't count), 275x3x2 @ 8, 285x3x1 

@ 8, 295x3x3 @ 9

If they go straight down, bands stop slightly below my lockout. Because they are pulled to the side a bit, I'd guess there is about 5 lbs of total tension at the top, but hard to say. Very little regardless. Video on second and sixth set.

• Floor press warm-up, 225x5x5 @ 9-10

This is my lockout assistance. 225 was a very good weight for this, last sets were slow. Video on fifth set.

• A: Dips BW+45 x 6,8,6,6

Want to incorporate some kind of movement that lets my shoulders move freely. This supplement slot is a good place for it.

• A: Pull-ups 10, 8, 8, 8

Was going to slack off and do something lame, but then Frank said he didn't think I could do 6 pull-ups. Well, I can, damn it.

▼ 2. 9/18/09 - Fri - DEADLIFT

Time: 2:00. Weight: ??

  I'm way too slow on the early exercises, I need to speed up a lot.

• Warm-up : bike 10 mins

• Conventional deadlift 135x5x3, 225x5x3, 315x4, 365x3, 405x2x6 @ 8

Video on second and last set. Back isn't perfectly straight on any of these, it is a flexibility issue.

• Squat w/ chains 135x5x3, 225x5, 275x5, 275+80x3, 275+120x3x5 @ 8-9

Going for 3x6. Video on first set with 120 chain and last set. Went barefoot to try that out. Felt pretty good so I will stick with this for a few weeks.

• Rack pull 2'' below knee

Skipped due to time constraints, again. Need to get faster.

• Abs - V-ups 10, 10, 15, 15

Asked Dee what ab exercise I should do. She told me to do these. They were brutal.

VIDEOS:

20090918 - second set dead 405 x 2

20090918-sixth set dead 405 x 2

As I said, back isn't perfect on these, but I've never had perfect conventional deadlift form. So I'll just deal with it since it is at least consistent, and doesn't seem to get worse with increasing weight.

20090918- warm up squat 275 x 3

20090918- first set squat w chain 275+120 x 3 (first rep missed)

20090918-fifth set squat w chain 275+120 x 3

I don't notice too big a difference without shoes, but I did like how it felt so I will stick with this for a little while. My ass pops out a little bit, which I would rather it didn't, but overall I'm not too displeased about my form.

20090919 - rev band bench w purp second set 275 x 3

20090919-rev band bench w purp sixth set 295 x 3

Pretty happy with my arch and form on these. Ass comes up a little bit, but I blame that on the bench I was using that has a big whole where I want to set my ass down to keep it in place. I didn't realize my entire belly was exposed, which amuses me.

20090919-floor press fifth set 225x5

Last rep is slow. Not much else to say about this.

9/19 LA Press

Lifted at Wooden today. I havent had the best of sleep for the past two days, and the same goes for eating, so I was a little weaker today.

Push Press: 95x6
115x5
125x6, 4

Incline Bench: 135x10
155x8, 5

Floor Skullcrusher: 75x14, 7 PR

Kinda lame, except for the tricep work. The next lifting session for me will be on Monday night at 7 - drop by and say hello if you're in the gym lol.

ME Bench (sort of)

Only had 20 minutes to train, due to external circumstances.  Also, this was done at 8:40am.

Standing Press
185 x 2
205 x 1, 3 sets

Closer-grip Bench
(pink-ring fingers splitting ring on bar)
135 x 10
185 x 10
225 x 10

Deadlift

Deadlift
warmup
335 x 4+1 fail
Pretty disappointing considering I did 335x5 a few weeks ago. Not sure why but I was extremely tired at the beginning of this workout and usually the tiredness goes away by the time I do a heavy set but this time it didn't.

285 x 3, 3, 3
I noticed something about my form while doing these lighter sets. I've been trying to start with my hips lower, making it easier to start with my lower back arched. I realized though, that when I start with my hips slightly higher, the bar comes up much faster off the ground. Unfortunately I think this causes me to have a less arched lower back.

So I'm wondering whether it'd be better to 1) Start with my hips lower, focus on an arched lower back, but be slower off the floor, or 2)Start with my hips higher, be faster off the floor, but not have as good an arch. Let me know if anyone has any suggestions.

Leg curls
90 x 12, 12, 12

Kneeling abs
95 x 12
102.5 x 7
95 x 10

Back raises
BW x 35

Bench

Bench
warmup
185 x 4 PR
165 x 5, 5

Bench (paused)
135 x 3, 3, 3

Flat dumbbell press
70s x 5, 4

Dips
BW x 12, 10, 10

Only had 40 minutes to workout so I cut the dumbbell presses short by a few sets.

Lowr Back

Still on the deload. Felt better today walking out the weights than I have all month, so backing off on Monday helped quite a bit.

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

Stiff Legged Deadlift
315 x 8, 2 sets
365 x 8, 2 sets

Barbell Hip Thrust
I figured if I was ever going to try these, I'd do them here the first time to avoid looking like an asshat in Wooden.  This the picture for the one I'm talking about:



135 x 8
225 x 8
275 x 8
325 x 8

These all felt easy.  Only if I held it at the top did I really feel anything specific in my glutes, despite trying to isolate them.  The movement itself is pretty awkward.  I'll post more in two days as I figure out if the glutes got more sore than normal.

