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bbenzel
05-08-13, 6:53 pm
http://bryanshurtlocker.blogspot.com/

After joining the forvm to get myself entered into the 10 week transformation I started looking around and realized how many strong ass people are on here to get shit done. So, I decided I better start posting a training log here and maybe get some good feedback from time to time and possibly help others out too. Above is a link to my previous training log, which I will probably still keep up to date, but I will also post on here.

bbenzel
05-08-13, 7:16 pm
Here's some current stats on me:

Best Gym Lifts:
585 squat RAW
405 bench
655 deadlift
330 12" log
370 axle press

I list the log and axle since they are a good indicator of my pressing strength, and it's a focus in strongman.

Best Comp Lifts:
561 squat
385 bench
650 deadlift

I am currently training for Kansas Strongest Man in May, Missouri's Strongest Man in June, and a USAPL powerlifting meet in September.

http://www.youtube.com/user/bbenzel52

There's a link to my youtube page, which I am trying to get better about updating.

bbenzel
05-09-13, 11:36 pm
General Warm Up
Stretching
Bullshitting while I finish my pre-workout
etc.

12" Log Clean and Press
85 x 5
135 x 5
205 x 3
255 x 3
305 x 2
325 x 2 (video below) I'm pretty sure this is a PR since my max log press before this was at 330.
305 x 2
295 x 2 I was going to do more, but I after the second rep I was too close to the wall behind me and I brought the log down on my face and smashed my head between the log and wall. It was unpleasant.
295 x 5 I did 4, then had to drop the log because it was all over the place and cleaned it one more time for the last press.
Mick got a video of the last two presses, so I will add them once he puts them on youtube.

Bench tricep work
I had the idea to do a board pyramid up and down with the same weight, and so I presented it to my training partners. It immediately turned into a bunch of shit talking about who would do more. Troy (TGoetsch) used 185 and made it to the 5 board, so I picked 250 as my weight to use.
Started with weight to chest x 5
1 board x 5
2 board x 5
3 board x 5
4 board x 5
5 board x 5
4 board x 3 I was done after this.

Dumbbell lateral raises
10 x 25
15 x 10
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
25 x 10
20 x 10
15 x 10
10 x 10
5 x 10

Dumbbell front raise
10 x 10
15 x 10
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
25 x 10
20 x 10
15 x 10
10 x 10
7.5 x 15
5 x 15

I just wanted to get some more volume than I normally do on the shoulder raises.

Monster mini band pressdown
1 band per arm
5 sets of 20 reps





http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHgkwgyHTao

bbenzel
05-12-13, 5:39 pm
Box Jumps
30" x 5

Deadlift
315 + 80 pounds chain
10 sets of 3 with 30-60 seconds rest

Reverse Hyper
50 pounds 5 sets of 10

Neutral Grip lat pulldown
90 x 20
140 x 10
190 x 10 x 2

Standing lat pulldown thing
90 x 15 x 3

Biceps:
hammer curls
rope curls
fat bar curls
bamboo bar curls

bbenzel
05-12-13, 5:41 pm
12" log clean and press/ axle clean and press medley
220 log, 255 axle
I kept this a little lighter and did 10 total reps alternating between the two implements.

Famers walk
300 per hand x 50' x 2

Prowler/ Sand bag medley
400 pounds on prowler/ 250 sandbag
50' each
2 runs

grip stuff, most notably a 60 pound hub lift.

That was it. My body was beat up and everything felt like shit so I kept it light and didn't do much.

Kyle Lombardo
05-12-13, 10:00 pm
Looking forward to following along on your journey... Best of luck in your up coming competitions!! Nice workouts so far!

bbenzel
05-13-13, 11:24 am
Thanks Kyle!

bbenzel
05-15-13, 9:55 am
General warm up
PVC rolling

I don't know why exactly, but I decided to try some plate flips with a 45 pound bumper. The plates were the smooth rubber ones, and so really slick. I ended up getting 6 flips in a row with my right hand and I think 3 with my left.

Safety Squat Bar squats
bar x 5
155 x 5
245 x 5
335 x 5
385 x 3
425 x 2
475 x 2


http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f9FuHZ0qKNE

Paused squat (3+ second pause in the bottom)
375 x 3 x 3

Good Morning
235 x 5
235 x 8 x 3

Reverse Ham Curl
235 x 5 x 2
185 x 5 (less weight means it's harder because the weight is assistance)

Reverse Hyper
My lower back has been feeling shitty lately so I've been doing more of these. I also think my lower back needs to be a lot stronger so I will work these more for that as well.
90 x 10 x 3

