Reinventing My Exit

[Firefist]

It’s been a while everyone. For those who don’t know me, I was the Anti-Asian before I changed my name. Nah, I ain’t racist. I’m actually 100% Asian; the name came from someone who once said that I was beating all of the Asian stereotypes.

I stopped posting for probably the last year due to a few things. I spent my time finishing up my undergrad in biology and exercise science and was primed for my doctorate in physical therapy. I worked 2 jobs and a seasonal one in my free time, and I always trained. Then, I got into a series of bodily injuries, muscle tears, etc. I almost died twice in this past year; one being t-boned by a car (2nd time) by a driver with a suspended license, and the other hitting a bad patch of gravel on my motorcycle. Needless to say, in recovering, training had to take a back seat, which was great for my schoolwork but terrible on my gains, and my soul. Walking around with a sling, while working my old job at the Recreation center, was the worst torment to me.

Anyways, I’m back now, not that I was ever a big force that anyone felt missing from the FORVM, but it feels great be regularly reading up again. The Animal/Universal family has played such a big part of my lifestyle, and one day, I just hope that I can pay it back. With that said, in this journey, I am reinventing my exit. I had 2 opportunities to be taken from this world, but life had different plans for me. It’s something that I will never take for granted. I constantly want to reinvent the person I am so when I do exit this world for real, I can do it with my head held high; not just with training, but in my work, home life, and relationships as well.

I am slowly getting my numbers back up to par with where I was at 220lb. My current totals are:
Squat: 405
Bench: 275
Deadlift- 465

I'd like to post 455 on squats, 315 on bench and pull 500 again by the end of the year. I weigh about 180 at around 11% bf right now. I never had a great bench, but now moreso than ever, with the shoulder injuries, it’s been really tough.

Anyways, it’s great to be back. Off to leg day.

-Alex

[Firefist]

Legs today

Leg press- 5,6,7,8,9 plates a side for 10 reps each.
Squat- 2 warmups, 2 sets 315x5, 365x3, blueband bottom 315x5
Overhead squat 3x15 light
Leg extension 3x15
Leg curl 3x15

[deanna7272]

Sooooo glad to see you back buddy... We have definitely missed ya, and good golly, I'm gonna put you in a bubble.... Or maybe I should thank "someone else" for having that bubble already in place...

Definitely subbed in for the "return"....

Family is family and above all, we always have each other's back!!!!

[Firefist]

Sooooo glad to see you back buddy... We have definitely missed ya, and good golly, I'm gonna put you in a bubble.... Or maybe I should thank "someone else" for having that bubble already in place...

Definitely subbed in for the "return"....

Family is family and above all, we always have each other's back!!!!

D, youre the best. You were the first person I met from the animal crew and embody what animal is all about. The welcome that I got from you, Z, Ice and Big C was the one of the most comfortable feelings I've ever felt. Training and breaking bread with you has truly been a pleasure these past few years. Youre like my big sis haha.

[Big C]

My dude. Real glad you are back in the mix, those were some crazy events in the past year I had no idea but damn glad you are alive.

I moved back up this way (for work) and am now 20 minutes from Bodybuilders, me and Flash trained there this morning actually. If you ever want to hit the weights just hit me up.

[Firefist]

My dude. Real glad you are back in the mix, those were some crazy events in the past year I had no idea but damn glad you are alive.

I moved back up this way (for work) and am now 20 minutes from Bodybuilders, me and Flash trained there this morning actually. If you ever want to hit the weights just hit me up.

Brother C! Good to hear from you. Yeah man, just really bad luck, and really good luck all together.

Thats awesome, where are you workin now? And for sure, let me know if you wanna do it on the weekend one of these next few weeks, I'll hit up a session at bodybuilders with yall for sure.

Hope everything is awesome your way brother.

[deanna7272]

I'm with C... I didn't realize that all of that was going on... Wasn't sure whe ya disappeared to, but ya never left our minds... We've chatted about ya often, just figured life was happening, as it sometimes does...lol.

[Firefist]

I'm with C... I didn't realize that all of that was going on... Wasn't sure whe ya disappeared to, but ya never left our minds... We've chatted about ya often, just figured life was happening, as it sometimes does...lol.

For sure D. Thank yall for thinkin about me!

Today was chest. A young gun approached me last week, and asked if he could work out with me a few times to learn, to which i said HELL YEAH, as I saw that he was hungry to train and improve. Anyone who can work up the courage to go up to some random guy they see at the gym and ask if they would train is alright with me. We blasted through some presses and flyes while takin time to talk shop, diets and supps between sets.

Incline DB press 75,85 warmups 95x10, 95x10, 100x8, 105x8, 105x6 (first time pressing db's in months)
Flat bench 205x8 for 4 sets
incline plate press 4x10
cable lower flyes 2x15
cable upper flyes 2x15

shoulders clicked minimally and didnt hurt today which was solid. Cant wait to see that bench go up soon.

Hope everyones sessions went solid today.

[Firefist]

Back day yesterday. Picked up 2 cans of pak and 2 cans of rage for 70 bucks on special at bb.com. Shits about to go down.

Wide pullups 4x10
One arm rows- 125's 4x12
Neutral pullups 2x10
Plate loaded row 4x10
Neutral pullups 2x10
Straight arm pulldowns 3x15 ss wide pullups 3x8-10

Killer session today, had to get it in quick to drive to cleveland and see my girl.

Shoulders tonight around 10. Lets see how this shit goes.

Happy training yall.

[C.Coronato]

Damn brotha! One, I either knew and forgot you changed your name, or simply didnt know at all. Ive seen you post lately, and didnt even realize you were the Anti! I did wonder what had happened to you bro, but damn glad you are ok and getting back into the swing of things. Life is fucking crazy. Good to see you are talking it full steam ahead.

Welcome back my brother.

[Firefist]

Damn brotha! One, I either knew and forgot you changed your name, or simply didnt know at all. Ive seen you post lately, and didnt even realize you were the Anti! I did wonder what had happened to you bro, but damn glad you are ok and getting back into the swing of things. Life is fucking crazy. Good to see you are talking it full steam ahead.

Welcome back my brother.

Ahhh, whats happenin big homie?! Haha its all good, I changed it like a month or two before I disapeared cause I wanted to give a good impression to some of the new guys on the forvm who were here for the first time. Didnt want anyone turning away from this place cause of a name ya know? Thanks, its so damn good to be back, missed the hell outta yall and this place. Cant wait to hit up a session with you soon my brother, youre one of my dudes.


Today was shoulders and I surprised the shit out of myself. After my tear, I remember my first day back in the gym trying to train shoulders. I was only pressing the 15 pounder under excruciating pain. Today was the first day since last year that I've gone heavy on shoulders.

Lateral raises 20lb x failure
DB shoulder press after hesitantly grabbing the 20's- 40x15, 50x15, 65x12 for 3 sets.
Standing behind the head press 3x15 (light but I feel it really good)
Lateral raises 3x12
Plate loaded press 3x10
Shrugs 3x10 ss lateral raise 3xfailure

Hopefully Ill be pressin 80's (maybe even more) up again by the end of the year. Who knows?

Happy training yall.

[Firefist]

Leg day on Rage again. I feel unstoppable.

Squats 275x5, 315x5, 335x5 for 3 sets.
Hack V squat- 4 pps x10, 5pps x8 for 2 sets
Leg press 8pps x 10 for 4 sets
Leg extensions 3x10
Standing HS ham curl 3x10

And the fat lady sings.

Happy lifting yall.

[deanna7272]

And the fat lady sings.
.

Wow.... I didn't realize I was THAT loud... ((Lmao))

Solid leg day buddy... And I agree... "RAGE is the sh*t"

[Firefist]

Wow.... I didn't realize I was THAT loud... ((Lmao))

Solid leg day buddy... And I agree... "RAGE is the sh*t"

HAHA, youre too funny D. Thanks! I cant get enough of this stuff. Always used the powder, but the pills came at such a good deal, I had to pick them suckas up.



aaaaaaaand holy shit, I won a can of flex! Cant wait to see how it works for me. Definitely will be logging a weekly post on my Flex findings.

[deanna7272]

HAHA, youre too funny D. Thanks! I cant get enough of this stuff. Always used the powder, but the pills came at such a good deal, I had to pick them suckas up.

aaaaaaaand holy shit, I won a can of flex! Cant wait to see how it works for me. Definitely will be logging a weekly post on my Flex findings.

Ahhhh very cool... Enjoy the Flex.... I like it, but I usually don't realize how great it works until I run out...lol

I have a few paks the RAGE pills that a buddy gave me because he likes the powder... I haven't tried them yet because I still have the powder and I LOVE it... I am down to just taking the scoop and emptying it in my mouth, taking a swig and I'm on my way... (of course it's with AJ and Slaughter.... OJ STILL kicks my ass....lol)

[Firefist]

haha thats exactly what I used to do, I dont know why but I feel it hit harder that way.

[Firefist]

Animal Rage on arm day. What can I say? Its just incredible. The focus is rediculous. The pump is sick nasty. The energy is like the fountain of youth.

Barbell curls- 5x10
Barbell skull crushers- 5x10 (hurt like absolute hell, but the weight moved easier than ever)
DB curls- 4x8 ss Reverse tricep pushdown- 4x8
Startrac Iso curl-3x10 ss Dips 3x10 slow negatives
Preacher curl 3x10 ss Rope pressdown 3x10

I honestly could have gone for what felt like another hour. I had finished all of that in less than an hour and the energy was still so intense. May go back and pick up another pak/rage combo.

Happy training yall.

[Firefist]

Back day. Tweaked my back a little out in the woods during a run n gun shooting event over the weekend so I played it smart and went lighter with the deads doin em nice and easy, while supersetting em to kick up the intensity. My buddy andy from last week was there waiting for me, raring to go. Rage dialed me in, even after waiting up at 6, working 8-5 and going to class 6-10.

Deadlift 225x15 ss bent over rows 225x10 for 4 sets
Pullups 4x10
One arm rows 4 sets of 125x10
cable rows 4x8
Lat pulldown 4x10 ss straight arm pulldowns 4x15 for 4 sets no rest in between.

Pullups burnout ss bench crunches burnout for 3 sets.

Really liked ssing the lat and straight arm pulldowns back to back. Pump was really good, but the straight arms tweaked my shoulders a little if I didnt position em right.

Chest tomorrow

Happy lifting yall.

[deanna7272]

Smart move playing it safe... Still looked like a great WO though!!!

[C.Coronato]

Ahhh, whats happenin big homie?! Haha its all good, I changed it like a month or two before I disapeared cause I wanted to give a good impression to some of the new guys on the forvm who were here for the first time. Didnt want anyone turning away from this place cause of a name ya know? Thanks, its so damn good to be back, missed the hell outta yall and this place. Cant wait to hit up a session with you soon my brother, youre one of my dudes.


Ahh cant wait my brother! Its been too long!

[Firefist]

Hit some chest yesterday.

Incline DB press 95 4x10, 100x5 (shoulders were killing me)
Incline BB press pauses 205 4x8-5
Incline plate press 3 sets to failure
Cable flyes seated machine- 3x12

Abs- hanging leg raise x15 ss bench crunches x failure

Today was my birthday so I had a guinness and some wings. Yeah I love my oats and chicken and I eat that shit at least 2 times a day, but some times you gotta live a little.

Hope everyone killed it in the gym yesterday.

[Firefist]

Hit some shoulders

Lateral raises- 3xfailure
Standing DB press 4x8,1x20
Plate loaded machine press- 4x12 ss lateral raises (heavy) 4x8
Shrugs 3x10

Nice and easy, took less than 30 minutes.

[Firefist]

Legs?

Back was still hurting me from earlier this week. I felt a little pulsating down my leg from the origin of the pain in my lower back a few days ago, but today was a little better.
Hopefully its not sciatica....

Squat- 315x5 for 3 sets, 335x5, 355x3, 365x2 for 2 sets
Rack deads from below knee- 405x8, stopped every rep for 4 sets
Leg press 4x10 up to 8pps
Leg extensions 4x12
Ham curls 4x12

hopefully this back pain goes away soon.

hope everyone elses bodies are feeling better than mine.

[Firefist]

Thought about it and I'm gonna try something different for the next few weeks. I'm gonna squat 2x a week. Hit triples to singles and then finish off with a back workout. I'm ok with the size of my back right now anyways.... There is really no rhyme or reason to this, but this game is trial and error... worst thing that can happen is nothing changes? I'm thinkin its gonna go like this.

Monday- Heavy squats, about 5-6 sets and finish off with back, sans deadlifts
Tuesday- Chest
Wednesday- Shoulders
Thursday- Legs and rack deads
Friday-Arms

I may just move shoulders with chest or arms and take wednesday off. I get that recovery is soooo damn important, but I guess I'll try it out first and see how my body responds. My boy stolzenator did smolov a while back and hit some really solid gains in his squat, and though this aint that format, maybe it can still help.

Any input for support or ridicule on how stupid this program looks is very welcome, I will not judge haha.

[deanna7272]

Ewwwww..... Do NOT like the sound of the pulsating down the leg, definitely sounds like your sciatic nerve... I know that pain, it's nothing I EVER want to experience again... get some anti inflams in ya and see if there is any relief!!! Hopefully that"s all it will take!!

[Firefist]

Ewwwww..... Do NOT like the sound of the pulsating down the leg, definitely sounds like your sciatic nerve... I know that pain, it's nothing I EVER want to experience again... get some anti inflams in ya and see if there is any relief!!! Hopefully that"s all it will take!!

for sure dee.... I've had low back pain before, but nothing as consistent as this..... it didnt bother me last night though.


Hit some arms today, got it done in 20 minutes. No rest between sets at all.

BB curls 4x10 ss BB skull crushers 4x15 ss EZ overhead extensions 4xburnout
DB curls 3x8 ss Dips 3x15
Startrac ISO curl 4x10 ss rope pressdown 4x10 dropsetted every set.

Had to bang it out real quick to make the trip to cleveland to see my girl.