Finished with hamstring curls and decline transversus

Nathan : 9/15 - 9/17

▼ 1. 9/17/09 - Thu - CARDIO

Weight: 218 (morning). Time: 1:15.

  Adductors bothering me since Monday, so I gave them a little extra love.

• Cardio - bike 30 mins

• Stretching - gastroc, soleus, adductors on leg press, hamstrings, more adductors, seated 

groin, hip flexors, glute

▼ 2. 9/16/09 - Wed - BENCH

Weight: 217 (morning), 224 (after dinner). Time: 1:30.

• 2-sec pause bench 45x10x2, 135x5x2, 185x4, 225x3x3 @ 8, 235x3x2 @ 8-9, 245x3 @ 9

Going for 3x6. I'm not exactly sure about the number of sets at each weight, but this is roughly correct.

• Close-grip bench 135x8, 185x5, 225x4 @ 8, 245x4x5 @ 9-10

Going for 4x6. First set at 245 was quite hard. Got easier a bit from there, but last set was very hard again and I had absolutely terrible form, kind of twisting myself on the bench. My right arm tends to lag behind on these for some reason.

• Dumbbell overhead press 55x6,6,5,5

Going for 6x4.

• Band-assisted pull ups Green band x 15, purple x 10, 8

Really tired, wanted to do something easy. Decided to try these, and they were kind of weird. Not sure I like them, but it was interesting nevertheless.

▼ 3. 9/15/09 - Tue - CARDIO

Weight: 218 (morning). Time: 1:00.

• Cardio - bike 25 mins

• Stretching - gastroc, soleus, adductor on leg press, hamstrings, seated groin, hip flexors

• Foam roll - lower back, IT band

9-16

Another good workout today.

P. Cl. + J 109, 11, 113 equaled my previous best power clean
102/1+2 - 9,8,9,1+1@10

Clean and jerk 102/1+2 - 8,9,8,9

Press 135/3 - 8 145/2 - 10 All those jerks completely fried my upper body. I should've gone down to 125 for presses. The next step in this program is to make sure to lower the weight as needed when I need to get reps at a certain RPE.

Front squat 125/1@8, 134/1@8, 134/1@9 111/5 - 7,7,8

ME Bench

Was going to put on the blue katana, but accidentally left it at home.

3-Board
315 x 3
355 x 3
375 x 3
395 x 3
415 x 2 + 1 fail (PR compared to last time)

Misgrooved the last one 2" low. Felt pretty heavy, so I'm not sure if I would have gotten it anyway. The difference between my 3-board and my 2-board is pretty depressing.


Speed Bench:
used quadded minis

185 x 3, 6 sets

I am going to switch to ring-finger on the rings for volume work for the next few weeks. I'm hoping the added range of motion will work the off-the-chest area harder.

Finished with some cable triceps and front deltoid raises.

9/16 Bench

Neutral Grip DB Bench: 50x10
60x10
70x8
80x8, 5

OH Pin Press (eye level, seated, BTN): 95x8
135x5
155x3, 2

Pullover (parallel bar, bent arm): 65x12
75x11, 7 PR

Pulldown Abs: 90x20

I tried to do some normal benching, but my right wrist doesnt like that position for some reason, so I did the DB presses. I also lowered the notch for the pin presses as well - that made a huge difference lol, but I felt my shoulders getting into the lift more.

But the star of this workout was easily the pullovers. I feel these in my triceps even more than the Dave-style skullcrushers, but there is no wrist or elbow strain with these. We'll see how well these work over the next few months.

Another article, a rare good one from T-Nation

http://www.tmuscle.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/dispelling_the_glute_myth

I'm going to implement this.

Also, this should help with thrusting strength... Just another reason to work those glutes, especially if you're into larger women.

Uprr Brrck

Band Resisted Pull Ups
closed grip
bw x 23 (no band)
blue band x 9, 8, 8, 7

Shrugs:
405 x 20
495 x 10, 10, 15, 18

Borrowed these APT Straps from one of the Strongmen at the gym. They are by far the best straps I have ever used. The grip on the outside is fantastic, so the wrap doesn't slip when you go heavy. I plan to get a pair for shrugs.

Finished with hammer curls and sub scap pulls

Upper back

Pullups
BW+45 x 5
BW+55 x 5
BW+65 x 5
BW+75 x 4 PR

Dumbbell rows
105 x 10, 10, 10, 10

Barbell shrugs
275 x 10, 10, 10

Hammer curls
45s x 10, 10
50s x 6

Face pulls
42.5 x 12, 12, 12

Interesting article

http://www.runningmechanics.com/how-many-reps-are-enough/

I've definitely experienced the problem of overtraining...

9-14, 9-15

9-14
Great workout today. Set a new power snatch record, and pretty much everything felt great.