Face Pulls
gray band
10 x 3

Spud Strap Ab pulldown superset with curls

abs - 90 pounds x 15 x 3 or 4 sets I can't remember
curls - 1.5 curls with a squeeze at the top
45 pounds x 10
45 x 12 x 2 or 3

bbenzel
05-15-13, 4:36 pm
295 x 2, then I smash my face with the log


http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQ961IAg5XA

bbenzel
05-15-13, 4:36 pm
295 x 5, I did this after the set that I smashed my face. He only got 4 on video. I recleaned the log and pressed one more.


http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaYMPvB6H44

Firefist
05-15-13, 4:39 pm
Strong bro. Will be following. What you weighin in at these days?

bbenzel
05-15-13, 6:37 pm
Thanks for following. I've been weighing right around 290 lately.

bbenzel
05-20-13, 10:19 am
I did something to my knee and my patella/ knee cap area had been hurting pretty bad for a couple days so I decided do all my pressing either sitting or laying, and that turned into basically just a triceps and shoulder day.

Swiss Bar bench
all reps were to chest
narrow handles
125 x 5
175 x 5
175 + 40 pounds chain x 5
switched to next widest grip because the narrow one was hurting my elbows.
175 + 80 chain x 5
175 +120 chain x 5
175 + 160 chain x 5
175 + 200 chain x 5
175 + 200 chain x 3

These were all done with zero leg drive as well.

Barbell bench pyramid set
chest, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3, 2 board *That's how far I made it.
225 pounds for all sets, 5 reps at each level except last 2 board I did 3.

Kettlebell Press
50 pounds x 15 x 3

DB Lateral Raise
5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 25, 20, 15, 10, 7.5, 5
10 reps at each weight with minimal rest

DB Front Raise
same as lat raise

bbenzel
05-20-13, 10:23 am
My knee was still hurting pretty bad, so I decided to not deadlift and just take it easy all around to try to get it feeling better. I have a comp coming up on 5-25, so it's definitely a priority to get my knee feeling better.

Straight leg Deadlift
worked up to some sets of 5 at 315

Fat Bar lat pulldown
140 x 12 x 3

Swiss Bar lat pulldown
180 x 10 x 3

Standing lat row things
90 x 15 x 3

Reverse Hyper
50 x 10
90 x 10 x 3

Curls

bbenzel
05-20-13, 10:31 am
My knee still felt like shit, so I just did a bunch of knee rehab stuff like TKE's and stuff.

I also picked up a couple lighter logs (180 and 220) and did some strict presses. I couldn't even bend down to get under the log for a clean with lighter weight, which is concerning with a comp coming up.

Axle Incline Press
115 x a bunch
205 x 10 x 3

One of the guys I train with had seen a video of someone picking up a 100 pound plate by pinching the outer and inner rings, so we had to try. I got it both ways, and even did reps both ways. Links to videos of the inner pinch are below from our strongman groups facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201461319278556

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10201461297278006

Other than watching one of my buddies get the prowler flu and puke everything he had eaten in the last 12 hours that was all I did. It's not the way I would like to feel going into a competition, but pushing my knee and hurting it worse would mean I couldn't compete at all. Taking it easy, doing some rehab, and getting healthy will at least give me a chance to compete this weekend. Now I just have to spend the next few days doing a shit ton of rehab, icing, lacrosse ball rolling, etc.

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:06 pm
I didn't post last week because I took it off, as I always do, since I was competing on Saturday.

Going into the competition I wasn't feeling great because my knee was still feeling shitty, and I really didn't want to think about going and having to pull out if it got hurt. By Saturday it was feeling better, and it worked out in the end.

Log clean and press/ Axle clean and press medley
You could start on either one, but had to alternate between reps
max reps in 75 seconds
I got 6 reps for first place. I have video of each event that I will post, but as you can see I wasn't exactly in a big hurry and probably could have got more if I would have moved between implements faster.

Tire Deadlift (15 or 16 inches) for reps
625 pounds, 60 seconds
I got 8 reps in like 25 seconds and stopped because I knew I would be ok point wise with that and didn't want to drain myself.

Farmer Walk
290 per hand for 75 feet
10.5 seconds or something for first place

Dragster Push/ Sand bag carry medley
800 on dragster, 250 sandbag
50' each
17 seconds, first place

Stone Series
230-360
I took my time knowing I just had to finish.
close to 40 seconds, first place

I ended up first place overall in the heavyweights. There were only 3 guys, so it's not like I won a huge competition. It was nice to get out and compete again. Now I'm looking forward to Missouri's Strongest Man in June which is a much larger competition.

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:07 pm
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1bIVHvYdbw

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:08 pm
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goOwrenosQI

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:09 pm
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUuL26B_mPw

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:10 pm
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfbF76Uo6Ps

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:10 pm
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJCdB59V-kM

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:16 pm
I was dumb and decided to train Sunday after competing Saturday. I can justify it though knowing that I'm going to do at least one 2 day contest this year (Nationals) so I need to train it every now and again.