In other news, Ive gone from the high 70's-180 to about 190 in the last 2 weeks. I didnt change my diet at all, went a little harder in the gym maybe.

Start the 2x squat program next week, well see how it goes.

Happy liftin yall

[Firefist]

Solid first day on this new split. I was tired from driving home from Cleveland at 5, and work/class was miserable. I thought today was gonna suck for sure, but rage and my gut told me to shut up and squat. It's crazy how far I've come since I started back to squatting again. Just a few weeks ago, my back and shoulders along with my neglected legs could not support sets of 315 for 3.

Squats- warmups, 315x5 for 3 sets, 355x5, 365x3, 385x2, 315+50 lbs chains x7
Pull-ups-5x10
Low row machine 4x8
Cable row- 3x8-12
Lat pull down 3xburnout ss straight arm pull downs 3xburnout
Abs

Hopefully ill make the jump to 405 next week. The weight felt a lot lighter tonight than I has in a while. I'm not sure if the 500 pound pull will happen with my back being shady with me, but this 455 squat looks very good by December 31. Weight is still around 185.

Happy training y'all.

[Firefist]

Chest day.

DB incline- pre-exhaust 80s to burnout, 95x10 100x8 for 2 sets 105x6 for 2 sets and 110x3
Incline BB press- 4x8-10 with 185
Flat plate loaded press-4x10
Cable flye machine- 4x15

Felt really strong pressing today and the heaviest ive ever gone on incline DB are the 110s for 8, so I'm getting back up to my old self.

Thanks for checkin in, Happy Lifting.

[Firefist]

Havent logged the last two, been sick.....

decided to do deads on the fly instead of squatting twice.
thursday- deads alls stopped. 315x10 for 2, 365x5, 405x5, 405+25lb chains for 4, 445x3, was going to keep going up but something weird was going on with my stomach and throat.
hack squat- 3,4,4,5 pps for 10-8 reps each
stiff leg deads- 3x12
leg extension 3x12
kneeling ham curl 3x12


Arms on friday burnout on every set
barbell curls ss ez overhead extensions
db curls ss skullcrushers
startrac iso curl ss rope presdown

this weekend was hell. I was supposed to be on vacation with my girl, but on the drive up to canada, my stomach was wrecked and I spent more time in the bathroom than anywhere else the whole weekend.

Happy training yall.

[deanna7272]

Havent logged the last two, been sick....

this weekend was hell. I was supposed to be on vacation with my girl, but on the drive up to canada, my stomach was wrecked and I spent more time in the bathroom than anywhere else the whole weekend.

Happy training yall.

Not good... Hope you get to feeling better... Stomach issues are THE WORST!!!

[Firefist]

Not good... Hope you get to feeling better... Stomach issues are THE WORST!!!

oh yeah.... not the best weekend for me.

squatted today. I actually lost 10 pounds from this weekend from not being able to put food down or keep it down. Slammed a protien and ground oat shake to at least try to get some nutrients in before my workout, which came out almost immediately afterwards. I did squat pretty nicely though, and my numbers werent terrible at all.

squats- 315x5 for 3 sets, 335x5, 365x3, 335 + 50 chainsx2, 315 +chainsx5, 315x5 for a total of 8 working sets of squats. Really wanted to hit 365 plus the chains, but there was no way I could move up today.
5x12-15 pullups ss with 5x burnout bodyweight rows.

by this time, I was really nauseated and had to call it quits. I put down a postworkout shake 10 minutes after i chucked the preworkout, and that one stayed down. Anyways, yall stay healthy and keep up with your pak! I forgot to take mine with me thursday and friday, so maybe that killed me.

happy lifting yall.

[deanna7272]

Awfully brave sir, squatting with a yucky belly...lol.

Hopefully those nutrients are sticking around this time!!!

[Firefist]

Chest day yesterday. Felt better and was keeping all my food down.

Incline BB press-warmups, 185x8, 205x6 for 3, 215x5, 225x3 for 2
Plateloaded incline 4x10 ss Plateloaded flat 4xburnout
Seated crossovers 4x12 ss incline DB 4x112

[Firefist]

Hit shoulders really quick on wednesday, giant setting DB press, heavy lateral raises, dropsetted, and then upright rows. Hit this for 6 sets and I was done after some abs

Leg day number 2 plus some back work yesterday.
Squats- 315x5 for 4, 345x5x2, 365x4x2, 315x7 + 50lbs of chains, 315x5 + blue bands at the bottom for 2 sets. 11 working sets of squats in total.
Pullups 5x10
Low row-5x10

Glutes were still sore from the first workout but Im happy with the lifts. I gotta increase the weight soon. Gonna hit up bodybuilders to reunite with the big boys, big c and brad tomorrow and get arms in.

[Big C]

Looking strong my friend. Glad you are back slinging some heavy weight. You coming to BBers tomm? We'll be there round 10 am or around that time...

[G Diesel]

Good to have you back in the mix and putting in work. Go hard bro.

Peace, G

[VANCLEAVE]

Man I read your original post, and although I didn't know you as the Anti, I got to say I'm glad your back. Sounds like you've been through a lot and to see that you're coming back stronger than ever is awesome. Keep it up!

Respectfully,
VANCLEAVE

[Firefist]

Looking strong my friend. Glad you are back slinging some heavy weight. You coming to BBers tomm? We'll be there round 10 am or around that time...
Sorry brother, tried to make it back but an impromptu trip to pittsburg happened last night and got back to youngstown around 10. You making it down this sunday?


Good to have you back in the mix and putting in work. Go hard bro.

Peace, G

Thanks G, you know it. Honored to have you checkin in.


Man I read your original post, and although I didn't know you as the Anti, I got to say I'm glad your back. Sounds like you've been through a lot and to see that you're coming back stronger than ever is awesome. Keep it up!

Respectfully,
VANCLEAVE

Thanks big homie. Working on it day by day. Appreciate the following and you know you got my support as well.

[Firefist]

With the day off tomorrow of school (still have to work in the office at 8), figured I get a workout in. Decided on rack pulls and some fillers.... pretty much whatever I felt like.

Rack pulls- 315x5 for 2 sets, 405x5 for 4 sets, 455 for 3 for 2 sets. All these were done on a pin below the knee. Straps were only used for the 455 sets
Pullups 5x10
Straight arm pulldown- 5x20 ss lat pulldown 5x12
Abs- hanging leg raises ss plank situps on bench. 4 sets to burnout for each.


Gonna hit chest later today and Squat tuesday and friday.

Happy training yall.

[Firefist]

Hit arms the other day, not really counting anything or having anything in mind. Just went around the gym reppin different shit out until i felt sufficiently stimulated.

Hittin chest in 10.

[Firefist]

Hit chest as stated before and legs the next day, I usually log right after my workouts or later in the night so i forgot those. My squats lacked a little this week. Reps were a little lower. Took yesterday off and hit chest again today at the ABC. Always good to see old friends. Cant remember reps but....

Incline Hammer 5 sets
Incline barbell 5 sets
Incline dumbell 3 sets
One arm crossovers 5 sets

still had alot of time so i hit arms toom

EZ cable curls ss straight bar pulldowns 3 sets
DB curls ss overhead extensons 3 sets
Barbell curls ss one arm pusdowns 3 sets
Barbell curls ss rope pressdowns 3 sets.

[Firefist]

What a break. Got a lot of rest and recovery in and decided to put away the computer and turn data off on the cellphone for the holiday break. Focus everything on my people and nothing else. Still got some good lifts in after the ABC, but didnt log them. Last night I hit back so I could try to max my deads.

Deadlift-warmups, 315 x5, 365x3, 405x3, 455 for 1, 465x1, 475 fail, 455x1, 405x5, 365x5, 315 + band around bar/feetx5 for 3 sets. 12 sets in total.
Pullups- 4x10
Cable rows 3x10 ss Straight arm pulldown 3x15
Lat pulldown 3x12

455 was my first pr back since my injuries that I hit a little before I started posting in here. so 465 is the new one I guess. I though 475 was gonna go, but around my knees, my grip gave out and there was no way. Maybe I spent too much time/sets warming up. I will for sure hit five plates soon.

Happy lifting.

[Firefist]

Hit chest for some volume yesterday. Gym was crowded as hell yesterday so freeweights were almost out of the question.

Flat plate press- 2pps 12 drop 1 plate and burnout for 3 sets.
50 pushups
Incline DB press-90's for 3x8-10 ss incline flyes 3x15
50 pushups
Cable flyes- 3x15
50 pushups
Incline machine press 3x15
50 pushups

[Firefist]

Arms yesterday:

Barbell curls with the armblaster 4x10
Straight bar pushdowns 4x15
Cable bar curls 3x12
Cable skullcrushers 3x12
DB curls 3x12 ss overhead ext 3x12
Startrac Iso machine curls 3x12 ss one arm pushdowns 3x12
Preacher curl 2xburnout ss rope pressdown 2xburnout

Went a little overboard yeserday because i felt that i was undercutting my arm days. I finished the day very quick though, moving from one thing to another without stopping. Legs tonight. Got 3 hours of sleep, but its gotta get done, and done well. Lets go.

[Firefist]

Squats on friday..... rough as all hell. That no sleep Killed me, but I managed some decent numbers

warmups to 315, 315x5 for 3 sets, 365x3 for 2 sets, 385x2, 405x1, 415x1 (sketch) 425 no lift.
Banded squats from bottom with blue bands on 315 for 3 sets of 5
Called it quits with the heavy compound movements for the day because honestly, i felt like I was about to lose conciousness.
Leg extensions 3x15
Ham curls 3x15.

Deads today.

[Hollow]

Hopefully you've gotten yourself some sleep before hitting Deads Firefist.

[Firefist]

Hopefully you've gotten yourself some sleep before hitting Deads Firefist.

For sure man, I got a lot to live up to. Thanks for droppin in.

[Firefist]

Deads

Warmups to 315, 315x5, for 2 sets, 405x5 for 2 sets, 425x4 for 2 sets, 455x2 and then 455x1.
Banded deads from ground at 315 for 4 sets of 5-8.
Pullups 5 sets of various grips for 10-12 reps each.
Straight arm pulldowns 3x15 ss cable row 3x12

12 sets of deads in all. I think the amount of squatting and deads ive played with lately have helped in increases. Im gonna go for 485 again in 2 weeks and maybe 495 around new years.

Weight was at 182 before my lift around 9:40 last night in sweats, hoodie and street shoes. I think I'm probably sitting around 176 cold.

Hope everyone else is getting theirs today.

Happy lifting.

[Firefist]

Shoulders last night

DB press 4x8
Lateral raise 4x8
Standing behind the neck press 4x8
Iron cross holds 3x as long as possible

arms today, legs tomorrow and chest on friday if the cards intend it.

[Hollow]

You don't see too many guys pressing behind the neck on shoulder works now a days. Nicely done Firefist!

Hopefully you're able to get your chest workout in Friday.

[Firefist]

Thanks man, I really like them, I'm unable to go insanely heavy anymore, but my shoulder impingement really likes the presses to the back rather than the front.

Hope training and all are going well for you.

[Firefist]

Took my own class that I teach yesterday. I pick 15 random exercises in no particular order so no one has a chance to figure out if it will be easy or not.

15 reps of each

pullups
leg raise to bar
trx pushup
clean and press
sledgehammer
waterlog squat
high box jump
kettlebell swing
kettlebell side to front raise
heavy rope slam
plyo pushup to platform
ab roller
burpie
keg throw
banded run

3 sets


Legs today, chest tomorrow.

[Hollow]

Damn Firefist, that circuit looks flipping brutal. 3 sets with 15 reps...that will definitely get your blood pumping and the lungs burning!

[Firefist]

Damn Firefist, that circuit looks flipping brutal. 3 sets with 15 reps...that will definitely get your blood pumping and the lungs burning!

For sure man, its a pretty tough but I get some good regulars who take it. The girls volleyball coach at the college beasts every workout and in this class, some new guys in the army and marines came in and told me after the first set that their pt was nothing compared to this. Made me feel good about myself haha.

I appreciate you checkin in all the time, let me know when youre postin in a journey again, and I will for sure follow. Dont know if youre still doin the one in your sig or not.

[Firefist]

Hit up some squats tonight and made some moves

Squats- warmups to 315. 315x5 for 2 sets, 365x3 for 2 sets, 385x3 (pr) 385x2, 385+50lbs chains x no lift, 385x2, 225+blue bands x 8-10 speed reps x 3 sets.
Leg extension- 4x10
Ham curls-4x10

thats all she wrote.

Happy lifting.

[Firefist]

Chest yesterday. Not much sleep and I knew from my hands shaking while writing essays that I would not be able to mentally handle the weight. My partner (also on no sleep) and I decided to burnout every set and do alot of exercises.

Flat plate press 4xburnout
Incline palte press 4xburnout
Incline flye ss incline db press 4x burnout
Cable flye 4xburnout
Incline machine press 4xburnout
Flat bench 4xburnout

No rest really, I went and then he went. Got it done in about 45 min.

[Firefist]

Deads today. Got plenty of rest and it definitely helped. Hit some PRs.

Deads- warmups to 315. 315x5 for 2 sets, 365x5 for 2 sets, 405x5 for 2 sets, 455x2 for 1 set, 485x1 (PR), 405x5, 315x17 (PR)
Speed banded deads- 225 with blue band around feet x8-10 for 2 sets.
Pullups- 4x10
Body rows 4xburnout
straight arm pulldowns-4x15

Im gonna kill 500 by the end of the year.

[Firefist]

Got in a shoulder medley on wednesday after my last final of the semester. I was so out of it, I cant even remember what I did that night.

Legs yesterday
Squats- warmups to 315. 315x3 for 2 sets, 365x3 for 2 sets, 385x2 for 2 sets, 315 +50 pounds of chainsx6 for 2 sets. 275 + blue bandsx8 for 1 set, 225+blue bandsx8 for 2 sets.
V hack squat- 4ppsx8-10 for 3 sets
leg extension ss ham curls- 3x15

I thought I would make a solid move yesterday but it wasnt in the cards. My back is still sore from deads on monday. That 315 burnout killed me for sure.