P. Sn. 89, 91, 93 (205), 84/2 x 8, all at 8 except set 5, which was at 9

Snatch 89/2@8, 91/2@ 8,9,9

Bench 185/6 @ 6, 205/6 @ 8, 215/6@ 8, 10 Almost failed on the last rep. The only things that got the last rep up were my ass coming off the bench and my knowledge that I didn't have a spotter.

Back squat 142/3@8, 152/3@ 9,9,10 I'd say this is an improvement over last week's 4 reps at 152@10 on the very first set. Friday's squat workout will be a good test.

9-15
So, today I joined the UM cheer team. After a 3 year layoff I'll be back cheering. I did a bunch of stunting and by the end I was able to get a liberty, which took me about a year to get at first. It'll all come back pretty fast I think. I can also still do a back tuck. In fact, it's better than before, which leads me to belive I may have increased my vertical. My previous experienced garnered me a lot of extra attention because I was the new guy but could do pretty much everything. I was really impressed with the guys though. Better than we ever got at UCLA, so I think I'll be able to learn a lot from them, at least once I get back to where I was. Also, another good change from UCLA was that the coach seems to run a pretty tight ship. But really, the best thing was that most of the girls were under 5'2" and 110 pounds...

For "conditioning" we did a 1 minute handstand hold against a wall (good), 50 sit-ups (kinda gay, but fine), and 50 tuck jumps (good). The handstand was pretty easy to hold, the sit-ups burned like hell because I never do abs, adn the tuck jumps were really really tiring. I feel 100% recovered from practice though so I think this will also be good GPP for weightlifting. It's kinda like strongman with girls instead of rocks (can't complain there, plus it's training explosive strength), with jumping/tumbling thrown in. Really, it's the perfect form of GPP.

9/15 Back

Wide Grip Pull-ups: BWx9, 5

Rack Chins: BWx6
+20x11, 8

Hanging Leg Raises: 20 reps

EzBar Curls: 40x10
70x10, 5

I think I may have gained a little weight since I last weighed myself. The pull-ups seemed much harder than usual, but I imagine that once I start doing them more regularly, the reps will start creeping up.

Deload Squat

Felt fine going in but as soon as I started warming up, I felt extremely dead in the muscles. I think playing 2 hours of ultimate frisbee is what did it. Things that felt overtrained last week felt fine, but there was no explosion out of the hole.

Band-Lightened Squats:
used blues. Probably 365/bottom 475/top

495 x 5, 5 sets

The reps were intentionally easy. Around the 4th set, I started getting the hang of the shoes and where my stance needs to be.

Box Squat:
no belt

225 x 4, 6 sets

Just worked on explosiveness and not frying myself any further.


Finished with standing calf raises (their machine goes to 600 <3<3<3) and decline transversus.

Squat

Squat
warmups
265 x 3, 2 PR -I felt like the bar placement on my upper back was a little off on these but I didn't realize it until I did the lighter sets afterwards with slightly lower and more comfortable bar placement.
205 x 3, 3, 3

Power cleans
145 x 3
155 x 3
165 x 1
185 x 1 PR

Leg press
360 x 10
410 x 5
380 x 7

Hanging leg raises
BW x 4 x 20

Nathan : 9/14

▼ 1. 9/14/09 - Mon - SQUAT

Weight: 224 (after gym).  Time: 2:00 (long).

  Wearing Holter monitor, so I decided to go heavy. Nothing else to report on that front.

  Overall, this felt good, but my lower back is destroyed and I feel like I still haven't adjusted to the new exercises.

• SSB box squats 65 (bar)x5x3, 155x5x2, 205x5, 245x5, 275x5x5 @ 9-10

These were so hard. I can't believe how heavy this feels. Carlos said it wasn't really squatting, it was more heavy core work. Dee said my form looked good though -- I wasn't rocking back and forth.

• Sumo deads w/ chain 135x5x3, 225x5x2, 275x3, 275+80x2 @ 6, 275+120x2x8 @ 7, 

315+120x1 @ 8, 315+160x1 @ 8.5, 335+160x1 @ 9

Speed work. I really like the feel of the chains, except that having tons of chains in front of me makes locking out awkward/impossible.

  For those of you who haven't read the RTS manual, the way this works is 8 sets of speed weight, followed by a heavy single. I definitely had more left in me, but I was feeling tired and satisfied so I called it.

• Pause squats w/ chain -

No time for these, feeling destroyed anyway, so I punted.

• Ab crunches BWx15x3

Tried to keep it light so abs don't get too sore.

9/14 Pathetic Squat

Well, since my back has felt pretty good these past few workouts, I decided to try back squatting today.

Seated Calf (the power rack was being used): 135x20, 15

Squat: 135x8
155x5
185x4 <- all of these felt much harder than they should have, and my lower back felt really uncomfortable. I guess its all front squats for a few more months.

SLDL: 135x10
155x20 (these, however cause pretty much no discomfort as long as I brace my abs)

Ab Wheel: 20 reps

I think I may not compete in November after all. No sense in squatting 185 in a meet, or just doing a bench only. I will just focus this next quarter on 1. getting my squat and deadlift back via back rehab and 2. get a bigger bench/more muscular upper body

Rugby and Stuff

Hai d00ds. Sorry I disappeared for a while, moving and busy work kept me from wasting time on the internet.