Log Clean and press each rep
260 pounds
8 reps

Farmers Walk 80'
300 pounds per hand
330 per hand
330 per hand x 65' or so (Troy made it about 15 feet with these and I finished the run.)
videos of both weights will be posted.

Car Deadlift simulator
800 pounds x 10 reps I forgot my belt, so I did these beltless. I'm not sure how much that means since I had a squat suit on.
1000 pounds x 1 This was really heavy.

I'm not sure how weight would translate to a regular bar, but that doesn't really matter either since the lifts are only slightly similar. I have videos of both of these too.

Keg Load over 52" bar
I was smarter with this and only loaded the 250 keg, and also only loaded it 5 times. I was getting pretty burnt out and my back was getting really tight.

Keg Medley
270, 220 for 80' each

I went home and mowed my lawn and that was about all my body could take for the weekend.

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:17 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVNAjSwB3Mo

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:18 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHEuOiKbj1s

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:18 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kDc-2kf59-U

bbenzel
05-28-13, 1:19 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yASwonaq6SU

bbenzel
06-02-13, 7:39 pm
Since I didn't update all week I'll put it all here.

Tuesday DE Squat

Front Squat
280 x 2 x 5 all no belt

Paused Back Squat
385 x 3 x 3

Reverse Ham Curl

Reverse Hyper
90 x 12 x 3

Planks

Curls

Thursday Rep Press Day

Log clean and press each
255 x 8

Bench with Titan Super Ram
225 x 5
315 x 2
365 x 2
405 x 2
425 x 2
455 x 1
495 x fail

Dumbbell raise
5 front, and 5 side per weight
5-35 pounds pyramid up and down by 5 pounds with basically no rest.

Tricep Pressdown x a lot

Friday Max Deadlift
I was feeling pretty beat up, so I was taking this for what it was

225 x 3
315 x 3
405 x 1
495 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1
665 x fail

Reverse Ham Curl

Reverse Hyper
90 x 10
140 x 10 x 3

Dumbbell Row
130 x 10 x 3

Curls

Strongman Sunday

Giant DB Press
150 x 3 right arm and 1 left for 4 sets

Farmers Walk
280 x 80 x 2

Keg Medley
270 and 200 kegs x 80 feet each x 2

Bench with Super Ram
I wanted to get some more tricep work.
315 x 10
365 x 10
405 x 3 (My balance got off and so I racked it)
405x 3 I was just tired at this point.

Grip
Some more tricep stuff
abs

bbenzel
06-10-13, 2:24 pm
My lower back, and actually my lower spine were really sore and to the point that I needed to back off for a couple days or risk actually injuring myself so I took it easy for the most part.

Tuesday
Front Squat
135 for a couple sets of 3

Reverse Hyper
Reverse Ham
Front Squat Holds for time (this is for core strength and to get used to having big weights in that position for both front squatting and log)
Curls

Thursday Pressing
Strict Press
I worked up to a failed attempt at 255, my back hurt, and I knew it was time to call it there.

Bench with Ram
315 x 10
365 x 10
405 x 5
425 x 3

DB front and side raise pyramid sets

Tricep pressdowns with 3" straight bar
Tricep extension with blast straps

Deadlift Friday

My back was actually feeling ok, so I went ahead and did my normal DE lifting.

Deadlift
315 x 2 x 10
I did some random upper back work like pull aparts and some light grippers between sets.

GHR
BW x 5 x 3

Glute Bridge
225 x 10 x 3

DB Row
100 x 10 x 3

High Pulls
95 x 10 x 3

Curls/ Abs
bar x 25 reps
Plank x 1 minute
x3

Standing Lat Row with band


Sunday Strongman Day
My back was still not feeling 100%, but it was way better, and good enough to train.

Log clean and press each rep.
260 x 5 plus one clean in one minute. I should have pressed the last one, but the clean slipped on my shirt and that killed me mentally.

Axle from rack strict presses
225 x 1
245 x 1
255 x 1
275 x fail like twice
275 x 1

Farmers Walk
300 x 80 feet x 2
The first one of these felt awful, the second felt way better. It was raining outside, so I think that was part of it. I have slipped before and was walking slow to avoid it.

Car DL
I did this pretty much just to get a few reps in my suit and to see if I could breathe in it.
700 x 5 x 2

Strict press with axle out of rack
145 x 10
145 x 15
145 x 5 half reps top and bottom x 2
145 x 5 half reps bottom, 5 top, 5 bottom

Keg Load
290 x 6
290 x 3
290 x 5

I did a bunch of various tricep, shoulder, and bicep hypertrophy type movements to end it.

bbenzel
06-17-13, 11:41 am
Front Squat 6-11
I started taking a different pre-workout from my sponsor GX Supplements and it does not have any caffeine in it. It is making a HUGE difference in how I feel during workouts not having a big stimulant kick. It's gonna take some time getting used to it.