Happy training yall

[Hollow]

Congrats on the new PR's for Deads! Outstanding!

Hopefully now that your finals are done, sleep won't be so evasive for you.

[Firefist]

Hit deads on monday with a kid who asked to work out with me.

Deads-warmed up to 315 and started working sets to 425+50 in chains for 2.
Pullups 5x10 with 5 negatives after each set (partner started puking at this point)
Cable rows- 4x10
Wide grip pulldowns- 4x10 ss Straight arm pulldowns 4x10


Chest yesterday with my old parter
Flat bench- up to 265 for a double
Incline press- 225 for 4 sets of 5
DB pronated flyes 4x10 ss DB press 4xburnout
Banded pushup- thick/thin/no band for 8-10 each

shoulders today

[deanna7272]

Hope that back gets back to "normal"...

How long are you off??

[Firefist]

Hope that back gets back to "normal"...

How long are you off??

Hey Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

Its completely good now, I have been taking care of it, and I think letting loose on my diet helped the recovery, which in turn kinda fixed my back haha. Im off of school til mid January! But the office still calls at 8 in the mornings haha.

[Firefist]

Went to to my old muay thai studio with an old friend I saw at random while doing some last minute shopping last wednesday, so I trained there instead of shoulders, which proved to be more than enough. My shins were a little rough the next day for legs, but good things happened.

Leg day on Thursday

Squats- warmups to 315. 315x3, 365x3, 385x2, 405x2 (missed a 3rd), 315+50lbs of chainsx5 for 2 sets. 225+Blue bandsx10 (speed) 315+blue bandsx5, 315+blue bands+blue bands, 335+blue bandsx2 (3rd one spotted). 10 sets of squats all together.
Hack squat- 3ppsx12 for 1 set. 4ppsx8 for 2 sets.
Leg extensions- 4x12
Laying ham curls- 4x12
Balistic calf raises- 4x15

Arms with a little shoulders on Friday- kinda a free for all. Just exercises at various rep ranges 8-15.
Barbell curls ss behind the head press
DB curls ss lateral raises
cable skullcrusher ss cable curls
overhead extension ss overhead press burnout
Iso curl machine ss rope pressdown.


Not like people are clamoring to read my log, but I figured Id log and stay accountable to it to keep tracking. Its been much easier to keep track of my progress and to push myself further.

Happy lifting, and happy holidays to you all.

[Hollow]

Merry Christmas to you and your family Firefist!

[Firefist]

Merry Christmas to you and your family Firefist!

Thank you very much. And a hearty happy holidays to you and yours!

[deanna7272]

Hey, we are still around checking in on ya...lol. Accountability is key, and it's nice to be able to track your progress!!! I have my log in the gym and here that way there's no guessing! Keep pushing buddy!!!

Hope you have a very Merry Christmas!!!

[Firefist]

Still been on the grind, just been on business trips. vacation, etc.... Still have not missed a workout yet. Back to regular logging today.

[Firefist]

worked up to heavy deads today and finished with 315x20. about 15 sets in all. then 8 sets of pullups

[deanna7272]

No doubt!!!
Get your intern entry in Mister...
Just saying...

[Firefist]

No doubt!!!
Get your intern entry in Mister...
Just saying...

Oh for sure D! I've just been going crazy the past few days with work and class, getting situated with the new semester. As soon as I get into the groove, I'm definitely gonna toss my hat in!

Chest last night

Incline Bench- 225x4-5 for 8 sets
Incline plate press- 8x4sets
Incline DB press- 85'sx15 for 2 sets
Flat(slight angle) 95'sx10-12 for 2 sets
Incline DB flye(pronated grip throughout)- 4x15

A little more with the pressing from now on. I caught myself doing way to much with flyes and such.

Happy training.

[Firefist]

Shoulders last night

Giant set- 4 sets burning out on each
Behind the head press
Lateral raise
Lateral raise (drop)
Machine plate press
Front to side/side to front raise

Squats today. Felt a little tweak, so I stopped after squats.

Squats- warmups
315x5 for 2 sets
365x4 for 2 sets
375x3 for 2 sets
315+blue bandsx3 for 2 sets
335+blue bandsx2 for 1 set
315+blue band box squatx5 for 2 sets

11 sets in all. Back felt a little sore from the deads on monday still

Arms tomorrow.

[Hollow]

I caught this over in the PR Thread...

Hit 315 for 21 on deads on monday. Weighed in around 185. Hoping to get it for 30 by the arnold.

Just thinking about that had me winded. Very impressive Firefist!

[Firefist]

I caught this over in the PR Thread...

Hit 315 for 21 on deads on monday. Weighed in around 185. Hoping to get it for 30 by the arnold.

Just thinking about that had me winded. Very impressive Firefist!

Thanks brother, just trying to do my best to catch up to everyone is all haha. I'm starting to get it back together, now its just a matter of making sure I stay injury free from now on, and reach my goals. Appreciate you stoppin in.

[Kowboy]

That is impressive as hell, I am just trying to get down to 260 and I am not sure I could hit it that many times lol. Gotta get my game up!

[Firefist]

That is impressive as hell, I am just trying to get down to 260 and I am not sure I could hit it that many times lol. Gotta get my game up!

Thanks for the kind words brotha. Hopefully, ill be able to get in the cage and do the damn thing!

[MetalTechnician]

Fire,

Im looking into getting my cut back on the quad sep. What would you recommend?

Late,

MT

[Kowboy]

Thanks for the kind words brotha. Hopefully, ill be able to get in the cage and do the damn thing!

Just depends on the day for me, my conditioning is pretty weak. Something I am working on right now.

[Firefist]

Hit arms on friday. No rest going from bicep to tricep and back, jumping on whatever weights or machines were open. I didnt count reps or sets, but I got probably 3-5 sets each at 8-12 reps and some burnouts at 15-20.

DB curls
Overhead EX extensions
Straight bar
Reverse bar pressdown
Cable curl
Rope pressdown
Startrac Iso curl
Skullcrushers

[Big C]

Great job on the deads bro that was the event I did at the Cage last year and I didn't have the endurance for sure. Hopefully see you at the Arnold? Keep up the solid ass work.

[Firefist]

Great job on the deads bro that was the event I did at the Cage last year and I didn't have the endurance for sure. Hopefully see you at the Arnold? Keep up the solid ass work.

no doubt my brother. Hopefully, well be able to catch one or two bodybuilders sessions before then?

[C.Coronato]

Still killing it bro.

[MetalTechnician]

Wow those leg sessions look beastly. I can't wait to get to that level.

Late,

MT

[Firefist]

Still killing it bro.

Thanks big homie, just tryna get to your level.


Wow those leg sessions look beastly. I can't wait to get to that level.

Late,

MT

Thanks man, I try to put alot of emphasis on squats and deads. Gotta try to catch up to those big boys in the cage ya know?

[Firefist]

Hit a good chest day yesterday

incline bench- 225 for 4x4
Slight incline bench with chains- 4x6-8
Incline machine ss flat machine 4x10 each
Pec flye- 4x15


Back today
Deads- 6 heavy sets to 455 for a double, 2 sets of 455 for singles, 1 set of 335xfailure, 315+ bands for 2 sets to failure
Pullups 4x12-15
Cable row-4x8

felt a little tweak down my left lat, so I stopped there.

[Firefist]

Hit some shoulders yesterday and I pressed some PR's. Shoulders have been a mess even before the accident, but after the fall, any overhead pressing over the 35's wouldnt work. This was a big victory for me.

DB shoulder press- warmups. 40x15, 50x15, 60x12, 65x12, 70x12, 75x10, 80x8, 85x8 (PR)
Lateral raises dropsets- 40's 4 sets of 12 + 15's 4 to failure
Plate shoulder press- 4 sets of 25
Behind the neck press- 4 sets of 25

Im thinking arms today and legs tomorrow. May change that depending on how crowded the gym is later.

[Kowboy]

Hit some shoulders yesterday and I pressed some PR's. Shoulders have been a mess even before the accident, but after the fall, any overhead pressing over the 35's wouldnt work. This was a big victory for me.

DB shoulder press- warmups. 40x15, 50x15, 60x12, 65x12, 70x12, 75x10, 80x8, 85x8 (PR)
Lateral raises dropsets- 40's 4 sets of 12 + 15's 4 to failure
Plate shoulder press- 4 sets of 25
Behind the neck press- 4 sets of 25

Im thinking arms today and legs tomorrow. May change that depending on how crowded the gym is later.

Impressive work on the shoulders man. I feel you on the shoulder injury, I have a plate all the way across my colllar bone on the left. I am going to follow suit and PR w/ 200 tonight (strict press).

[Hollow]

No slacking in here, great work Firefist and congrats on hitting the PR on shoulders!

[Firefist]

Hit some arms Thursday, supersetted everything and got lots of volume in before class.

Did some more deads on friday which was a bad idea, something is pinching in my left lat and my lower back keeps spazzed out last night. Im gonna take the week off from deads and use the leg press, which I havent touched in a while, as well as the hack squat. Finished all 10 sets of deads up to 435x4. Hit V-squats for 6 sets starting at 1 pps to 6 pps. Did some negatives with the lat pulldown pads for hams for 3 sets to failure and then 4 sets of extensions.

Today, I had the itch to get some physical activity in, so I went in to do some Bi's, traps, abs and forearms (wierd combo, I know). Hit the stairmaster for 30 minutes afterwards and I know Im gonna feel it tomorrow.

Stay healthy and injury free everyone.

[Firefist]

Chest last night.

Incline BB press- 185 1x12, 225 4x5, 235 1x4, 185 1x15, 135 1x15
Incline DB press- 95's 4x8
Slight incline BB press with 135 + 40lb chains- 4xfailure
Upright cable flye- 2x15
Pronated incline DB flyes- 4x12

Stairmaster 30 minutes.

Shoulders have not bothered me in a while now. I believe I have made a full recovery finally.

Shoulders tonight.

[Firefist]

Shoulders tonight

Overhead press- 5x15
DB press- 4x10
Lateral raises (dropset) 4x10 + 4xfailure
Balistic lateral raise machine- 4xfailure
Jumprope ss 45 plate shrugs- 4xfailure + 4xfailure

Hanging leg raises- 4xfailure
Bench crunches- 4xfailure

Stairmaster 20 minutes

[Firefist]

At the gym today, I did alot of thinking. In these next few paragraphs, I've got something to be said about respect.

Respect is a word that is thrown around quite often, and in this writer's humble opinion, I'm pretty sure the word has been bastardized to the point of the removal of its meaning from the Websters. Why do I say this? I began to see some people only "respecting" people of a higher profile. I call these people nuthuggers. They try to associate themselves with these high profile individuals in hopes to elevate their own status. Anyone who doesn't fit the bill isn't worth their time. Will this make yourself a better person? Are you respected now because you are in the "in" crowd? What in the flying fuck are you thinking?

What about earning your own respect? Yeah, thats right; earning that shit. You think you earn respect cause you lift more than everyone at the gym? Did you get a promotion, a cool little badge or an award? Maybe you think you get your respect that way. Sure, it might be impressive to some people. But how are you carrying yourself? Are you the guy who people want to be like and learn from? Are you respected for your work ethic and will to achieve, or are you the sack of shit at the gym who carries themselves like a king among peasants? Glaring down people and slamming your weights all over the damn place to draw everyone's attention. You think you have a sense of entitlement? Oh, because you can lift more than them, right? Fuck off.

Are you a self-proclaimed guru now? You think you have the end-all answer, right? A few guys ask your advice at first, and now anyone who doesn't agree with you is wrong. Oh wait, that only holds true until someone YOU "respect" feels different. Then, all of the sudden, its like your balls are ripped out from right under you and you go with whatever the fuck they have to say, no matter if you agree with it or not.

Obviously, people will look up to and respect other people. I respect a fuckton of people. People who have taught me, people who I see putting in the work and then some, people who complete selfless acts and ask nothing in return, people who have accomplished not only personal goals, but also the goals that many others are gunning for. I clarify that I am not saying you shouldn't respect other people. I am just saying that you shouldn't expect anything back in return for following someone. At the end of the day, you show dap, and thats it. If they give it back, thats dope, but you aren't entitled to anything more. Instead of worrying about how much light you can catch off someone you "respect", get your own. True respect that people may have for you after you bite the dust might be one of the only things you can take to the grave. Stop holding onto someone else's nuts for dear life and grow your own.

Now go out there and get yours.

[Marty Mote]

Well put, sir! Like one of my peers told me, "Common courtesy isn't so common anymore." Stay motivated!!!

[Firefist]

Well put, sir! Like one of my peers told me, "Common courtesy isn't so common anymore." Stay motivated!!!

For sure big homie. Thanks for droppin in to say whats up.

[Firefist]

Got a really solid leg day in today.... woulda went further, but I felt some sharp pain in my ass that told me to stop.

Squats
warmup
315x8
365x5
365x5
385x3
405x3
415x2

Box squats (below parallel)
315x10
365x8
385x5
395x5
405x3

Banded box squats (blue)
315x8
315x8
365x4 (had more but felt pain)

Done.

I got that fire lit under my ass today and I am more motivated than I've been in a while.

Hope everyones day is going well and their training session, even better.

[Firefist]

Just one of those days today.....

work 8-3
Lift 4-5
class 6-10
work 11-3

work tomorrow at 8.

Someones gotta pay the bills.

[Firefist]

Arms yesterday. My ass had two places of sharp shooting pain. Probably not getting a good enough warmup the day before and the pinching I mentioned. Feels a lot better today.

Barbell Curls 4x8
Close grip bench press 4x8
DB curls 3x8
Straight bar press down 3x12
One arm cable curl 3xfailure each ss rope pressdown 3xfailure
Overhead extension 4xfailure ss reverse ez bar curl 4xfailure

Happy training.