Here's some stuff I did in the last few days.

▼ 1. 9/8/09 - Tuesday - Practice

I think I arrived late. I've been very sluggish and 'meh' about getting to practice.

▼ 1. 9/9/09 - Wednesday - Lifting

Got my teeth drilled immediately before this, so I was lifting with a numb mouth and kept biting my tongue. Special.

I'm now on the USARugby in-season lifting program, so there is less PL stuff, higher reps, more Oly, some jumping things. I'm changing things around to fit in more cool stuff like the prowler, the glut-ham raise, and making time for deads, bench, and back squat.

• P. Snatch: 55x6x3-4

These may have been hang snatches.

• P.Clean: 95x4,105x4x3

These were heavier than I normally do, but went fine, I just took a little more time to set up between reps.

Not doing jerk for a while, because it's not a priority and slows me down.

• Front Squat: 105x4x4

These were murder on my hamstrings, I'm still slightly feeling it 5 days later. Oof.

Concentrated on keeping a good tight arch, knees out, and trying to use the rebound

• Alternating Incline DB press: 30x6x4

It's been a while since I did these, so I started comparatively light. My right shoulder was hurting a lot, but as long as I hit the full range of motion, it was ok.

&&

• Single leg RDL : 45x8eax4

oof. Right leg really tight, some sort of shin splints.

• Single arm seated cable row: 20x10eax4

These felt good, I could feel it in my back the next day.

&&

• Pitcher squats: 40+bwx6eax3

oof. Definitely need to work on these.

▼ 1. 9/10/09 - Thursday - Practice

Backs plays looked very good at the beginning. Practiced 6-in offensive plays where the weak wing inserts between the flyhalf and inside center. Pretty cool. Got stuck at mandatory bar night until 11pm. Not happy.

▼ 1. 9/11/09 - Friday - Lifting

Slightly limited on time because we were going to the Sam Adams octoberfest. Which was excellent, btw.

• P. Snatch: 55x6x3-4

These were hang snatches. I think.

• P.Clean into Front Squat: 95x4x4

Lighter than wednesday because this is supposed to be a lighter lift before gameday. And my hams were still killing me.

• DB flies: 15sx8x3

Flies usually hurt my shoulder, so I went very light and slow.

&&

• Glut ham raise: BWx10x3

Initially set such that my hamstrings were mudered. Reset so the rest were slightly better.

• Sandbag slams: 45?x10x3

This was fun. Definitely worked me hard.

• DB rotational row: 20x8ea, 25x8eax3

I think I did these right. Reminded me of a turkish-get-up sort of movement, with good trunk rotation and shoulder extension.

• Foam roller: hamstrings, glutes, back.

▼ 1. 9/13/09 - Sunday - Charles River @ North Shore: 7 -20

Solidly beat our big rivals. First league game of the season. Turned into a brutally hot day, even the fittest of us were suffering.

We scored the first try, which probably was a big factor in giving us the confidence to push hard. I started as wing, got a few touches but didn't get to do much with them, I never had the space to run. Went to FLANKER when morgan went out. This was awesome. I was at every ruck and driving hard, helped us win a lot of ball, it was exhausting but really fun and satisfying. Then went to scrumhalf when katie went out, made some good tackles on their hesitating flyhalf, made some good plays, had a decent run that resulted in a try. Was wrecked by the end, but then we had a bside game. Played scrum for bside, but was really just done and not having as much fun with that one.

Contemplating leaving North Shore for Boston Women at the end of this season. The commute is killing me, all the social activities are several towns away and I have no car to get there. I don't want my love of the sport to be dampened by all the other bullshit I have to deal with to just play it, and that seems to be what's happening currently.

Brent on Powerliftingwatch

You can now see all the videos of Brent, as he made it on the front page of powerliftingwatch.com this morning: http://www.powerliftingwatch.com/node/12486

Qualifier for the 2010 American Cup

Venice Beach [9/12/09]
Full Power

I emailed Steve Dennison about qualifying for the American Cup on Tuesday night (9/8). He said if I totaled 1400 at the meet, I'd be in. I was in the middle of a RAW training cycle and hadn't been in my SQ or DL suit since June and I hadn't touched in my shirt since then either. I figured I needed to go 501/363/540 for a 1404 which I thought would be pretty doable. I decided to do the meet on Wednesday (9/9). I practiced touching in my shirt that night and put on my SQ suit and did some heavy walkouts. I lost 10lbs between Thursday (9/10) and Saturday's 6am weigh in.. it was a bitch. The plan was to do 501/363/540 all on seconds and call it a day.

Squat:
474 good (slow. took it down too slow and went too deep)
501 good
545* good

Bench:
363 2 reds (got a long press command)
363* good
pass

Deadlift:
501 good
540* good
562 2 reds

1449 total @ 162.5 BW

*Congrats to DEAN for breaking more records and a CLUTCH 3rd attempt bench to get him to the deadlift!