ME Front Squat
These felt heavy from the light sets to the last.
60 x 5
150 x 5
200 x 5
250 x 3
290 x 1
360 x 1
400 x 1
420 x 1

Mick pointed out that I am letting my knees cave in a lot and that I have a really bad tendency to let my ass drop to depth. So, I did a bunch of reps of 225 with sets of 3 to try to just feel what it should be like. I probably did 12+ sets. I think after the coming competition I am going to take some time and back off the weight on my squats a lot and really work on my form. In the long run I know it's the right thing to do.

Reverse Ham Curl
Reverse Hyper
some hanging leg raises

Press 6-13

I have decided that I am going to start working only my strict press as my press day for the cube, and any other version of pressing I will do with my strongman training. I will see how that goes for a while, but I think getting my strict press better will carry over huge to having a better overhead overall.

DE Strict Press
135 x 5
165 x 3
185 x 3 x 9

Kind of narrow bench with SuperRam.
315 x 10
365 x 10
405 x 6

DB Raises front and side

25 pounds x 10 x 4 sets each

Rope Tricep pushdown (I don't know what weight, it was on a selectorized machine.) x a lot

light upper back work just to get blood flow


Rep Deadlift 6-14

We decided to use a regular bar instead of a deadlift bar tonight. I'm not sure if it was that, just the night, or that it was about a million degrees and 100% humidity in the gym but everything felt really heavy.

135x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 3 (I did all reps double overhand grip to this point to get more grip work in.)
495 x 5 all dead stop. This felt terrible.

Glute Bridge
225 x 10 x 4

DB Row

130 x 10 x 3

Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown
90 x 12
180 x 10 x 3

Backward sled drags
225 on the sled on carpet
5 trips of 80 feet


Strongman 6-16

Next Saturday 6-22 is Missouri's Strongest Man, so today was just a quick run through of the events. Most of them were just done for a few reps, or even with slightly lighter weight.

Log Clean and Press each
260 x 3 quick
I know I need to hit 6-7 on this at the comp. Usually getting to 5 is not a problem at all, and then 6 is a struggle and I'm about out of time, so hopefully it goes well.

Car Deadlift
I wouldn't have done this if I would have been able to bring my car deadlift frame last weekend to feel it with a suit on, but I couldn't.

7 reps real quick and done

Farmers
I stayed really light on these, just wanted to get a fast run in. I'm not really concerned about grip or anything at the comp so no need to push it at all.

210 x 80 x 2 trips

Keg Load
270 x 5 quick reps

Keg Medley
270 x 80'
200 x 80'

This felt pretty good and I think my speed was ok. I know that I'm going to have to be really fast on this if I want to win the event.

I feel good about all the events. I have a huge advantage of being able to go last on all of them, so I'll know exactly what I have to do. The one thing I'm really not looking forward to with this contest is that it starts at 1 pm. I get really nervous before competing, so it's going to be a really long morning for me. Also, that pretty much means we are competing in the hottest part of the day so that should be fun too (sarcasm). I could have easily driven to the contest the on Saturday and not had to pay for a hotel, but I decided I'd rather just be there and ready to go instead of sitting in a car for 3.5 hours and then competing. I am really looking forward to getting to compete with more people from my training group then any contest I've done before. I think there will be 5 of us there.

bbenzel
06-25-13, 4:28 pm
I didn't post at all last week because I had a competition on Saturday June 22. As is normal for me the week before a competition I did nothing in the gym. I did a lot of stretching, got a massage, and even got some Graston done on my hamstrings and calves. If anyone who reads this has not tried Graston yet, do it. It is something I am going to utilize way more to keep myself feeling good. Training for strongman really beats me up, so I'll do what I need to stay healthy. I ate clean all week, and tried to get a little more sleep than normal.

I am just going to list placing on each event overall in the division. I won all the events in my weight class.

12" Log Clean and Press Each Rep (max reps in 60 seconds)
260 pounds
7 reps
1st place

Farmers Walk
300 pounds per hand
75 - 80 feet
10 seconds
2nd by like a quarter second.

I got my foot caught up in the grass right at the end of this and fell. I also felt something pop in my left knee, and it immediately got really tight and tender right on my patella tendon. I got off it right away and started icing it. Luckily it held up the rest of the day. I kind of just blocked it out for the rest of the events knowing that I just had to get through them.