[Firefist]

Today was a breaking point for me.

I would say I've been motivated.... very motivated actually. I train hard every time, eat well and get as much sleep as allowed. That being said, today I saw an old school mate and friend of a friend who got an internship at the gym I train at. We bullshited for a while, and coincidentally, he was down to deadlift with me. We start piling on plates per side, 1, 2, 3, 4.... reps up to 8 each time, ripping it off the floor. We throw on quarters and he beats me 8 reps to 4 at 455. He moves up to 495 and busts that shit out for 5 reps. Well fuck.... Gut check. I go for 485 and fail. He moves up 515 for a double. I go back to 405 for reps. He goes up and rips 545 for an easy single.... oh by the way, he did heavy racks on saturday (for those of you reading this post at a later date, today is monday).

We do a few sets of pullups together and then he goes and bench presses. Strong as pressing.... 365 easy on flat and 305 easy on incline.

Lifting with him today. I cant say I was jealous of his gains, or angry.... just hella motivated. I'm getting out of this 1 part a day routine. My one friend owns one of the premier strongman facilities in the northeast Ohio area and I've only trained there twice. Unacceptable. I need to get this shit together. It's too late now for 2013, but mark my words, I will come into the 2014 Cage at less than 200 lbs next year, and I will:

Squat at least 495
Bench at least 335
Deadlift at least 545

This must happen. Anything less is unacceptable.

[Firefist]

Hit some PR's tonight. Had to. No other choice if I wanna do everything I said I would.

Incline Press- warmups 225x5. 225x5, 235x5, 245x4, 255x2+1 (pr), 185x10, 135x20
Flat Bench- 185x12, 205x10, 225x6, 245x4
DB press SS DB pronated flye 3x8 + 3x12
Pronated Pec flye- 4x10

Taught a muay thai class afterwards.

[Firefist]

Shoulders tonight.

DB shoulder press- 7 sets, working from 60's and up for 8 reps to 85's for 6.
Heavy Lateral Raise SS light front raise/side raise- 4 sets of 12,12,12
Front to Side Raises- 4x10
BB shrugs SS DB Iron Cross- 4 sets of 10 ss 4 sets to failure.

The lateral raises ss with front/side raises were killer.

Legs tomorrow and I'm hunting for PR's.

[Firefist]

Got sidetracked and had to make up Legs today. Life happens, work happens, school happens. Sometimes, all three things happen simutaneously. We cant control these things, but we can control how we react.

On that note, todays legworkout. Very good, and very bad. Lets start with the good. Unless youve seen me squat, I stand very narrow when I do it... a little less than shoulderwidth. Helped me alot, but recently I've been experimenting with my sets of 315 at a wide stance, toes out. Last week was the first time I've tried them with heavy weight and today, I got another PR. Bad news is very bad... the pain that I felt last week came back with a vengeance when I went for a heavy box squat.

Squat
warmup
315x8 for 2 sets
365x5 for 2 sets
405x4+1 for 1 set (Huge PR for me)
405x3 for 1 set
405x3 for 1 set

Box squats
405xfail for 1 set. (holy shit. Set this guy way below parallel with the intent to train helping me out of the hole. Got halfway up, felt the pain and sat right down and had it pulled off me.)

Cut my leg day short, yet again. I am definitely getting stronger by the week, and I guess thats what counts, but I can do without the injuries. Im going to take legs off next week and hope it gets better. As im sitting and typing this, I can feel the bump on my left ass cheek from the swelling. Moving around while sitting is killing me.

All in all, the good outways the bad thus far. Got another PR and another life lesson about injuries.

[Firefist]

A quick update as well. Those who have trained with me know that I am natural and have never even seen steroids before. With that said, in this last month, I've been accused of taking shit more than ever. Some in the form of compliments, others in the form of hate. I can see why.

Stepping on the scale today, I weighed 204 with sweats and a sweatshirt. I weighed myself at 182 on new years day. Crazy huh? Almost unbelieveable. Honestly, I've only changed or added a few things it this last month and a half.

1. I eat a mix of quick oats, chicken and stirfry sauce out of a coffee cup 2-3 times a day along with meals that I take time to actually cook. I've increased that to 4 times every day. How could I not afford to? 2-3 chicken breasts, 4 cups of oats and some sauce literally costs me less than 5 bucks a day. Thats 4 meals for 5 dollars along with 3 more meals that may come by way of pancakes in the morning, a whey shake if work is slammed, a steak dinner if flow is good, a pasta and meatball meal, etc.
2. I've been taking monohydrate caps, before and after my workouts along with my usual storm. I attribute a big part of my strength gain to this.
3. I've been sippin EAA stack during my workout. Not only is it helping my muscles, but the taste gets me out of the repetitious track that I'm on.
4. Lifting heavy sets, low reps, for a lot of sets, like 8-12.

Thats it. Granted, not all that weight I put on was muscle obviously, but I can't stand to see anyone saying they cant put on weight or get stronger. Its just rediculous. All it took for me was to alter my training, correct my form, and spend a few more bucks a day on food and basic supps.

[Firefist]

Hit deficit deads last night as well as rep 315. Last nights workout was not good at all. First bad one I can remember in a while. The night before, one of my best freinds was leaving for australia the following day, so I chilled with him til 3 in the morning and then ate a bad lunch. So I saw the workout coming a mile away.

Deficit Deads- 3 sets of 315 for 8, 6, 5 reps

Deadlifts 315x3 sets. Over 15 reps each set but under what I wanted to get. Very disapointed. Finished off with 455 for a single. Probably the heaviest 455 I've ever pulled, including the first time I ever pulled 455.

Pullups ss Cable row ss Lat pulldown Gaint set- 4 sets of 12 of each.

Pullups- 3x15

My ass is still hurting from last weeks squat fiasco. I'm probably gonna go in to the docs if it doesnt show improvement by friday.

My training buddy rich hit huge PR's while training for his strongman tournament this session. 600 deadlift, 370 bench, 545 squat, at around 195. Good shit. Got alot of catching up to do.

[Firefist]

Good workout today. Chest.

Flat bench-185x10, 225x8, 235x5, 245x5, 255x4, 265x2+1, 135x15 (for form)
Incline bench-225x5, 225x5, 235x5, 245x4, 255x3+1

I got to the gym late, and had to take a break to teach a muay thai class, but I wasnt told there would be a yoga demo in the room that day. So one of my students asked if he could workout with me instead. Obviously I obliged. I decided to do all burnouts from here.

Plate loaded Incline- 4xfailure with no rest in between switches
DB incline pronated flye to DB incline press- 4 sets of failure to failure
Incline machine press- 4x failure and dropset until there are only 5 pins left.
Pec flye machine- 4xfailure with a hold one each rep.

A few guys hung around the gym, so I ended up teaching a class today anyways.

[Firefist]

Slow day at work, meetings canceled, so I've been posting alot today. While I'm at it, I'll add this, for anyone who might venture onto my journey.

I posted this in response to someones thread, but the more I think about it, the more blatantly obvious it is to me. There is a difference between "good" form, and the most mechanically advantageous form.

I always thought I had good form in my lifts. I have my undergrad in biology and exercise science, went through 4 years of Pre-physical therapy classes; kines, biomechanics, anatomy, etc. We got some "lab" time in the gym during the freshman "easy" semester to learn our lifts and form. Sure, this form might be proper and will keep you safe in your lifts, but a lot of this is the voice of the conventional. I have nothing bad to say about ACSM or NSCA or any of the organizations preaching various sets, reps, programs or whatnot. They do alot of research that have helped our kind progress throughout the years. All I'm saying is that I believe a lot of that works for the general population.

When you are trying to increase your lifts, in terms of both weight and the progression of development, things need to change. Shoulder width grips and 90 knee angles might work as a cookie cutter prescription on a bench press for the general population. Hell, I did it for the last 4 years of my life. It wasn't until recently, that I became obesessed with increasing my weights. If you've read through my first post in this journey, you'd know that my left shoulder is fucked. I've stayed away from flat bench because of it. Before this journey, I would struggle with 205 for 5 on some days. On the incline, I would be able to rep out 205 for more, but couldnt move up further.

So what did I do? Go on youtube. Fuck yeah. Elitefts, supertraining as well as westside all have some awesome vids on there breaking down lifts and showing different techniques to improve your squat, bench and dead. I spent a good amount of time fixing a wider stance and boxsquating an imaginary bar onto an old guitar amp to help me visualize the lift. I got a theraband to get the idea of squeezing my shoulderblades together and "ripping the bar apart". Making a better arch for my bench and getting the coil to work for me.

No sense in totin numbers but I am now repping my squat and dead maxes, repping an incline weight that I never was able to get, and am making huge improvements in my flat bench. I've made these gains in approximately a month and a half. This isn't a post to gloat. Just stating that the basics are truly the most important part in this game. Some good heavy free weights with good form, some good nutrient dense food, and some good basic supps are all you need to make some good things happen.

[freighttraindane]

I didn't know you were from youngstown area brother, my gf's family is from that area, I get up that way about once a month or so

[Firefist]

I didn't know you were from youngstown area brother, my gf's family is from that area, I get up that way about once a month or so

Good shit man. Where exactly? Boardman, canfield, struthers, poland, niles? Next time you're around, we should def get a session in. Its a small town, but there are alot of good gyms in the area.

[Hollow]

A quick update as well. Those who have trained with me know that I am natural and have never even seen steroids before. With that said, in this last month, I've been accused of taking shit more than ever. Some in the form of compliments, others in the form of hate. I can see why.

Stepping on the scale today, I weighed 204 with sweats and a sweatshirt. I weighed myself at 182 on new years day. Crazy huh? Almost unbelieveable. Honestly, I've only changed or added a few things it this last month and a half.

1. I eat a mix of quick oats, chicken and stirfry sauce out of a coffee cup 2-3 times a day along with meals that I take time to actually cook. I've increased that to 4 times every day. How could I not afford to? 2-3 chicken breasts, 4 cups of oats and some sauce literally costs me less than 5 bucks a day. Thats 4 meals for 5 dollars along with 3 more meals that may come by way of pancakes in the morning, a whey shake if work is slammed, a steak dinner if flow is good, a pasta and meatball meal, etc.
2. I've been taking monohydrate caps, before and after my workouts along with my usual storm. I attribute a big part of my strength gain to this.
3. I've been sippin EAA stack during my workout. Not only is it helping my muscles, but the taste gets me out of the repetitious track that I'm on.
4. Lifting heavy sets, low reps, for a lot of sets, like 8-12.

Thats it. Granted, not all that weight I put on was muscle obviously, but I can't stand to see anyone saying they cant put on weight or get stronger. Its just rediculous. All it took for me was to alter my training, correct my form, and spend a few more bucks a day on food and basic supps.

I would have to say you are definitely dialing things in quite nicely Firefist!

I just read that CC has picked you to be on his team. A huge congrats to you!

[Firefist]

I would have to say you are definitely dialing things in quite nicely Firefist!

I just read that CC has picked you to be on his team. A huge congrats to you!

Thanks brother! I know I wont be the strongest out of the bunch, but for what I lack in strength and size, i will make up in will and perserverance. Always appreciate the support man.

[freighttraindane]

Good shit man. Where exactly? Boardman, canfield, struthers, poland, niles? Next time you're around, we should def get a session in. Its a small town, but there are alot of good gyms in the area.

Her family lives in Mineral Ridge. So i am in that area for at least a weekend a month. We will have to get a session in sometime.

[Firefist]

Her family lives in Mineral Ridge. So i am in that area for at least a weekend a month. We will have to get a session in sometime.

hah, a girl i was with a while back is from there....

for sure man, let me know whats up when youre around.

[freighttraindane]

hah, a girl i was with a while back is from there....

for sure man, let me know whats up when youre around.

haha, will do brother and congrats on getting picked both as an Intern and in Pro v. Bro

[Hollow]

Thanks brother! I know I wont be the strongest out of the bunch, but for what I lack in strength and size, i will make up in will and perserverance. Always appreciate the support man.

Those are true measures of strengths.

[Big C]

Hell yeah dude glad to see you stepping up to the plate in the Pros/Bros I am proud of ya man..you got a strong ass team so far with CC in charge. See you at the ABC in Akron soon brotha

[MetalTechnician]

A quick update as well. Those who have trained with me know that I am natural and have never even seen steroids before. With that said, in this last month, I've been accused of taking shit more than ever. Some in the form of compliments, others in the form of hate. I can see why.

Stepping on the scale today, I weighed 204 with sweats and a sweatshirt. I weighed myself at 182 on new years day. Crazy huh? Almost unbelieveable. Honestly, I've only changed or added a few things it this last month and a half.

1. I eat a mix of quick oats, chicken and stirfry sauce out of a coffee cup 2-3 times a day along with meals that I take time to actually cook. I've increased that to 4 times every day. How could I not afford to? 2-3 chicken breasts, 4 cups of oats and some sauce literally costs me less than 5 bucks a day. Thats 4 meals for 5 dollars along with 3 more meals that may come by way of pancakes in the morning, a whey shake if work is slammed, a steak dinner if flow is good, a pasta and meatball meal, etc.
2. I've been taking monohydrate caps, before and after my workouts along with my usual storm. I attribute a big part of my strength gain to this.
3. I've been sippin EAA stack during my workout. Not only is it helping my muscles, but the taste gets me out of the repetitious track that I'm on.
4. Lifting heavy sets, low reps, for a lot of sets, like 8-12.

Thats it. Granted, not all that weight I put on was muscle obviously, but I can't stand to see anyone saying they cant put on weight or get stronger. Its just rediculous. All it took for me was to alter my training, correct my form, and spend a few more bucks a day on food and basic supps.

Bro, I am in need of a diet that involves little money because I am broke as shit. So I am going to become inspired to do the Coffee Cup Diet by Firefist. This should be a sticky. Going to let you know results after about a month.

Late,

Metal

[Firefist]

haha, will do brother and congrats on getting picked both as an Intern and in Pro v. Bro

Thanks man, I def see you gettin into the PvsB mix soon, youre a pretty strong mfer.