Muscle Beach Powerlifting Competition

So today was my first full meet. Was definitely a bit nervous, especially since it was a morning of weigh-in and I had no idea how I would feel for a full competition. I feel like I did a pretty good job of hitting my weight class...relied a lot on power bars and Clif bars. Also, was able to have a few tiger's milk bars and a Clif bar and some pedialyte and water on Friday night. Saturday A.M. I weighed myself at 131.8 while holding a Clif bar, so I ate it.

Weighed in around 6:30 or maybe like closer to 7. They were running late. Weighed in at 131.4.

Squat:

341.5 good- two whites and a red..moved my foot a little as i finished the lift
363.75 good- no prob
380.25 good- again, no prob. had maybe 10-20 pounds more in me?


Bench:

275.5 fail- got way out of the groove and couldn't push it up
275.5 fail- butt came off the bench
275.5 GOOD- two whites and a red. PHEW. clutch. cut it close...too close. I had a slight hitch on my left side when I got halfway or so but kept it going pretty good other than that. Need to do lockout work. But overall, the weight went up pretty good.


Deadlift:

429 good
462.75 FAIL- ugh. couldn't get it off the ground
462.75 FAIL- double ugh.


TOTAL: 1085


Squat: Need to make sure I unrack the weight, get out, set, and lock knees out right away so I can start the lift. Also, do more weight next time.

Bench: Need to do a lot more shirt work...really getting a feel for the groove and working on all the small things...like keeping my butt down. Also, work on lockout.

Deadlift: LOTS of work to do from the floor. moremoremore deficit deadlifts. I was able to hit 455 no probbb 3 weeks ago. And 429 felt great. However, after a full meet I was certainly tired..especially legs since my leg drive was real good for bench. Also, weighing a lot less made my suit less tight. I realize that I should have just gone for 445 to get an 1100 total, but I felt confident going for 463, and so did Manny (the guy who's been coaching me from OC Strength Club).

Mad props to OC Strength Club. These guys know how to get work done at a competition...little things like loading the bars during so we don't have to use any excess energy...making sure we were hydrated...making sure we had all our gear...getting warm up sets in without having to rush...getting everyone psyched up...bringing 3 tents and lots of chairs.

Also, mad props to Brent Tanaka, who totaled a monster PR of 1449 and thus qualified for FitExpo in January. Hopefully he'll post more about it.


And to end on a positive note for myself...
I set new CA State records on all my lifts including the total. And I now have a full meet under my belt. I know what to expect. I know what I need to work on.


Time to get stronger.

Last two workouts

9-9

Power clean + Jerk 102, 107, 111 - 5 pounds less than my all time best power clean, so not too unhappy with it.

My groin was messed up from monday, so I couldn't do any more lower body stuff after this. I barely made it through them in the first place

Press 135 4 x 5 @ 9, last set at 10

Decided to make this week basically a transition week back into things, so I just did a combined snatch and clean and jerk workout Friday. Still couldn't squat due to groin pain.

9-11
Power snatch 80/2 7,8,8,8
P. Cl. + J 100/1+2 5 sets all at 8
Bench
205@8
215@8
225@9,9,10

9/12 Press

Incline Bench: 95x8
115x8
135x8
155x5
165x7, 4 PR

Seated Military: 95x8
115x5
135x8, 4 PR

Dips: BWx8
+45x5

The inclines and seated military went quite well today. PR's on both in the first sets. When I hit the 10-12 rep range with these I will bump the weight up. When it came to the dips though, I felt weak. Probably a combination of not doing dips for a while and my shoulders being super tired from the previous sets.

I will be coming down to LA on Thursday night, and moving in on Friday, so I should be able to lift on Saturday if anyone will be there. Probably mid-afternoon in terms of timing.

Nathan : 9/11 Videos

Deadlifts: Slight round in lower back, but it doesn't get worse as the rep progresses at least. I think this is more an issue of set-up than strength.



Chain squat : I'm leaning way more forward than I thought I was.



Chain squat w/ belt : Leaning slightly less forward, but still not what I thought I looked like.

Shoulders

I have a conflict on Satuday, so I needed to compress the workout schedule even further. I purposefully left out all major pressing to avoid working the pec. I want to rest it due to the irritation from tuesday.

Standing press:
135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 3
185 x 3
195 x 2, 2

These feel so much better when I'm fresh.

Super-set with Chest Supported Rows
135 x 5
180 x 5, 4 sets

Standing Pin Presses:

I think Kyle did these a while ago, so I thought I woudl try them out. Same form as the standing press with the bar starting from a dead stop right below my chin.

135 x 5
155 x 5
175 x 4
185 x 3, 2

Started out easier than I expected, but I got tired as the sets went on.

Super-set with MTS High Row:
270 x 5
290 x 4
310 x 4

Tried doing some skull crushers, but the elbow still hurt.

bodyweight Chin ups + Dips, 4 sets

Finished with dumbbell front raises and regular curls.

Is anyone around yet? There's a new guy who just showed up and wants to train with us

Nathan : 9/10 & 9/11

▼ 1. 9/11/09 - Fri - DEAD

Time: 1:30.

  Still keeping things light. Called it early so Dee and I could make Octoberfest.