Car Deadlift (max reps in 60 seconds)
This was crazy heavy, which I would rather have and not have to do a ton of reps. I am thinking that this was somewhere between 950 and 1100 pounds in our hands. I have pulled 1000 on a simulator and it felt way easier than this.
2 reps, which was good enough for 2nd overall

230 Fire Hydrant, 280 keg carry medley
80 feet each
24 seconds
1st place

310 pound keg load over 48" bar
10 reps
1st place

I ended up first place in my weight class (super heavyweights) and first place overall in the heavyweight division. Now it's time to get ready for Nationals in October. I have pretty much decided that I'm not competing any more this year until Nationals. That will give me some time to just train and get stronger.

The best part about this competition was being able to compete with so many of my training partners. For our group it's kind of rare that more than 1 or 2 guys are at any competition. There was 5 of us here. I know Jesse and Troy aren't super happy with how they placed, but I don't think they have anything to hang their heads about. The 200 and 231 classes were stacked, and this was a heavy contest for those weights. I am proud to have them as my training partners, so hopefully that means something to them. Spenser was my biggest competition in the heavyweights, which I fully expected considering that he placed 8th at nationals last year and competed at the Arnold. He finished 2nd overall in the heavies. Mike Taylor put on a show for everyone, winning the masters class in his first strongman competition ever. It was also nice to have my parents there. Since they live on the other side of the state they don't make it to many of my competitions. My dad has competed in powerlifting for most of his life, so I know he loves watching these competitions.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un77mksbYdQ&feature=c4-overview&list=UUeTPQj6KXYJ3BeE3kHTde3g

I can't get the video to play right now, so here's a link to my youtube page if you want to watch.

http://www.youtube.com/user/bbenzel52?feature=watch

Firefist
06-25-13, 4:42 pm
awesome showing man. way to represent.

bbenzel
07-04-13, 1:40 pm
Since the comp 2 weeks ago my body has been beat up and I took it pretty easy for a week after. My knee is hurting because I caught my foot in the grass and tweaked it on the farmers. It's getting better, but I'd rather let it heal then push it unnecessarily. I have been bad about keeping this up to date, and I'll say that's because I normally update it at work the morning after training and I've been super busy so I haven't done it.

Press 6/27

Strict press
225 x 3 x 5

Db raises

Triceps work

Planks

Deadlift 6/28

This was a dynamic day, and kind of just a light day because I didn't feel ready to pull heavy.

Lots of warming up.

DOH conventional dead lift
315 x 5 x 3

Sumo pulls
315 x 5 x 3

Rest was while Troy pulled, so fast paced.

Pull ups. Mostly doubles. I'm terrible at pull-ups.

Upper back stuff (pull a parts, face pulls)

Thick bar curls x lots

Yoke

40 feet down and back
350 pounds
5 runs just for some speed and conditioning.

bbenzel
07-04-13, 1:52 pm
I still felt shitty, so today was a somewhat easier day.

Warm up stuff
Rolling

Zydrunas Press
75 x 5
95 x 5
145 x 5
175 x 5
205 x 3
237 x 3
267 x 1

Yoke
500 x 4 runs I think x 60 feet

Keg Press
200 or 220 x a couple

Axle bent row
145 x 10
235 x 5 x 3

Sledge Swings
5 sets of 10 per arm, 16 pound sledge

Backward tractor tire drag
3 sets x 80 feet
talk about a quad pump, holy shit

bbenzel
07-04-13, 1:58 pm
I have decided to take some time and hammer my squat form, since it sucked to begin with. I hate speed days, but in a good way because I can stay lighter and work on form, but I'm always really sore after.

Squat
300 x 3 x 8
I really worked on pushing my knees out, not dipping to get depth, and keeping my knees out as I came up. My adductors and glutes were on fire after these.

Laying band adductor things
Mick showed me these. They are horrible. I don't really know how to describe exactly what they are.

3 sets of 10 laying flat and 10 with my legs at about 45 degrees.

Reverse ham curl with lots of assisstance.
3 sets of 10

Leg press keeping my knees wide
3 sets of 10

Spud strap ab pulldowns

Yoke walk with yoke pressed overhead
5 runs with empty yoke

Speed Yoke
350 x 40 x 10
Only rest was while Troy was doing his run. These were really good conditioning.

bbenzel
07-08-13, 11:22 am
I spent the holiday at my parent's house, which luckily for me does not mean that I have to sacrifice any on training. My dad is an avid lifter, and since he in on the city council he has access to a gym for the city employees. It's a key holder type gym, so people come and go as they please. That is especially nice on holidays since it means we can get in and not have to worry about the gym being closed. It's not the nicest or best equipped gym by any means, but they have everything I need.

I messed the order of the days for the Cube, so this should have been a rep day. Oh well.