Those are true measures of strengths.

Thanks hollow, with those in hand and mind, strength will hopefully soon follow.


Hell yeah dude glad to see you stepping up to the plate in the Pros/Bros I am proud of ya man..you got a strong ass team so far with CC in charge. See you at the ABC in Akron soon brotha

Big man! haha yeah following in your footsteps. Im gonna go for my best. I honestly may have burned myself out training deads so much in the past month. Im gonna pull one more time to give it my all on saturday and then leave it at that. Hopefully 315 deads is my event cause my bench is still a work in progress and i hurt something squatting 2 weeks ago. Even if I just get 20, I'll be happy. Just to get that experience will be... well, quite the experience.

Cant wait to train with all yall on tuesday. Its been a while.

Bro, I am in need of a diet that involves little money because I am broke as shit. So I am going to become inspired to do the Coffee Cup Diet by Firefist. This should be a sticky. Going to let you know results after about a month.

Late,

Metal

I hear ya brotha. Haha Im gonna brand that shit. Yeah, honestly its cheap as hell to do. A bag full of tyson breasts is either 6 bucks for 6-8 breasts at walmart, or 14 bucks for around 10-14 bigger pieces at costco or sams. A big tub of great value oats costs 2-3 bucks and will get you 30-35 servings. A bottle of sauce is 4 bucks and you can use that shit for a while. Its really cheap and effective.

Another cheap thing I do is inherent in my culture. Being Asian, I eat a shit ton of white rice. I have a 25 lb bag of it that has lasted me most of last year and will probably go for a couple more months. A rice cooker costs 15-20 bucks and is a hell of an investment. Sometimes Ill throw 3 cups of dry rice, 2 eggs, beans and some cooked meat in there and Ill have meals for the day. Throw some sirachi or teriyaki sauce in there and youre in business.

When I was in the 180's, I was watching everything I ate and trying to keep around there. I had it in my head that I would one day do a powerlifting meet at 181, so I figured Id stay there. Plateaued pretty hard, so I upped coffee cups haha. My body was probably just tired of getting such little food and responded well.

The coffee cup started being used because one day, I was gonna be late for work and I had no clean tupperware.... just grabbed anything that I could cook my oats in. The other thing is that the tupperware would stain and get soft and dirty after heating it up so much. Shit heats up better in ceramic and glass too i feel.

I appreciate you droppin in man.

[MetalTechnician]

Yea thats good thinking since that damn plastic does not take well to heat, and my woman hates the stains I make, ha. But this diet is going to look sweet. What do you do for cheat? Anything?

Late,

Metal

[Firefist]

Yea thats good thinking since that damn plastic does not take well to heat, and my woman hates the stains I make, ha. But this diet is going to look sweet. What do you do for cheat? Anything?

Late,

Metal

Haha, honestly I dont consider it dieting. Alot of guys go alot more by the books than me and I absolutely tip my hat off to them. I just make sure I'm eating, and eating well is all. What youre eating is important, but when people become immersed into this lifestyle, i think it then becomes more of how much are you eating, cause you already know what youre supposed to be eating.

I dont follow anything to a T to be honest, save for my coffee cup meals. Im getting aroud 8 meals in a day, with only 1-2 of them coming in the form of powdered oats and whey, or bananas pre workout and before sleeping. Aside from that, I'll eat whatever my girl or her family cooks for me when I go over there (gotta love italians) and I dont mind eating at restaurants. When I do, I opt for steak and ribs with baked potato and broccoli as sides. I never go for the cream sauces or restaurant mashed. I stay away from fast food, but once every blue moon, I've been known to smash 3 quarter pounders when they are on sale for 5 bucks at micky d's.

I try to add flavor via spices, veggies, and different meats to stuff other than the coffee cups, so I never feel like I'm fighting to eat clean and dieting. Though I am technically bulking I guess right now, i am still fairly leaned out because of this.

Hope this helps you out man. I am no expert by any means, but this is what has worked for me.

Get yours brotha.

[Firefist]

Got a good session in tonight with shoulders. A very built older gent who happened to be a chief of police in a local department happened to be doing shoulders tonight and asked if I wanted to train together since the gym equipment was so crowded. Naturally, I said hell yeah brother.

Lots of dropsets and burnouts in here tonight.

DB military press- 40x15, 60x12, 80x8 for 5 sets.
Lateral raises- 4x15 drop set 4xfailure
Standing military press-4x10 (down to chest) dropset 4xfailure behind the head
Seated BB military-4xburnout partials for speed.
BB shrugs- 4x10
1 min jump rope ss 1 minute shrug burnout for 4 rotations.

Completely fried. I'll definitely get another session in with this guy down the road.

[Firefist]

I was going to take the day off, but I walked out of teaching class to see my buddy and his girl deadlifting. They asked if I wanted in, so I had to. Wanted to test the waters after such a piss poor showing on monday.

315x1 for 3 sets
435x1 (buddy had it loaded)
315x?

Guess yall will have to see next week at the cage.

I did some rolling afterwards, and my god did I need that.

[Firefist]

Actually.... have no idea what im gonna be lifting in the cage, so that statement goes out the window haha.

[MetalTechnician]

I was going to take the day off, but I walked out of teaching class to see my buddy and his girl deadlifting. They asked if I wanted in, so I had to. Wanted to test the waters after such a piss poor showing on monday.

315x1 for 3 sets
435x1 (buddy had it loaded)
315x?

Guess yall will have to see next week at the cage.

I did some rolling afterwards, and my god did I need that.

that 435 got you didn't it? Get it.

Late,

Metal

[Firefist]

I wasn't planning on doing it at all but my buddy was going for a max and wanted to see it moved for visualization. I don't know if pulling a heavy single beforehand is beneficial or detrimental in the long run for reppin 315.


Surprisingly, I did not lose grip on the bar at all for my reps.

[Firefist]

Threw up alot over the weekend. I caught the sickness flying around. Coincidentally, I ran out of pak 2 days prior to it happening. My immunity is good and luckily I rebounded and feel a lot better today. Gonna leave work early and head to train before class.

[Firefist]

A mixed day. Started with squats and ended with back. I know they say you arent training legs hard enough if you can do something else afterwards. This is kinda different.

Squats-
315x5
365x5
405x2 for 2 sets

Touch n go box squats
405x3 for 3 sets
315xfailure

Banded box squats
315+blue bands- 4x8

Pullups- 4xfailure each set
Cable rows-4x8
Bent over rows-4x8 drop set 135xfailure each set
Shrugs- 315xfailure for 6 sets

I usually do deads on Monday, but I'm taking it off today to do one more all out deads session this weekend. Ill end up squatting again Thursday.

Was completely fried after. Gonna sleep real well tonight.

[Firefist]

Chest today and hit PRs. Everything is coming together.

Flat bench
135x10
225x6
245x6
265x4
275x3 PR
275x2+1 (still a PR)

Incline bench
225x5 for 3 sets
245x3 for 2 sets
185x15
135x20

Banded bench (Blue bands)
135x5 for 3 sets
115x8 for 3 sets

Pec fly
3x12


Made alot of progress today. 315 seems more likely to happen sooner than later now. 275 was my max for a while. I might have hit it once or twice in this journey, but it was either sloppy or not a pause at the chest. The day will come when I hit 315 and it will be a very special day for me.

[freighttraindane]

Looking forward to being on Team Universal with you brother!

[Firefist]

Looking forward to being on Team Universal with you brother!

Hell yeah dude. Lets show these guys whats up.

[MetalTechnician]

Chest today and hit PRs. Everything is coming together.

Flat bench
135x10
225x6
245x6
265x4
275x3 PR
275x2+1 (still a PR)

Incline bench
225x5 for 3 sets
245x3 for 2 sets
185x15
135x20

Banded bench (Blue bands)
135x5 for 3 sets
115x8 for 3 sets

Pec fly
3x12


Made alot of progress today. 315 seems more likely to happen sooner than later now. 275 was my max for a while. I might have hit it once or twice in this journey, but it was either sloppy or not a pause at the chest. The day will come when I hit 315 and it will be a very special day for me.

Ain't nothing like hitting a PR. Good job, and keep it moving.

Late,

MT

[Firefist]

Good news and bad news. Lets start with the bad.

Holy shit. So that flu I had last week turned out to me something else. Been feeling weak and not 100% mentally there for the last 5 days or so, throat feels weird and body is sore. My grip feels extremely week too. A family friend who is a doctor checked me up and thinks I actually have/had mono. Well fuck me right? The two lifts early this week felt really good for some reason, but fridays shoulder session has me in so much soreness even right now its crazy. Did arms with my buddy yesterday and I almost passed out. Sleep has been terrible too and my appetite is nonexistent. I'm throwing down oat and whey shakes to try and compensate. Hopefully it passes these next few days.

The good news. Persistence always wins. I wanted to give a good effort before I went into PvsB next sunday, so I did a session today of just 4 sets of deads, not hitting max reps at all, but limiting rest to a 90 seconds in between.

315x10 for 2 sets
315x15 for 2 sets.

I may not come in as strong as I had hoped too, but I will give my all out effort, sick or healthy.


Keep healthy everyone.

Happy training.

[Firefist]

Ain't nothing like hitting a PR. Good job, and keep it moving.

Late,

MT

Thanks my man, hopefully they keep coming! Hope trainings going well.

[Firefist]

Still weak today, but better. Hit some chest and shoulders. Benched up to 275 for an easy single (some pain around my chest/shoulder) and hit some abs with my buddy doing a strongman comp this weekend.

edit- taking that shit back, dont wanna jynx it.

[freighttraindane]

Good news and bad news. Lets start with the bad.

Holy shit. So that flu I had last week turned out to me something else. Been feeling weak and not 100% mentally there for the last 5 days or so, throat feels weird and body is sore. My grip feels extremely week too. A family friend who is a doctor checked me up and thinks I actually have/had mono. Well fuck me right? The two lifts early this week felt really good for some reason, but fridays shoulder session has me in so much soreness even right now its crazy. Did arms with my buddy yesterday and I almost passed out. Sleep has been terrible too and my appetite is nonexistent. I'm throwing down oat and whey shakes to try and compensate. Hopefully it passes these next few days.

The good news. Persistence always wins. I wanted to give a good effort before I went into PvsB next sunday, so I did a session today of just 4 sets of deads, not hitting max reps at all, but limiting rest to a 90 seconds in between.

315x10 for 2 sets
315x15 for 2 sets.

I may not come in as strong as I had hoped too, but I will give my all out effort, sick or healthy.


Keep healthy everyone.

Happy training.

Solid work here Firefist, especially for being sick, lots a vitamin C

[Firefist]

Back to loggin it. Still recovering from the weekends exploits. Lots of good training, and some good times during pro's vs bro's.

Got a quick back day in yesterday to finish off from the weekend.
10 sets of pullups to behind the neck at 10-15 reps each
Lat pulldowns 4x15
Plateloaded low row- 4x15
Straight arm pulldowns


Shoulders today
EZ bar front raise dropset- 60,50,40,30,20 for 8 reps of each x 4 sets
Seated military press-4x25
Lateral raise- 4xfailure
Abs- decline situps 4x15, Hanging leg raises 4x10

[tark]

def in for this shit homie!!

[Christman]

def in for this shit homie!!

x2

[freighttraindane]

do you know anything about the WNPF Powerlifitng meet that is held in Youngstown on July 21st? No anyone that has competed in it? Legit meet?

[Firefist]

Lots of squats Thursday. First day back at squats for 2 weeks or so. Worked with knee wraps for the first time. PR's all around.

Warmup-135,225,315
365x5
385x3
405x4 (PR)
405x3
385x3
405X1
415x1
425x1 (PR)
435xfail
225+blue bandx10
225+blue bandx10
275+blue bandx5
315+blue bandx3 (blue band snapped on one side)

V squat
3,4,5,5,5 ops for 6 reps each

Calf raises
3x30


Arms earlier, workin that vinny G magic.

Preacher curls -3x20
Close grip bench- 3x10
Alt DB curl- 3x12
Straight bar pushdown-3xfailure
Barbell curl-3x15
Rope pressdown-3xfailure
Isocurl machine ss rope kickback 3xfailure each.

[Firefist]

On the squats, it was the first squat workout where I feel Ive utilized my hips to the fullest. How do I know? My hips have never been sore from squatting. I'm definitely making progress, though it is a shame that I will lose some of it due to commitments in running a half marathon. I'm already behind in training for that.... I've been so focused on my strength goals lately.

[tark]

nice work on the pr's on the squats brotha!! and the arm work you put in wasnt to shabby as well! haha ...when are you doing a half marathon? more power to you for being commited enough to do one!

[Firefist]

nice work on the pr's on the squats brotha!! and the arm work you put in wasnt to shabby as well! haha ...when are you doing a half marathon? more power to you for being commited enough to do one!

Thanks man. Ahhh its may 5th or 6th and I havent started running hard yet hahaha. Im really against doing it cause lifting has been going so well lately. Bite the bullet I guess haha.

[Firefist]

Since the Arnold, I've been somewhat injured. Something in my chest/shoulder is pinching with any chest movements, so I've been trying to work through it with less than impressive results. My back has also been tweaking. Very tight all the way from my traps to my lower back. I've been working around it as best as possible, doing any and all exercises to adjust. Today, to make up for these less than stellar workouts, I decided I would do 20 sets of squats.


Barbell squats
135x10
225x8
315x5
365x5
385x5 (wraps)
405x4 (wraps)
415x2 (wraps)
425X1 with slight spot (wraps)

Touch n Go box squats
405x4 (wraps)
385x6 (wraps)
365x8
365x8

Squats from pause (safety bar at parallel)
225x10
275x6
315x5
315x5 (starting to zone out from here on out)

Banded Squats
225x5
275x5
315x5
315x3


Arms tomorrow.