• Warm-up bike x 10 min

• Conventional deadlift 135x5x3, 225x3x2, 275x3, 315x4 @ 8, 335x4x5 @ 8

Main deadlift movement. It has been a very long time since I used this as a primary movement, so I thought I would rotate it in. Since I had grip issues at my last meet, I decided to go with double overhead, no chalk for all of this. I think I am capable of 4x6 at 405, so this was definitely light.

• Squat w/ chains 45x5x3, 135x5x2, 225x3, 225+80x2 @ 7, 275+80x2x5 @ 8

Lockout squat movement. I have seen great success from Dave and Brent using chains on their squat, so I decided to give it a try.

• Sumo rack pull from 2'' below knee 225x5, 335x5, 365x5x4 @ 7.5

Deadlift assistance. This tends to be my weak point with a real deadlift bar, not sure that working this as-is will help much, but its the best I got. On most of these sets, I only got 3 reps before having to switch to alternate grip for the remainder.

▼ 2. 9/10/09 - Thu - CARDIO

• Bike 30 mins

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

9/11 Back to Lifting

Well, as I was up at Lake Tahoe for the past week, and the gym was so poorly equipped, I just decided to take a week-long break. This is the first day back.

T-bar Rows (w/35's): 70x10
105x8
140x8
175x8
200x10, 8

BB Shrugs: 245x12
335x10
425x10, 9 Kinda PR

Reverse Curl: 40x10
60x10, 9

The T-bars went well without my back bothering me, so that was most excellent. I tried the 35's for the increased ROM, but it really wasnt that noticeable. 45's from here on out.

As for the shrugs, I went over to the power rack to do them, but a personal trainer and his client were doing a half hour circuit in the rack that didnt even involve a barbell. Fail. I did them in the seated shoulder press rack, but my range of motion was compromised. Therefore a kinda sorta PR. Pressing tomorrow.

Deadlift

Due to missing monday, I only had two days rest between squatting and deadlift. I could definitely tell this as the workout progressed, so I cut the volume.

Deadlift:
495 x 5
545 x 5

Felt good. I think I am overtraining my core lately though. I don't seem to be able to block as hard as I want. I feels more like CNS-weakness than muscle weakness though.

Deadlift off blocks:
545 x 3 (bar right below knees)
595 x 3 (lowered blocks 3")

These weren't too bad. Lowering the blocks actually makes it a little easier, as the starting position is much less awkward.

Lunges:
These felt strangely good, like I was stretching things out.

135 x 8
185 x 6, 3 sets

Finished with hamstring curls and decline transversus

Deadlift

I worked out at the ARC at UCI today and I was pretty impressed with how much nicer the place is than Wooden. Not just the weight room but the basketball courts and all the other stuff too. I was disappointed when I found out they didn't have an Olympic platform though.

Deadlift
warmups
325 x 2, 3, 2
285 x 3, 3, 3
Since they didn't have bumper plates, I had to use the regular weights which are just like the weights at UCLA. The plan was to do one heavy set at 325 but since the bar would roll all over the place when I dropped it on the ground because of the non-bumper plates, I just separated it into 3 sets and reset after each rep.

Back raises
BW+25 x 10
BW+45 x 10, 10

Kneeling abs
85 x 15
95 x 12, 12

ME Bench (or Return of the Katana)

Slipped into the black 44" Katana today for the first time in 3 months.

Bench:
(shirted)
315 x 1 @ 3 board
365 x 3 @ 3 board
365 x 2 @ 2 board
375 x 1 @ 1 board
375 x 1
385 x 1

This is what I got last time, which makes me happy knowing I can just throw the shirt on and still be decent in it. That said, I need to do a lot of work in it to get the groove right. It fits better with me weighing 188 too. Specifically, I need to work on keeping my arch without lifting my butt off. This is never a problem raw, but always seems to be iffy when I do shirted bench.

Band-Lightened Bench:
Who knows what this was. Maybe 150 off the bottom? Maybe Elvis is still alive?

315 x 5
365 x 5, 3 sets

All felt easy. Right pec feels irritated lately when benching raw, so I didn't push it on this.

Shoulder Press:
80 x 8
85 x 7, 5
60 x 10 (got tired; went for reps)

Finished with some tricep extensions and shoulder dislocates

Bench

Bench
warmup
180 x 3, 3, 3 PR

Bench (paused)
135 x 3, 3, 3, 3
I think my arch has been slowly improving but I'm still having a hard time using leg drive consistently.

Incline dumbbell press
65s x 5, 5, 5, 5

Close grip bench
135 x 7, 7, 6

Skull crushers
70 x 8, 8, 7

Nathan : 9/8 & 9/9

▼ 1. 9/9/09 - Wed - BENCH

Time: 2:00. Weight: 222 (after dinner). Happy that I did not lose weight on vacation.

  First day doing a full RTS-style template. It is my first day back in the gym after going to the ER with heart palpitations, so I decided to keep things light. This will continue until next Monday, when I will wear a 24-hr heart monitor to make sure that nothing funny is happening during workouts.