Standing Strict Press
45 x 5
135 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 3
225 x 1
245 x 1 This felt really easy, and I thought I was on track to hit a decent weight today.
265 x miss This stapled me. I think it had a lot to do with pressing on Sunday and getting Graston on my whole back the day before.
225 x 3 x 2

Bench with Super Ram
225 x 5
315 x 10
365 x 5
405 x 5
I used my XL Ram for all those sets. It felt really loose, and I wasn't getting much out of it so I put on the large.
455 x 3
495 x 1 I had tried this before and failed
515 x 1

Board Presses
Just because I could I put on the shirt that I was given awhile ago and did some board presses. It's an Inzer Rage X. I have no idea really how it should be positioned on my body, but it felt ok for these.
495 to 3 board x 3 x 3

I decided to go heavy with the ram and do the board presses just because my dad was there to spot me and help. It's not like I don't have spotters and help regularly, but I don't like having to ask people to take a bunch of time to help me into a shirt and tell me how to use it.

DB front and side raises
20 x 10 each x 3

Overhead DB tricep extension
40 x 10 x 3

bbenzel
07-08-13, 11:28 am
I was still in Alliance, and working out with my dad. A couple other guys that he lifts with also came and lifted since Friday is one of their normal lifting days.

My adductors, hips, and psoas were sore as hell from squatting on Tuesday still so I did quite a bit of stretching and warming up to try to get moving.

Deadlift
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 5
405 x 3
455 x 1
I did all reps up to this point beltless and double overhand grip. I almost always go to at least 405 double overhand to make sure I'm getting some grip work in.
495 x 5 x 2

I really should have been handling more weight, but I listened to my body and planned on going around 500. All reps had good speed and they weren't overly taxing so it was probably a good call.

Sumo Deadlift
315 x 5 x 3

I'm doing more of these to strengthen my hips, adductors, and glutes mainly. I also think they will help me to learn to squeeze my glutes and get my hips through on my conventional deadlifts.

Reverse Delt
15 x 12 x 3

Curls
Ab Wheel

bbenzel
07-08-13, 11:46 am
I need to figure out why I have been feeling so shitty the last couple weeks when Sunday rolls around. I have a feeling that the main culprit is sleep. I have been having a hard time getting to bed early enough since it is light out until 9 or later. I have also been staying up too late on Friday and Saturday for absolutely not reason.

Axle Press
I don't remember the exact jumps, they were around 50 pounds for me though.
worked up to 290 x 4
tried 320, but it didn't go well
My leg drive and timing with the press were completely off. For some reason (probably because my legs and back were SORE) I could not jerk at all either. I honestly don't feel too bad about this since I haven't pressed the axle in awhile and the 4 reps at 290 were with almost no leg drive and all were push presses. I think once I get my jerk technique back I should hit 5+ with 320 pretty easily.

Yoke
450 x 80
650 x 80
This was already heavier then I had planned on going based on how I felt before, but it felt fine so I went up.
740 x 80
This was not fast, but it was surprising to me how well I handled the weight after not training yoke for so long and feeling like shit before trying it. I thought about going 800 or so, but decided against it to save it for another day.

Monster DB
I need to get my other dumbbells filled so I have heavier ones to start handling.
150 x 3 right arm 1 left arm 2 sets

Shoulder Raises/ Remick Presses/ Overhead tricep extension
Front raise from bottom to overhead with 45 pound bar x 10
Side raise with curl bar (I thought this might work the small stabilizers a little more using a longer bar.) x 10
Remick Press with 30 x 10
Overhead tricep extension with 45 pound bar x 20
I did this 3 times, 4 times on the raises.

Tire Drag/ Prowler Push
3 runs
80 foot drag
80 feet down and back with 90 pounds on the prowler

I need to get my conditioning in my legs up for this drag since I know I will be doing it at Nats.

Speed Yoke
250 x 80 feet x 5 runs
Rest was while Jesse went, so maybe 15- 20 seconds between runs.

bbenzel
07-16-13, 1:18 pm
Rep Squat 7-9

Squat
worked up to 380 x 5
These felt terrible. I'm not sure why my recovery has been so awful the last couple weeks, but I have to do something about it. This is a weight I should do for 10+ easily, and it felt super heavy.
135 x 25

Box Squat
I asked a few people for some help with my squat and with their advice am going to start box squatting. I think it will help several things. First, it will help me to learn where depth is. I have always gone well below parallel, and think it will be beneficial to train myself to stop at parallel. Second, it will help me learn to sit back more. I have always had a bad dip in my squat and it's just from sitting down and not back. Last, it is going to help strengthen my posterior chain and adductors.
135 x 5 x a bunch
225 x 5 x a bunch
probably 12 or more sets total

Axle Curls

Yoke Indian style for conditioning
no belt or knee sleeves
350 x 10 x 40 feet
450 x 5 x 40 feet
550 x 1 x 40 feet
I tried to pick up 650 and do a couple runs with it, but at this point my legs were shot. The pick height was also set for Troy, so basically a quarter squat for me.