[tark]

Since the Arnold, I've been somewhat injured. Something in my chest/shoulder is pinching with any chest movements, so I've been trying to work through it with less than impressive results. My back has also been tweaking. Very tight all the way from my traps to my lower back. I've been working around it as best as possible, doing any and all exercises to adjust. Today, to make up for these less than stellar workouts, I decided I would do 20 sets of squats.


Barbell squats
135x10
225x8
315x5
365x5
385x5 (wraps)
405x4 (wraps)
415x2 (wraps)
425X1 with slight spot (wraps)

Touch n Go box squats
405x4 (wraps)
385x6 (wraps)
365x8
365x8

Squats from pause (safety bar at parallel)
225x10
275x6
315x5
315x5 (starting to zone out from here on out)

Banded Squats
225x5
275x5
315x5
315x3


Arms tomorrow.

damn man thats squatting out the ass...let me know how them stems feel tomorrow.. i had to work around whatever i did to my shoulder for a couple months so i know the feeling....hope you get healed up buddy!!

[MetalTechnician]

Good format here Firefist, good volume.

Late,

MT

[Firefist]

damn man thats squatting out the ass...let me know how them stems feel tomorrow.. i had to work around whatever i did to my shoulder for a couple months so i know the feeling....hope you get healed up buddy!!

Hips were sore as all hell man. Im gonna have to see how it feels tomorrow with chest. Hopefully I can actually finish one. Thanks for checkin in.


Good format here Firefist, good volume.

Late,

MT

Thanks brother. Doing what I can to keep up with everyone.

[Firefist]

Will do a final writeup of the ATP program when I get a chance to, but holy crap, though its early, I think its working. Got a little bit more to go with it. Hit a big PR today. Im stoked as all hell.

Deadlifts
135x5
225x5 and 5 sumo
315x5 and 5 sumo
405x3 and 3 sumo
455x2
475x1
495x1 (PR)
505x1 (PR) (20 pound PR)

Pullups
4x15

Cable rows
4x15

Lat pulldowns
4x10 + 10 + 10 drop sets

Decline situps
4x15

Oblique side to sides + raises

4x15 + 15 + 15

This is a HUGE PR for me. 2 PRs in one day, and PRs or squat last week. Somethings been working. I havent changed much, and have actually been sleeping less.

Thus, here are my total comparisons (bench is tentative)

Lift- Old > New (Rep of old max) Jump in weight

Squat- 405 > 425 (Repping 405 for 4) 20 pound jump
Bench- 275 > 295 (Repping 275 for 3) 20 pound jump
Deadlift- 455 > 505 (Repping 455 for 6) 50 pound jump

Like I said a few posts back, the new goals by the next arnold are:

Squat- 495
Bench-335
Deadlift- 545

I have a feeling I'll need new goals by the fall.

Happing training everyone.

[Christman]

Hell yeah, PR's happening everywhere! I'm starting my Project Stak tomorrow, can't wait.

[MetalTechnician]

505x1 (PR) (20 pound PR)

I would have killed a small animal to see this.

Late,

MT

[Firefist]

Hell yeah, PR's happening everywhere! I'm starting my Project Stak tomorrow, can't wait.

Thanks man. The cage high, along with the ATP i think are making everything work. Im sure its gonna do great stuff for you too.


505x1 (PR) (20 pound PR)

I would have killed a small animal to see this.

Late,

MT

Thanks man, shits finally coming together. Just gotta keep this pace going! Sadly, the gains will stop soon cause of the running I have to do for the half marathon, but as soon as thats over, its back to the gains. And hopefully, the ATP will be in beta testing hahaha.

[tark]

Will do a final writeup of the ATP program when I get a chance to, but holy crap, though its early, I think its working. Got a little bit more to go with it. Hit a big PR today. Im stoked as all hell.

Deadlifts
135x5
225x5 and 5 sumo
315x5 and 5 sumo
405x3 and 3 sumo
455x2
475x1
495x1 (PR)
505x1 (PR) (20 pound PR)

Pullups
4x15

Cable rows
4x15

Lat pulldowns
4x10 + 10 + 10 drop sets

Decline situps
4x15

Oblique side to sides + raises

4x15 + 15 + 15

This is a HUGE PR for me. 2 PRs in one day, and PRs or squat last week. Somethings been working. I havent changed much, and have actually been sleeping less.

Thus, here are my total comparisons (bench is tentative)

Lift- Old > New (Rep of old max) Jump in weight

Squat- 405 > 425 (Repping 405 for 4) 20 pound jump
Bench- 275 > 295 (Repping 275 for 3) 20 pound jump
Deadlift- 455 > 505 (Repping 455 for 6) 50 pound jump

Like I said a few posts back, the new goals by the next arnold are:

Squat- 495
Bench-335
Deadlift- 545

I have a feeling I'll need new goals by the fall.

Happing training everyone.

congrats on the pr's man!! and your new goals are def do able by the next arnold...like you said the way you are training and you might need a new set of goals by fall!!

[Firefist]

congrats on the pr's man!! and your new goals are def do able by the next arnold...like you said the way you are training and you might need a new set of goals by fall!!

Thanks brother. Hopefully this half marathon doesnt kill me going into the summer. Been running alot and strength has not gone down too much I dont think.

[Firefist]

Chest last night, and having not benched properly in 2 weeks, this workout suffered.

Flat Bench (all paused)
Warmups-135, 185
225x5
245x4
275x1+1
275x1+1
225x5

Incline Press
225x5 for 4 sets
185x8 for 2 sets

Flyes + DB press superset
4x15 + burnout

Floor press (Bad idea to do it last)
4x 8,5,3,3,8

[freighttraindane]

Chest last night, and having not benched properly in 2 weeks, this workout suffered.

Flat Bench (all paused)
Warmups-135, 185
225x5
245x4
275x1+1
275x1+1
225x5

Incline Press
225x5 for 4 sets
185x8 for 2 sets

Flyes + DB press superset
4x15 + burnout

Floor press (Bad idea to do it last)
4x 8,5,3,3,8

Damn you really worked the chest

[MetalTechnician]

Chest last night, and having not benched properly in 2 weeks, this workout suffered.

Flat Bench (all paused)
Warmups-135, 185
225x5
245x4
275x1+1
275x1+1
225x5

Incline Press
225x5 for 4 sets
185x8 for 2 sets

Flyes + DB press superset
4x15 + burnout

Floor press (Bad idea to do it last)
4x 8,5,3,3,8

It may have suffered but every little bit helps. A setback always has a comeback.

Late,

MT

[Firefist]

Damn you really worked the chest

Thanks man, pressing is something I've been really focusing on lately, so I gotta step it up!


It may have suffered but every little bit helps. A setback always has a comeback.

Late,

MT

For sure brother, always a good thing to keep in mind.

[Firefist]

Hit legs on Friday working up to 405 for a few reps.

Hit arms yesterday. This kid who works out at the rec asked me for some pointers on deads. I ended up doing a few sets to practice my sumo and hit 455 for a pretty easy single.

Continuing the deadlift action tomorrow.

[Firefist]

Hit good back workout last night.

Deads (conventional and sumo)
warmups
315x5 (c)
315x3 (s)
405x3 (c)
405x3 (s)
455x3 (c)
455x1 (s)
495xfail (c)
495x1 (s) (pr)
495x1 (s) (pr)

Pullups
4x15

Lat pulldowns
4x12

Low row
4x8

Few notes:
1. coming to the end of stak. apparently there were instructions.... but i never got them so I took them as stated on current formula. Feeling pretty good about this product.

2. I may start focusing on pulling sumo from now on. It feels really good for me, probably from squatting wider lately.

[freighttraindane]

Hit good back workout last night.

Deads (conventional and sumo)
warmups
315x5 (c)
315x3 (s)
405x3 (c)
405x3 (s)
455x3 (c)
455x1 (s)
495xfail (c)
495x1 (s) (pr)
495x1 (s) (pr)

Pullups
4x15

Lat pulldowns
4x12

Low row
4x8

Few notes:
1. coming to the end of stak. apparently there were instructions.... but i never got them so I took them as stated on current formula. Feeling pretty good about this product.

2. I may start focusing on pulling sumo from now on. It feels really good for me, probably from squatting wider lately.

Awesome Deads. Congrats on the PR!

[Firefist]

Long day yesterday. Eventually got to the gym at about 1030.

Flat Bench
warmup
225x5
245x5
255x3
265x3
185x10
135x20

Rack press from a little below parallel with chains
205+50lbs chainsx4-6 for 4 sets

Incline press
205x6 for 4 sets. Usually I go higher, but I was spent after those two movements

Pec flye
4x15

Pushups
4xfailure

[Firefist]

Awesome Deads. Congrats on the PR!

Thanks my brother.

[MetalTechnician]

1. coming to the end of stak. apparently there were instructions.... but i never got them so I took them as stated on current formula. Feeling pretty good about this product.

This is actually what alpha is all about, if you find that the way you took it gave good results, post that shit. Everyone stated 45min pre or in the morning. I found that one or two off nights I took it going to sleep and woke up charged and ready.

Late,

MT

[Firefist]

1. coming to the end of stak. apparently there were instructions.... but i never got them so I took them as stated on current formula. Feeling pretty good about this product.

This is actually what alpha is all about, if you find that the way you took it gave good results, post that shit. Everyone stated 45min pre or in the morning. I found that one or two off nights I took it going to sleep and woke up charged and ready.

Late,

MT

For sure MT. I've been taking it around 30-45 pre and in the morning on the off days. Having never taken a product like this, I definitely dig it.

[deanna7272]

Miss ya buddy....

Are you going to make the April 6th, Cleveland ABC?

[Firefist]

Miss ya buddy....

Are you going to make the April 6th, Cleveland ABC?

Whoa hahaha i think we posted in each others journeys at the same time. I'm trying, but things are pretty hectic around here. I think my dad changed his return ticket to come home from taiwan that day, and I'm gonna pick him up in pittsburg. I'll have to see, the next time I get to talk to him.

[Kowboy]

For sure MT. I've been taking it around 30-45 pre and in the morning on the off days. Having never taken a product like this, I definitely dig it.

on my off days I took it late (not on purpose) and I totally woke up feeling like a fucking monster

[Firefist]

on my off days I took it late (not on purpose) and I totally woke up feeling like a fucking monster

Next monday is my last day, and Ill definitely have to try it out like that. Somewhat to the effects of animal PM, or what?

[Kowboy]

Next monday is my last day, and Ill definitely have to try it out like that. Somewhat to the effects of animal PM, or what?

I don't know, I think it has some sort of magical make you not sore property.

[Firefist]

I don't know, I think it has some sort of magical make you not sore property.

hahaha I did notice that I'm not as sore any more. Normal, my back is fucked from deadlifting, to the point that it spazzes out when Im walking outside in the cold from tensing up. I dont get that any more. Also, chest day is the worst for me in terms of soreness, and my recovery period, which used to last like 3-4 days, is done in one.

[Kowboy]

hahaha I did notice that I'm not as sore any more. Normal, my back is fucked from deadlifting, to the point that it spazzes out when Im walking outside in the cold from tensing up. I dont get that any more. Also, chest day is the worst for me in terms of soreness, and my recovery period, which used to last like 3-4 days, is done in one.

Same for me man. HOpefully for us testing it maybe they will give us a 1 year supply....just a thought corporate :)

[Firefist]

Missed logging last week... behind a little this week.

Monday- Worked up with triples on deads and hit a 515 sumo for a single. Cable rows, pullups, straight arm pulldowns with pulldowns

Tuesday- Shoulders and Bi's

Wednesday- Chest

Flat bench
warmups
225x3
225x3
245x3
245x3
265x3
265x3
275x2
275x2
295x3 negatives

Incline
225x5 for 3 sets
245x4
245x5

Fly machine
3x15

Pushups
3 sets to failure

Legs today. Gonna be cautions cause somethings been weird with it lately.

[Firefist]

What a leg day.... Feel like I'm still riding the high of ATP. I started off slow.... 315 killed my wrists so I put on a wrist wrap on my left hand. Had gnocchi preworkout and it was a little more nutrient dense than I expected. At 405 though, I knew it was gonna be a good day.

Squats
Warmups
315x5
365x3
405x5 (wraps)
415x3
425x3(pr)
435x1(pr)
455x1(pr)

Pause rack squats
315x6 for 3 sets

Reverse hypers on lat pull down
3x15

Holy shit. 455. I was gonna do 445 but I was riding a high after how easy 435 went up. The ATP is for real fellas.... Gonna be a staple in my arsenal when it comes out, no doubt. That, along with hard work with improving my form has taken me to a whole new level.

Happy training everyone.

[Firefist]

Here's my updated maxes.

Squat-455
Bench-295
Dead-515

I need to improve my bench soooooo much.

[Christman]

Here's my updated maxes.

Squat-455
Bench-295
Dead-515

I need to improve my bench soooooo much.

Solid work there bro!

[tark]

What a leg day.... Feel like I'm still riding the high of ATP. I started off slow.... 315 killed my wrists so I put on a wrist wrap on my left hand. Had gnocchi preworkout and it was a little more nutrient dense than I expected. At 405 though, I knew it was gonna be a good day.

Squats
Warmups
315x5
365x3
405x5 (wraps)
415x3
425x3(pr)
435x1(pr)
455x1(pr)

Pause rack squats
315x6 for 3 sets

Reverse hypers on lat pull down
3x15

Holy shit. 455. I was gonna do 445 but I was riding a high after how easy 435 went up. The ATP is for real fellas.... Gonna be a staple in my arsenal when it comes out, no doubt. That, along with hard work with improving my form has taken me to a whole new level.

Happy training everyone.

congrats on the pr's for squats...sure doesnt look like training for that marathon or whatever it is your training for is hurting your strength!! and i absolutely love the reverse hypers in the lat pull down...they are legit as fuck!!

[Firefist]

Solid work there bro!

Thanks man! I really want to one day total elite at 198.

Wish I coulda made it up there this weekend. Yall have fun.


congrats on the pr's for squats...sure doesnt look like training for that marathon or whatever it is your training for is hurting your strength!! and i absolutely love the reverse hypers in the lat pull down...they are legit as fuck!!