  Saw general practitioner and cardiologist today (same-day referral, awesome). Diagnosis is supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). This is a non-life-threatening condition where my heart rate suddenly increases or starts acting funny, in my case during exercise. It is apparently caused by a "short-circuit" in the nerves that control the heart muscle. There are treatment options available, but since my case is fairly mild, the side effects or potential side effects of those treatments are worse than the condition itself. So unless things change, the plan is to just deal with it.

  Also, since my "attacks" last only a couple minutes at worst, drugs that break the tachycardia are useless. I was shown a couple things to try that can possibly help by inducing reflexes that drop the heart rate. To help with prevention, I will do a semi-long warm-up (for me, at least) and make sure to stay very well hydrated. Ultimately, this is the diagnosis I was hoping for and there is really no way that it isn't good news.

  It was a big relief to be back in the gym. Nothing worrying happened at any point in the workout, and it was cool to see how concerned many of the people were.

  With all of that out of the way, it was a fairly easy workout except for the stupid stuff at the end. We'll see if RTS gives me results. I didn't exactly follow recommendations for RPE in RTS because I am keeping things light for the short term.

• Warm-up bike x 10 mins

• 2-sec pause bench 45x10x3, 135x5x2, 185x5x2, 205x5x5 @ 8

This is my main raw movement. A regular-grip bench press with a 2-second pause counted out by the spotter. Will move up weight on these.

• Close-grip bench 135x5, 185x3, 225x3x6 @ 8

Raw assistance movement with full ROM. I was surprised at how easy this was, but it felt a little awkward after not doing any close-grip presses for over a year.

• Dumbell military press 50x8,8,8,7

I can't believe how terrible I am at overhead pressing after the long lay-off. 50 was supposed to be a warm-up. I was sitting up without any support from a bench and my stabilizers were firing like crazy. That still doesn't explain how terrible this was, though.

• Pull-ups BWx8,8,6,5

Also disappointing.

▼ 2. 9/8/09 - Tue - CARDIO

• Bike 30 mins

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

Not stretching for a week makes me really inflexible.

Return of the Squat (and posting)

Computer was dead for a week; I've almost finished back-posting all the workouts. Hamstring and lower back are recovered. Only the belt today.

Squat:
405 x 1
445 x 1
475 x 1
405 x 5, 2 sets

I came forward slightly on the 475, but still gutted it out. I'm still not as comfortable sitting back in heeled shoes when the weight gets heavy. Hopefully this improves as the training cycle progresses. USAPL judges agreed that the last two sets were to parallel, so at least I'm getting depth.

Pause Squat:
All 3 seconds
405 x 2
365 x 3, 2 sets

Definitely noticed not having those suit bottoms on for these, haha. I plan to work these pretty hard to emphasize sitting back in the hole.

SS-bar Box Squat:
145 x 8
235 x 8
255 x 8
275 x 8

These are feeling better. I need to make sure to take a wider stance to get more hip engagement off the box, or the reps feel like grinders.

Finished with some leg extensions for prehab and ball reverse hypers.

Upper back

T-bar rows
warmup
160 x 5
175 x 5
185 x 5
195 x 5

Lat pulldowns
180 x 8
192 x 10, 8, 8

Dumbbell shrugs
95s x 20
105s x 15, 15, 15

Barbell curls
85 x 7, 6, 5

Rear delt raises
15s x 3 x 12

Squat

Squat
warmups
255 x 5 PR
185 x 5, 5, 5

Power cleans
135 x 3
145 x 3
155 x 3
165 x 3

Leg press
360 x 8
380 x 6
400 x 6

Hanging leg raises
BW x 4 x 20

9-7 Finally back in the gym

So I devised a workout somewhat based on the RTS Manual that Nathan told me to get. I had to heavily modify it for weightlifting (obviously), but I think this is reasonably in the spirit of the program. This workout kicked my ass after being out for 1.5 weeks.


Power Snatch
85/1@9
87/1@9
89/1@10
80/2@7,7,7,8,8,7,8,8

Snatch
86/2@8
88/2@8
91/2@9
93/2@9

Bench 155/6 185/5
195/5@8
195/5@8
205/5@8

Back Squat 115/6 135/5
152/4@ 10 This totally floored me. I barely got the 4th rep up. I lose squat strength really fast when I'm not doing it frequently. Not too concerned, it'll come back fast. My legs are already sore form this.

9/5 : Nathan Cardio

▼ 1. 9/5/09 - Sat - STUPID VACATION CARDIO

• Bike while watching TV light x 30 mins

9/6 Chest/Shoulder/Tricep

Currently on vacation in Tahoe, and all they have at the complimentary gym is just a bunch of machines and DB's that only go to 50.

Chest Press Machine: 170 weights (full stack) x 15-8-7

Shoulder Press Machine: 110 weights x 14-8-6

Cable Rope Pushdowns: 115x12, 12

Crappy machines, but good intensity for first thing in the morning lol.

Siiick Video

My younger brother was messing with his video editor and made this sweet video of old school Dave. Pulled this one out of the archives..

Deadlift

Deadlift
Conventional:
warmup
285 x 3, 3, 3, 3

Sumo:
205 x 5
225 x 5, 5
This was my first time trying the sumo stance. They felt awkward. Probably looked awkward too.