Rep Press 7-11-13

I got to the gym earlier than normal, so I knew I'd have some time to kill before Troy and Zach got there and decided to do some more box squatting.

Warm Up
Roll
Agile 8
Band stretching

After I got done with that Troy and Zach were there, but I decided to just superset my squatting and pressing.

Squat
225 x 5 x a bunch
315 x 3 x 4

Press

worked up to 225 x 6
225 x 5

DB Incline
75 x 15 x 2

DB seated Press
70 x 15 x 2
70 x 12

Tricep Pressdown
number 8 on the machine x 75 total reps (these sucked)

Planks
prone 1 min
left side 30 sec
right side 30 sec
prone 30 sec


Deadlift 7-12

Speed deads
405 x 3 x 2

Trap Bar picks from 16"
worked up to a failed attempt at 665
I need to work on these since I am going to have to carry an 800 frame at nationals.

lat pulldowns
reverse delts



Strongman 7-14
The last couple weeks I keep feeling like I am not getting enough work in on these days, even though when I look back I had a good day of training.

I showed up and Corey was axle pressing out of the rack. He had 200 on and so with no warm up I strict pressed that. Then 225, 245, 270, and 280 for a strict press PR. These were all no belt, no sleeves, no wrist wraps, and in regular shoes.

Axle C&P
225 x 3
275 x 6
275 x 5 x 4
My jerk technique is off on these, so I stayed lighter and just worked on that.

Frame Carry
480 x 50 feet
620 x 40 feet (I dropped this because it was slipping in my hands. Normally that would be ridiculous to just drop, but my calluses are barely recovered from getting ripped off and I didn't want to tear them again. Also, the pick on this took forever.)
580 x 40 feet

I really need to work on the frame.

Stones
This event is carry each stone 15' and loaded over a 56" bar. This is going to be way harder than I had anticipated. The stone weights are 300, 330, and 360. Loading those stones shouldn't be a problem for me, but carrying them is going to be challenging.

Loads to 48"
310 with no tacky
360 x 1

310 stone carry 6-8 feet x 5
I'm going to have to start working on carrying these farther, and loading them after. Knowing how I felt the day after these I think my upper back needs to get WAY stronger for the carry portion.

Sled Drag
400 x 60 feet
500 x 60 x 4 runs

bbenzel
07-16-13, 1:21 pm
Jesse keeps telling me that it will help recovery if I start adding in cardio on off days. I decided to go to OBB and do 20 minutes on the stair climber at a slow to moderate pace for this. At no point was I winded or struggling to keep up, which would be pretty bad since I was on the lowest level, but I sweated my ass off and think it helped get some blood moving.

I also rolled before and did a bunch of stretching afterwards.

I think I'm gonna keep doing this on Mon and Wed and see if it helps with recovery.

Firefist
07-16-13, 2:58 pm
Awesome log man.

I agree with your box squatting. I think its super beneficial in many ways, with correcting form and learning explosion from the hole at the forefront.

Seriously, this is one of the most detailed logs on the forum. This will so beneficial to your training in your future.

bbenzel
07-16-13, 3:53 pm
Thanks, FireFirst. I had to laugh when I read that you like how much detail is in my log, because honestly since I only update it once a week or so I forget a lot of the stuff I do or if I remember the exercise I might not remember the weight or sets exactly. Half of the time I have to refer to TGoetsch's log to see what I did since we are usually doing the same stuff.

I do try to put why I'm doing something instead of just what I do. That's more so that I know why I'm doing it then for other people, but I can definitely see how it could benefit others.

bbenzel
07-19-13, 11:50 am
My weeks got all messed up training wise, and I'm pretty sure this week was supposed to be a deload. I decided to just to 5x5 on all my main movements and then deload next week probably.

Squat

Rolls
mobility
stretching (mostly my calves, they seem to be the main culprit in keeping my ankle mobility shitty)
band stretching (lats, psoas, hips)

Box Squat
The box was set so I was parallel, but I had a pad on it too.
bar (60) x 10
150 x 10
240 x 5 x 2 or 3
330 x 5
380 x 5
380 x 3 (My knees were starting to drift in so I cut this one short.)
330 x 5

Squat - no box
I did these just to see if my form was improving at all without a box, and because when I box squat I start feeling like I become dependent on the box to stop my in the bottom. I'll probably keep doing these light while I box squat.
240 x 3 x a couple

Front Squat
150 x 5 x a couple

Reverse Ham Curl
I had 180 pounds of assistance on.
4 sets of 6

Zercher Yoke carries
170 x 80 feet x 2 or 3
270 x 80 feet x 2 or 3
I had to set this down at 40' and turn around.