Thanks brother. haha I actually told her how I felt 2 weeks ago, and she was cool with it. We decided to do the color run for fun. I've been trying to get her to do a tough mudder with me. Ive done a few already and even though its about the same distance as a half, its just so much more fun. Ahh only problem with ours is that the pad is super skinny so I had to bunch my knees together. Kinda internally rotated my so my insertions at the knees were kinda fucked this time around. I agree though, awesome exercise.

[freighttraindane]

damn its PR-city in here

[Saeger]

Awesome squat PR brother, Keep at it, great work in here.

[Firefist]

damn its PR-city in here

For sure, buddy! today is the first day I havent PR'd in a while. Ill be eating clean again from here on out and getting that conditioning up!


Awesome squat PR brother, Keep at it, great work in here.

Thanks for stoppin in brother, will do!

[Firefist]

Back and deads.

Deads
315x5 (c) 315x3 (s)
405x5 (s)
455x2 (s)
495x1 (s) much easier now
495x1 (s)
515x1 (s)
525xfail (s) got it off the floor above to about the knees, but quite honestly, i was gonna shit my pants if i got it up another inch.... and I dont mean that figuratively. I'm all about getting the weight up no matter what, but I draw the line there.

Pullups- 12 sets of 10 (good lord)

Lat pulldown ss wide cable row 3x15 and 3x15

Abs
decline situps 4x20
plate side to sides 2x20

Happy training yall.

[MetalTechnician]

Firefist,

What do you do for the days that you have like 4 hours of sleep?

Late,

MT

[Firefist]

Firefist,

What do you do for the days that you have like 4 hours of sleep?

Late,

MT

Yo MT,

If its a long night, the best thing to do is get up as soon as the alarm rings. Ive found if I even snooze once, the next 3 hours of being up are going to be terrible. You are going to feel a crash midday no matter what.... youre just gonna have to make it through the day to your workout. After that, you should be energized for the next couple of hours. After that, sleep hard brotha haha.

Whenever i'm dragging, I drink some strong coffee and think about about some of my freinds in the service. A few of them are current army rangers and I had a buddy try out for the seals and got cut. Those guys go days without sleeping in miserable environments, while taxing the hell out of their bodies. My training buddies little brother is a marine, and he takes that to heart every time he trains. "My brother doesnt get excuses, so neither do I."

Theres alot of guys on here who dont get much sleep at all and function great. C.Corronato is one of em. After a while, you just get used to it haha.

Good luck brother.

[tark]

Back and deads.

Deads
315x5 (c) 315x3 (s)
405x5 (s)
455x2 (s)
495x1 (s) much easier now
495x1 (s)
515x1 (s)
525xfail (s) got it off the floor above to about the knees, but quite honestly, i was gonna shit my pants if i got it up another inch.... and I dont mean that figuratively. I'm all about getting the weight up no matter what, but I draw the line there.

Pullups- 12 sets of 10 (good lord)

Lat pulldown ss wide cable row 3x15 and 3x15

Abs
decline situps 4x20
plate side to sides 2x20

Happy training yall.

yea man would be kinda hard to finish a workout with shit running down your leg haha....still good work with the deads my man!! and 12 sets of 10?!?!
I LIKE THAT SHIT!!!!

[Firefist]

yea man would be kinda hard to finish a workout with shit running down your leg haha....still good work with the deads my man!! and 12 sets of 10?!?!
I LIKE THAT SHIT!!!!

haha for sure man... that shits no bueno. There was a time where I would do 100 pullups after every workout I did, no matter if it was right after a full back workout where I already did pullups, or it was the day after back and I was sore as shit. Did it for 3 weeks and got beastly at pullups, however, my lats are so tight that any slight foam rolling now makes me scream.

[Kowboy]

It is only not worth it if you shit your pants and miss...

[Firefist]

It is only not worth it if you shit your pants and miss...

youre a bigger man than me then dude. it happened once before years ago in the squat rack, and i wasnt about to let that happen again.

[Saeger]

LOL, I say shit, go big baby worry about shit later. 12 sets of 10 pullups is pretty sick, solid work in here.

[Kowboy]

youre a bigger man than me then dude. it happened once before years ago in the squat rack, and i wasnt about to let that happen again.

Would be an uncomfortable ride home for sure lol

[Kowboy]

youre a bigger man than me then dude. it happened once before years ago in the squat rack, and i wasnt about to let that happen again.

Would be an uncomfortable ride home for sure lol

[Firefist]

Chest tuesday:

flat bench
warmups
225x5
245x5
275x3
275x2
290x1
185xfailure

Incline
225x5 for 3 sets
245x5 for 2 sets
255x3 for 1 set

Dips
3x15

Flyes
2 sets low, 15 reps
2 sets high, 15 reps

[Firefist]

Legs yesterday

Squats
warmups
315x5
365x5
405x3
405x5(wraps)
425x2

Squats to low box
405x5 for 4 sets

Squats from the hole (rack)
315x6 for 2 sets
335x4

Calf raises
seated-3xfailure
standing-3xfailure

[Saeger]

Everytime I stop in here I see good shit happening. I like the way you do things.

[Phil800101]

Same to you my man, subbed for this!

[Firefist]

decided to do deads today instead of squats. did a little rev band. They were just mini bands and there was alot of slack in it. Hung em off the squat safety bars with about maybe a foot of actual stretch. I couldve probably hung em higher and put more weight on, but I wanted it to be as raw as possible.

deads (all sumo)
315x5
405x3
455x3
495x2 (rev)
515x1
535x1
545x1
495x2 (no bands) (PR)

Speed deads
365x3 for 3 sets

Pause deads
315x5 for 2 sets

face pulls
3x15

done and my back is soooooo fried right now.

happy lifting yall.

[Firefist]

I will be dieting down a little bit starting next week. I've gotten stronger eating like I have, but my midsection has gotten a little sloppy for my liking. Around 200 is a really good weight for me and im a little over 210 right now. I wont be cutting drastically... it wouldnt hurt to work my conditioning a little bit.

In 3 weeks, ill be starting cube. Pretty excited for that.

[Firefist]

Everytime I stop in here I see good shit happening. I like the way you do things.

Thanks brother, same goes to you too. Theres something to be said of your work ethic.


Same to you my man, subbed for this!

hell yeah, good to have you aboard.

[tark]

decided to do deads today instead of squats. did a little rev band. They were just mini bands and there was alot of slack in it. Hung em off the squat safety bars with about maybe a foot of actual stretch. I couldve probably hung em higher and put more weight on, but I wanted it to be as raw as possible.

deads (all sumo)
315x5
405x3
455x3
495x2 (rev)
515x1
535x1
545x1
495x2 (no bands) (PR)

Speed deads
365x3 for 3 sets

Pause deads
315x5 for 2 sets

face pulls
3x15

done and my back is soooooo fried right now.

happy lifting yall.

495 for 2?? thats some good shit brother congrats...saw your also starting the cube here soon...on a scale of 1- 10 how pumped are you for that haha

[Firefist]

495 for 2?? thats some good shit brother congrats...saw your also starting the cube here soon...on a scale of 1- 10 how pumped are you for that haha

so stoked man... for sure.


Gonna go for a squat PR today. Hopefully 465 or 475 will come up.

[Kowboy]

You sir are a badass. That is all.

[Saeger]

Congrats on the PR brother, Some pretty damn good numbers and I bet your back was fried after that. Mine hurts just reading it.

[Firefist]

Congrats on the PR brother, Some pretty damn good numbers and I bet your back was fried after that. Mine hurts just reading it.


You sir are a badass. That is all.

Thank you guys for the continued support. It means alot to me to have fine gents like you in my corner.

[Firefist]

Before I begin todays log, let me just say I HAVE VIDEO PROOF. I surprised the shit outta myself today with what I did. Originally, I wanted to hit 3 lifts as if it were a meet with a goal of hitting 465-475 as a third attempt. I changed a few things these past weeks with squat training.

1. New breathing technique
2. Toe angle
3. Think of spreading the floor
4. Box squats
5. Rack squats

So heres the workout:

Squats
warmups to 315
365x3
405x1
445x1 (wraps and belt)
465x1 (PR)

Felt sooooo easy. No sticking points, straight up. Decided to go up and see how far I could go.

475x1 (PR)
485x1 (PR)
495x1 (PR)
505xfail (didnt keep my chest up and the weight caved me in. Have a vid of this too.... terrible)
500x1 (PR) (video when I figure how to post. its on my twitter though if anyone wants to verify)

box squats (paused)
405x3 for 3 sets
315x10 for 3 sets


Best leg day I've ever had. There was a certain amount of doubt in my head if I would ever hit 495 when I hit 405 again weeks ago. With a few tweaks, I've surprised myself on every level. With 500 as the new PR, I am going back to the drawing board with box squats, racks and other accessory lifts for the next 3 weeks and do another 3 attempt workout. I now know my abs are weak and need to get stronger to support as well.

Although this was an awesome day, the matter stands that my total is still far off of anywhere near elite. These are gym lifts and really don't mean shit until the platform, but my goal is to total elite at my first meet. I believe SPF, IPA and 100% drug free count elite at 198 as 1471. My unofficial total is thus:

Squat 500
Bench 295
Deadlift 525

for a unoffical total of 1320. I'm looking at a few meets next year including an SPF in Cinci and an IPA in columbus.

Oh yeah, I bet the farm that ATP had something to do with this.

Happy lifting everyone. Go get yours.

[Firefist]

Cant figure out the video yet, but heres a screenshot of the video from my iphone for depth check. This the second I was on the way up, actually got slightly deeper, but this should suffice til i get the video working.

http://i1325.photobucket.com/albums/u621/abcweiping/photo_zps38bbffcb.png

[Firefist]

From hitting the biggest PR of my life to tonight.... life comes at you in rediculous ways. Get to sleep at 1am only to be awoken by my girl at 2. She calls to tell me her sisters water broke. Here we go to cleveland for the day. Class at 6 with 2 presentations to prepare in the meantime. Rush in, miss 3 meals, go to class for 3 hours with 4 chocolate milks to compensate for nutrition. Get out at 945, get to the gym at 10PM and bust out the most painful shoulder workout to date. Here I am now typing this and force feeding my body. Gonna have a giant ass shake before bed too. But I cant complain. Many people lead lives that shit on mine in terms of grit, toughness and sacrifice.

Shoulders in 25 today (Shoutout to saeger and his crazyfast workouts)

Military press 4x15 ss light lat raises 4x20
Heavy lat raises 4 x10 ss light lat raises 4xfailure
Behind the neck press 3x15 ss ez bar front raises 3x15
Rear delt machine 3x15 ss seated lateral raise 3x15

Done.

[Phil800101]

Huge congrats on the PR my man! Well done.

[freighttraindane]

hell yeah brother congrats on the PRs!

[Saeger]

From hitting the biggest PR of my life to tonight.... life comes at you in rediculous ways. Get to sleep at 1am only to be awoken by my girl at 2. She calls to tell me her sisters water broke. Here we go to cleveland for the day. Class at 6 with 2 presentations to prepare in the meantime. Rush in, miss 3 meals, go to class for 3 hours with 4 chocolate milks to compensate for nutrition. Get out at 945, get to the gym at 10PM and bust out the most painful shoulder workout to date. Here I am now typing this and force feeding my body. Gonna have a giant ass shake before bed too. But I cant complain. Many people lead lives that shit on mine in terms of grit, toughness and sacrifice.

Shoulders in 25 today (Shoutout to saeger and his crazyfast workouts)

Military press 4x15 ss light lat raises 4x20
Heavy lat raises 4 x10 ss light lat raises 4xfailure
Behind the neck press 3x15 ss ez bar front raises 3x15
Rear delt machine 3x15 ss seated lateral raise 3x15

Done.

Congrats brother that a big fucking PR, The crazy fast workouts get it done. I can't complain on my end, hitting PR's myself but nothing like this. Great fucking work!!!

[Firefist]

Huge congrats on the PR my man! Well done.


hell yeah brother congrats on the PRs!


Congrats brother that a big fucking PR, The crazy fast workouts get it done. I can't complain on my end, hitting PR's myself but nothing like this. Great fucking work!!!

Thanks brothers. Seeing all yall puttin in that work motivates me to give it my all. We're all in this together.

585 is the next goal.

[Firefist]

Got some arms in today real quick so i could get to work and studying

Barbell curls- 5x5 (first time ive gone this heavy in a while)
Incline close grip- 4x8
DB curls vinny g style- 4 sets 12/4 each arm
straight bar pushdown 4x15
Dip machine-4x8
iso curl machine-4x15

[Firefist]

Deads and accessory shit last night.

Deads (all sumo)
warmup to 315
405x5
455x3
455x3
495x2
495x4 (rev band)
515x1
545x1
565x1
565x1
565x1

cable row middle back shrugs
cable row upper back stretch stretches
face pulls

Dropped the rev bands down 2 pins to take away some more help. Im gonna keep droppin the pins until theres no more tension up and its just raw weight.

[tark]

Deads and accessory shit last night.

Deads (all sumo)
warmup to 315
405x5
455x3
455x3
495x2
495x4 (rev band)
515x1
545x1
565x1
565x1
565x1

cable row middle back shrugs
cable row upper back stretch stretches
face pulls

Dropped the rev bands down 2 pins to take away some more help. Im gonna keep droppin the pins until theres no more tension up and its just raw weight.

nice work with the deads again man!! so on the deads tho you added that bands from the 495x4 mark and used them for the singles as well right ?? seems like everytime i read about your deads work you just motivate me that much more to get my shit together with them!! keep it up brotha!!

[Firefist]

nice work with the deads again man!! so on the deads tho you added that bands from the 495x4 mark and used them for the singles as well right ?? seems like everytime i read about your deads work you just motivate me that much more to get my shit together with them!! keep it up brotha!!

Thanks brother! Yall do the same for me for sure. All the ohio boys making big jumps.