Glute ham raises
BW x 4 x 10

Kneeling abs
87.5 x 12
95 x 10, 10, 10

Nathan: 9/3 Waste of time

▼ 1. 9/3/09 - Wed - STUPID VACATION CARDIO

No one is posting so I'm going to post the retarded crap I did today just to shame everyone into posting something more interesting.

• Bike while watching TV really light x 30 mins

• No stretching

With the exception of Kyle and Vit: Seriously, guys. Seriously.

9/3 Legs

Leg Press (45* sled): 200x15, 10
290x10
380x8
470x12, 8 PR

SLDL: 95x20
145x20

And some abs and stuff to finish. Nothing of note today, other than some grueling leg presses, and a sign that my back is getting better. Not an ounce of pain on the stiff-legs. A sore wrist, but the back was fine.

Dead Deadlift

Deadlift:
405 x ughhh
455 x ugggg

Felt completely dead on these. Not sure if it was overtraining, but I stopped at 455 to avoid injury. I'm thinking maybe the heavy squatting on monday did this, as I felt great last thursday.

Shrugs:
Since deadlift was out of the picture, I worked on heavy upper back

405 x 15
455 x 15
495 x 12
545 x 10
595 x 8, 8

These felt great, with no problem on the rack pull to get off the block. I even managed the 595 with no belt.

Zerchers:
225 x 5
285 x 7, 2 sets
315 x 2

These hurt my arms so badly. I need to figure out another way to hold the bar so I can keep going up in weight.

Seated Deadlifts:
Another new exercise, which was interesting. You do a sumo deadlift with the start position being seated on a box. There's a lot of hip drive, which seemed pretty useful. I might try to incorporate these more often, as you can get a decent workout with less weight.

Finished with cable abs and hamstring curls.

ME Squat

Had the suit bottoms on, but not under the belt, so they were like briefs. Now using heeled shoes for squatting

Squat:
405 x 3
425 x 3
445 x 3
465 x 3

Pause Squat:
365 x 3 @ 3 sec
405 x 3 @ 3 sec
425 x 3 @ 3 sec

Todd really likes 3 seconds for reason I'll explain at some point

SS-bar Box Squats:
(no suit, no belt)

145, 195, 235, 255 x 8

Bench

Bench
warmup
175 x 3, 3, 3

Flat dumbbell press
65s x 5
70s x 5, 5, 5

Dips
BW x 10, 10, 10, 10

Skull crushers
60 x 10
70 x 8, 8

9/2 Press

Incline Bench: 165x6, 4
145x8

Seated Press: 135x7, 5 PR
115x7

OH Pin Press: 135x7, 3, 2 (tired)

Well, today was an interesting day at the gym. Got in feeling kinda tired and started warming up. I hit 6 reps at 165 on the incline, which is ok (more than last week). Then I got to the seated press. It turns out my boxers were a bit too small, so I was fighting against potential castration every single rep. Despite this, I managed to pull out a big all-time PR at 135 though. Win. I was going to do my usual extension crap for triceps, but I figured that they needed more weight (hence the pin press).

Also, where did everyone else go? It seems like only Vit and I are lifting haha

Quick Uppr Back

Due to compressed workout schedule this week, I had to move upper back day to right before deadlifts. Reduced volume to compensate.

Band-resisted Pull ups:
Used blue band; close grip

12, 12, 10, 10, 8

Bent Over Rows:
These didn't feel so good. Tired?

185 x 6, 4 sets

Finished with:
Hammer Curls
Band Pull aparts

Upper back

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

Dumbbell rows
110 x 18 PR
110 x 8, 8

Barbell shrugs
225 x 15
245 x 15, 12, 12 -grip started to give out on these

Hammer curls
40s x 10, 10, 10

Face pulls
42.5 x 15, 12, 12

9/1 Back

Had a good weekend with the gf, but now it is time to train again.

Rack Chins: BWx8, 8
15x5
30x9, 6 PR
BWx11 PR

BB Shrug: 225x10
315x10
405x15, 12 PR
315x35 PR

BB Curl: 50x10
70x11, 8

A good strong workout. The Smith is starting to run out of room, so I switched to the BB for shrugs. Using straps on these make a huge difference. My traps actually can work to their full capacity, which is actually not too shabby. I've noticed a good bit of growth in them over the past few weeks.

For those that are curious, I've split things up like we do at UCLA (M-squat, T-back, W-press, R-Legs, Sat-press) but with an extra back day on Friday. The workouts usually only take 45-60 minutes a piece. If I cant work out on a certain day, I'll just move along in the order instead of trying to make it up.

ME Bench

Bench:
275 x 1
295 x 1
315 x fail
305 x 1
310 x fail

Pretty disappointed in this. I had USAPL judges calling the pauses, but I've been preparing for that for a while.

Close-Grip Bench:
225 x 5
235 x 5
245 x 5, 4

Standing Press:
135 x 6, 6, 6, 7

Felt pretty burned out by this point

Shoulder Raises:
30, 35, 40, 45s

cable abs