Stone simulator carry.
I really need to work on the carry portion of the stone carry and load for nationals. Since we don't have stones at Omaha Barbell I just loaded up a loading pin with some bumper plates, picked it up like a stone, and walked with it.
All runs 40'
220 x 3
245 x 2
255 x 2
The last few runs were way better, and felt much easier than the first few despite being tired.
These destroyed my whole upper back, lats, and biceps.

Axle Curls

I went home and ate a cup of Jasmine rice and a pound of ground beef. That's kind of becoming my go to post-workout meal. I might eat less rice if I don't train as hard.


Press

Roll
Stretch

Strict Press
45 x 10
95 x 10
135 x 10
185 x 5
205 x 5
225 x 5
245 x 5 HUGE PR! Two weeks ago I took 245 out of the rack to press once and could not press it.
225 x 5

I got through these fast. Maybe a couple minutes between sets. That's fast for me though.
My strict press has increased incredibly fast just from doing them every week. It's mostly learning how to start the press that has improved. I'm not sure my pressing strength has increased.


One arm DB Press
100 x 3 each arm
130 x 2 each arm

DB press (strict)
75 x 15
70 x 15
65 x 15

Swiss Bar Bench

Shoulder Raises

Weighted Sit Ups

bbenzel
07-24-13, 4:55 pm
Deadlift 7-19-13

Foam Roll
Stretch
Band Stretches (psoas, hips, lats)

Conventional
355 x 5 x 3

Sumo
355 x 5 x 3

I knew I wanted to take it somewhat easy today. Troy and I were also planning on doing some tire flips. I did my deadlift stuff basically just to pass the time until he got there.

Tire Flips
This was the first time we had ever flipped the tire at OBB. I can honestly say it is the hardest tire I have come across yet. I think what makes it so hard is that it is HEAVY off the ground. Once I had it broken I didn't have much trouble getting it to my chest and flipping it. Bret said it weighs 750 or something.

2, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6
And as usual this completely tore up my shoulders. As I type this 5 days later I still have really bad scabs and my shoulders hurt from it.

3" fat gripz hammer curl
30 x 12 x 3

Axle Reverse Curl
40 x 12 x 3

Bamboo Bar Curl
30 pound kb on each side
10 x 3

Shrugs


Events 7-21-13

PVC Roll
Stretching

I woke up with a headache, and a bunch of allergy related crap so I wasn't feeling the greatest.

Press
I got up to 205 and knew that it was going to feel horrible. I cleaned 255, and knew I was better off just moving on so I did.

Yoke/ Frame medley
I had this mixed up. The events at Nationals are a Yoke/ Sled Drag and the frame is by itself. This was still good training, so oh well.
250 yoke 50 feet x 2
450 yoke 50 feet
650 yoke 50 feet/ 500 frame 50 feet
650 yoke 50 feet/ 600 frame 50 feet

I was really happy with this. I think if I can get up to 675 or 700 on the frame I should be ok for the 800 frame at nats.

45 minutes or so of just sitting around and bullshitting would fit in here

Stones
I am going to keep working on the carry and load until nats.
310 stone, 15' carry, load to 48"
310 stone and 330 stone, 15' carry, load to 48"
310, 330, 360 stone series, 15' carry each, load to 48" (video below)

I was very happy about this. Last week carrying the 310 stone 5' was challenging and all these felt fine. You can see on the video that the 360 was a little harder to carry. I decided instead of resetting and trying to get it to chest height I would save the time and just waddle with it.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqgBHGs1k7o

bbenzel
07-24-13, 5:08 pm
My training cycle got off a week for the cube and with Nationals 13 weeks out I am going to kind of stick to the Cube, but my main emphasis on training days will be getting in at least one event for Nationals.

PVC Roll
Band Stretching
Agile 8

Box Squat
bar x 10
150 x 5
240 x 5
330 x 3
380 x 1
420 x 1
470 x 1

This is obviously not a real max, but it was heavy enough and I wanted to move on to yoke.

Yoke/ Sled Drag Medley
40' runs
Empty yoke
370 yoke
570 yoke
750 yoke
850 yoke/ 580 sled
850 yoke/ 670 sled
I'll put videos up of the two medley runs.

Reverse Ham Curl
220 pounds assisstance
10
10
12

Seated Curls
Hammer Curls
Axle Curls

bbenzel
07-24-13, 5:10 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNZ38c-BPVk&feature=c4-overview&list=UUeTPQj6KXYJ3BeE3kHTde3g

bbenzel
07-24-13, 5:14 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFByy0pxrTo&list=UUeTPQj6KXYJ3BeE3kHTde3g&index=1

bbenzel
07-24-13, 5:17 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gFByy0pxrTo&list=UUeTPQj6KXYJ3BeE3kHTde3g

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNZ38c-BPVk&list=UUeTPQj6KXYJ3BeE3kHTde3g

For some reason my videos aren't playing. Here are links to them if you want to watch.