Thats right man, I just use em for singles. I dont set em up too high, that way ill get alot more weight to lock out. I also move the pins with the bands down to lessen the tension as well.

[tark]

Thanks brother! Yall do the same for me for sure. All the ohio boys making big jumps.

Thats right man, I just use em for singles. I dont set em up too high, that way ill get alot more weight to lock out. I also move the pins with the bands down to lessen the tension as well.

gotcha man just so it still gives you a lil bit off of the ground...565x1 for singles is still serious with the bands man!! and yea we gotta hold it down for ohio!!

[Firefist]

Hit chest on friday.

Floor presses- 6x3
Flat bench (speed)- 8x3
Incline bench-7x10 (pointer on rings, pinky on rings, mid bar, close grip and back)

Abs
Hanging leg raises- 4x15

[Firefist]

Legs today.

Squats
warmups to 315
315x5
405x5
455x3 (PR)
465x2 (PR)
475x1
465x2
455x2

Box squats
405x6
405x6
405x8 (PR)
315x15
225x10 (slow negative, speed up)

Kneeling HS iso ham curl
3x15 each leg

[tark]

Legs today.

Squats
warmups to 315
315x5
405x5
455x3 (PR)
465x2 (PR)
475x1
465x2
455x2

Box squats
405x6
405x6
405x8 (PR)
315x15
225x10 (slow negative, speed up)

Kneeling HS iso ham curl
3x15 each leg

good looking work brother...how long have you been doing the box squats? do you feel they have aided in your progress with your squats? i used to do them but kinda got away from doing them think its time to throw them back in there

[Kowboy]

Legs today.

Squats
warmups to 315
315x5
405x5
455x3 (PR)
465x2 (PR)
475x1
465x2
455x2

Box squats
405x6
405x6
405x8 (PR)
315x15
225x10 (slow negative, speed up)

Kneeling HS iso ham curl
3x15 each leg

Strong as hell man, nice job.

[Firefist]

Strong as hell man, nice job.
Thanks big man. Im actually gonna be in your neck of the woods this weekend for my brothers graduation. Was gonna hit you and domichi up for an impromptu session on sat, but im not sure if im gonna come up until sunday now.


good looking work brother...how long have you been doing the box squats? do you feel they have aided in your progress with your squats? i used to do them but kinda got away from doing them think its time to throw them back in there

Ive been hittin either box squats or squats with a pause on the rack at parallel for maybe 6-8 weeks now. They have definitely helped a lot. I had a problem of getting stuck in the hole and now its become less of an issue. In 4 weeks since I hit that first PR on squats with ATP the box squats and racks helped alot with the increase that I did today for doubles for sure.

[Saeger]

Great work in here brother, congrats on the PR's.

[Firefist]

Great work in here brother, congrats on the PR's.

Thanks brother, always appreciate the visit.

[Firefist]

Shoulders today.

Got in 30 minutes before the gym closed.

Shoulder BB press- 4x15
Heavy lateral raises- 4x10 drop set 4xfailure
Front to side raises 3x15
Cable lateral raises 3x10
Upright rows-4x15

Vinny G rotator cuff circles- 4x15

[Firefist]

Deads today, making improvements week to week.

Warmups to 315
405x5(c)
455x2 (c)
455x1 (s)
495x1 (s)
495x3 (s) rev band. All sumo from here on out. Dropped the pin to 7 today. In 4 more pins, the band will have no effect and will be a raw deadlift.
545x1 for 4 sets
565xfail (dropped the pin down one more and couldnt lock it out)
565x1 (back to pin 7)

Banded Speed deadlifts (to the bottom of the rack)
315x5 for 3 sets
405x3

Pullups
3x12

Face pulls
3x15

[tark]

Deads today, making improvements week to week.

Warmups to 315
405x5(c)
455x2 (c)
455x1 (s)
495x1 (s)
495x3 (s) rev band. All sumo from here on out. Dropped the pin to 7 today. In 4 more pins, the band will have no effect and will be a raw deadlift.
545x1 for 4 sets
565xfail (dropped the pin down one more and couldnt lock it out)
565x1 (back to pin 7)

Banded Speed deadlifts (to the bottom of the rack)
315x5 for 3 sets
405x3

Pullups
3x12

Face pulls
3x15

good looking day pulling man!! impressive as always...have you just recently switched to sumo? i know i used to pull conventional but ever since i tried sumo i fell in love with it and never went back

[Firefist]

good looking day pulling man!! impressive as always...have you just recently switched to sumo? i know i used to pull conventional but ever since i tried sumo i fell in love with it and never went back

Yeah brother, i believe it was like a few weeks after the arnold that i practiced them with lighter weight on saturdays. Then after 3 weeks of that, I went in and pulled 495 way easier than the first time I did it conventional. From there on out it was a no brainer which one I would do in comp.

I still train conventional though... everything up to 455 is usually conventional, as well as speed pulls and anything with bands at the bottom.

[Dman]

Firefist dropping in gotta say training is lookin crazzy Strong up in here Awesome work, i'm inspired by your comeback!!!

[Firefist]

Firefist dropping in gotta say training is lookin crazzy Strong up in here Awesome work, i'm inspired by your comeback!!!

Thanks brother, coming from a guy as hungry and hell bent as you means a lot to me.

[Firefist]

Legs today on no sleep and not alot of food. Finals along with work this week are both killing me. Felt alot weaker today for sure.

Squats
warmups to 315
315x10 no belt no wraps
405x5 to low box (belt and wraps from here)
425x5 to low box
455x3 to low box
475xfail at regular squat
405x6 regular squat
315x15 (wrap came undone on my right leg and was throwing me off.... was shooting for 20 or more)

HS iso ham curls
3x15

Lat pull revers hypers
3x15

Calve raises
4xfailure



Like I said, hardly my best workout.... but these days happen to all. I'll come back stronger next week.

[Dman]

Thanks brother, coming from a guy as hungry and hell bent as you means a lot to me.

You are welcome my brother and thank you Firefist I feel honored you say that!!!

[Saeger]

Legs today on no sleep and not alot of food. Finals along with work this week are both killing me. Felt alot weaker today for sure.

Squats
warmups to 315
315x10 no belt no wraps
405x5 to low box (belt and wraps from here)
425x5 to low box
455x3 to low box
475xfail at regular squat
405x6 regular squat
315x15 (wrap came undone on my right leg and was throwing me off.... was shooting for 20 or more)

HS iso ham curls
3x15

Lat pull revers hypers
3x15

Calve raises
4xfailure



Like I said, hardly my best workout.... but these days happen to all. I'll come back stronger next week.

Still a damn good Squat day. Lots of heavy squats in there. Keep it up brother.

[Firefist]

got some quick shoulders in yesterday. A mix of heavy and and lots of reps.

Seated BB press-5x5
Seated plateloaded shoulder press-5x5
Lateral raise from 20lb db's to 40lb db's-8-10 reps of each, going up by 5lb increments for 3 sets
Side to front raises- 3xfailure
Rear delt flye-4x10

Probably gonna be the same deal with arms today too. Get off work, go train arms, and study till the library closes.

[Firefist]

Still a damn good Squat day. Lots of heavy squats in there. Keep it up brother.

Thanks saeger. For sure, improvement is the only way.

[TGoetsch]

Looks like some damn nice liftin' in here, Fire!

[Firefist]

Rough few weeks. Numbers all have been on hold and the weights feel heavier. The last few weeks have been hell, if its not work, its school, if its not school its volunteer work, if its not that its the gym. My family time and spending moments with my girl were cut short too. Never skipped a workout, but they werent any of my best.

Now that finals are over, its time to get back on the horse.

Squats (for reps today)
warmups to 315
405x5
415x5
425x5
435xx3
445x3

stiff leg deads
3x15

reverse hypers
4x15

calf raises
3x15

Abs
decline situps
3x15

hanging raises
3x15

[Saeger]

Nice squats. Way to have the right mindset, life can get in the way a bit or stall out gains, but always keep driving forward. Good work in here brother.

[Firefist]

Nice squats. Way to have the right mindset, life can get in the way a bit or stall out gains, but always keep driving forward. Good work in here brother.

Thanks brother. For sure, the summers mine.

[Firefist]

Got some arms in yesterday. Really good workout. Needed that. Weight down to 205.

BB curls 5x5
Incline close grip 5x5
DB vinny g curls 3x12
incline skull crushers 4x6-8
rope pushdowns 4x20 ss iso curl machine 4x20 (no rest)
cable curl on cable row machine 3x15 ss EZ overhead 3x15

my biceps havent been this sore in a while. Gotta get shoulders in after work.

[Firefist]

Shoulders today.

Military press 5x5
Lateral raises 4x10 dropset 4xfailure
Plateloaded shoulder press 3x15
Pyramid lateral raises 20,25,30,25,20 10 reps each for 3 sets
Rear delt flye 3x15

[Firefist]

Decided on a speed/rep day for deads to get my body accustomed to cube. Obviously Im not on cube yet (as youll see).

Deads (bar preset with 40 extra pounds to clear prongs)
warmups to 355
445x3 (c)
445x3 (s)
445x3 (s)

Band deads (50 pounds of bands) for speed
265+bandsx8(c)
265+bandsx8(c)
265+bandsx8(c)

Band deads with 4 inch deficit (50 pounds of bands)
265+bandsx6(c)
265+bandsx6(c)
265+bandsx5(c)

Band deads (50 pounds of bands)
355+bandsx3(s) pause rest 355+bandsx2(c)
355+bandsx3(c)
355+bandsx3(c)

Catback pulldowns
3x20

Face pulls ss lat pulldowns
3x15 and 3x15

[Firefist]

Bench day

Flat bench
warmup to 225
225x8
225x8
245x5
265x1 (to test the waters cause shoulder was feeling wierd)
265x1
265x3
275x1 (for shoulders sake)
275x1
275x2
285x1 (easy)
295xfail (WHHHYYYY?!)

Incline pause press
4 pause sets with 10-20 second breaks in between

Dip machine
4x10

Overall a good day. I may be driving to hermitage PA some nights to work with Paul Vargo, aka Vag, one of the OG animal athletes. One of the sickest benchers around and only 30 minutes from me.

Pec fly
3x15

[tark]

still putting in some killer work brotha! when you start the cube i feel like your going to start getting into some freaky numbers....hope all is well

[Dman]

Lookn good up here Firefist that's some benching right there stoked to see u kick some ass with the cube also!!!

[Firefist]

PR today

Squats
warmups to 315
405x5
455x2
495x1
515x1 (15 lb PR)
535xfail

Low box squats
405x5 for 4 sets

Reverse hypers
4x15

Kneeling Iso HS ham curl
3x10 each side

The speed and reps have been really helping. Obviously not the cube yet, but the rotation of these days have been helping. Cant wait to start the real thing. Even if I dont get picked for the 10 participants, I'm still gonna rock the cube.

[tark]

PR today

Squats
warmups to 315
405x5
455x2
495x1
515x1 (15 lb PR)
535xfail

Low box squats
405x5 for 4 sets

Reverse hypers
4x15

Kneeling Iso HS ham curl
3x10 each side

The speed and reps have been really helping. Obviously not the cube yet, but the rotation of these days have been helping. Cant wait to start the real thing. Even if I dont get picked for the 10 participants, I'm still gonna rock the cube.

damn homie 515?? your fucking shit up man....

[Firefist]

damn homie 515?? your fucking shit up man....

Thanks big homie, we're workin on it every day.

[Firefist]

That fucking moment when you realize you left your chicken breast on the kitchen counter this morning. 3 cups of oats, so be it.

[Saeger]

Congrats on the PR, Big numbers baby!!!

[tark]

That fucking moment when you realize you left your chicken breast on the kitchen counter this morning. 3 cups of oats, so be it.

damn it man!! i hate when that happens...thats why i started packing the chicken in a can bullshit for times my dumb ass forgets something at home

[Firefist]

Congrats on the PR, Big numbers baby!!!

Thanks friend!


damn it man!! i hate when that happens...thats why i started packing the chicken in a can bullshit for times my dumb ass forgets something at home

Isnt it? Its all good though, I scored a sick deal on 2 london broils, and 12 large chicken breasts for 23 bucks. Picked up a 15 dollar grill and some charcoal. I am happier than a pig in shit right now haha. Got all my meals packed for the next few days and then some!

[Firefist]

Arm day today. Shock therapy is good for me pretty much on arm and shoulder day.... I prefer Rage on the big three.

DB curls
5x12 working up to the 70's

Close grip press
warmups to 225
225x6
245x6
255x4
265x3
275x2

Skullcrushers
4x5

Wide grip BB curl
4xAMRAP with 45 second rest

Cable row cable curl ss rope pressdown
4x15 ss 4x15

Fixing up the diet for sure. Got everything off on the right foot. Gonna drop to 193 or so and then add more clean cals in.

[Saeger]

Nice arm day brother, some heavy close grip pressing right there.

[tark]

Arm day today. Shock therapy is good for me pretty much on arm and shoulder day.... I prefer Rage on the big three.

DB curls
5x12 working up to the 70's

Close grip press
warmups to 225
225x6
245x6
255x4
265x3
275x2

Skullcrushers
4x5

Wide grip BB curl
4xAMRAP with 45 second rest

Cable row cable curl ss rope pressdown
4x15 ss 4x15

Fixing up the diet for sure. Got everything off on the right foot. Gonna drop to 193 or so and then add more clean cals in.

you sir are a fucking beast!! and your gonna do a little mini cut as well?? nice man!! think i might start bumping up the clean cals here in the next couple weeks as well...

[Firefist]

Nice arm day brother, some heavy close grip pressing right there.

Thanks man, yeah i actually felt really good with those. Im gonna try pressing a little more narrow this week on the bench and see how that goes.


you sir are a fucking beast!! and your gonna do a little mini cut as well?? nice man!! think i might start bumping up the clean cals here in the next couple weeks as well...

Nice brotha. Yeah figured I'd grow back into 198 instead of continuing this trend til i hit the 220 mark haha