View Full Version : Gunrock's Iron Journey
Okay, so I finally decided to stop lurking and post my Iron Journey. I'm a Masters powerlifter and I've won a few state meets here and there. I've competed in Southern Powerlifting Federation, WUAP-USA and USAPL. I'm coming off of a rotator cuff sprain/pec minor strain and surgery to remove a tumor from my right leg.
My goal is to break the American Record in USAPL and SPF for my weight class no matter how long it takes or how old I am.
My last competition was Powerlifting For Pups in Atlanta, GA on August 9, 2014. I weighed in at 204llbs and competed in the 220 class. I'm probably going to compete in 198 in the future, I'm losing the weight slowly to try to hold on to as much muscle as possible.
I squatted 303lbs. I'd hoped for around 365 despite being 9 days post leg surgery at the time but it was not to be. I waved off my third attempt.
Bench 314lbs, I believe this broke the Masters USAPL GA Bench record for the 220lb class but I'm waiting for confirmation of that.
Deadlift 450lbs
current stack:
Animal Pak and Animal Flex. Rage or Shock Therapy when I train after working all night.
This Week's Training:
8/18/2014
Flat Bench
120x5
145x3
167.5x1
180x20 (This was an AMRAP set. I'm running a modified Juggernaut Template and I'm in 10s month, working between 60 and 75 percent. I'm also trying to get some volume to build up my ligaments and tendons)
Supplementary Movement
Flat Bench Lockout 315 x 1
Assistance Work
Closegrip Bench 3x15 @165 (I used the Ferruggia Even Esh Bar from Black Widow)
DB Incline Bench 2x10@50lbs
Pendlay Rows 5x10@135
DB Pullovers 3x10 @70lbs
Shoulder Raise Triset done twice
Rear Laterals 15 @30lbs
Laterals 15@25lbs
Front Raise 15@20lbs
8/20/2014
Back Squat
122.5 x 5
145x3
170x1
182.5x20 (AMRAP set)
Supplementary Movement
Pause Squats 5x10 @ 145
Assistance Work
Lunges 2x12 @25llb dumbbells
Leg Extensions 2x12 w/ 45lb plate
Leg Curls
Bodyweight only. Just working on regaining the ability to fully bend my right leg without assistance.
Single Leg Calf Raises 3x20 @40lbs
Donkey Calf Raises 3x20 @45lbs plate
Seated Calf Raises 1x20 @40lb dumbbell
Hanging Leg Raises
Finisher: Tire Sled Drags 2x40 yards
8/21/2014 Active Recovery and GPP.
50 pullups ( I do a set of 3-5 reps everytime I pass the power rack in my garage)
Tire Sled Drags Forward/Backward for five minutes straight.
Animal Pak and Animal Flex. Rage or Shock Therapy when I train after working all night, Animal PM to help me sleep during the day.
After doing my warm up and mobility stuff, I did a video for my gym YouTube channel on Pullups. Rested 1 minute then hit the iron. Here is the video if anyone wants to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwLjQz-xx-A
Overhead Pressing
80x5
97.5x3
112.5x1
120x12 (This was an AMRAP set. I'm running a modified Juggernaut Template and I'm in 10s month, working between 60 and 75 percent. I'm also trying to get some volume to build up my ligaments and tendons)
I didn't get to do my supplementary stuff because I had to catch a ride to work from my wife on her way to watch our son's marching band play at the high school football game. I also didn't get as much sleep today because I had to train someone right after work and she had to leave to take some meds to her kid at the school then come back. Sometimes life happens.
I at least got my pullups and main movement in. Took my Animal Pak and Flex on the way to work.
Deadlifting tomorrow!!!
Sumo Deadlift
237.5x5
285x3
332.5x1
355x20 This was an AMRAP set. I'm running a modified Juggernaut Template and I'm in 10s month, working between 60 and 75 percent. I'm also trying to get some volume to build up my ligaments and tendons)
my hamstrings won't let me do any of the broad jumps I normally do on Deadlift day and leg curls and stiff leg deads are out until my right hamstring heals a little more. Doing some light band work to strengthen.
Double KB Swings 2x10@50lbs Finisher
Done until Monday
Looks like you are working hard! Interested to see how the juggernaut method treats you.
Looks like you are working hard! Interested to see how the juggernaut method treats you.
Thanks bro! I'm on deload week now, forgot to post Monday's training, but I'll do that and Wednesday tonight.
Juggernaut is cool. I've tried 531 with decent results but I wanted something that would help me program my conditioning as well. I used it as a template to train some of the wrestlers who workout at my gym with good results. What I like most is that it's got everything, warm ups for every type of particular training (conditioning, speed, power, weights etc) and a higher emphasis on volume training than standard 531 which is what I need to improve my tendon health. I'm not dissing 531, it's a huge Juggernaut influence, I just like Juggernaut better.
I use Dave Tate's Accessory Work advice to select my assistance and supplementary movements but that fits neatly into the Juggernaut Template. I've been able to adapt it to a lot of different things.
Since starting, my deadlift has gone from 450x4 to 505x2. My overhead press has never been impressive but it's gone from 175 x 2, 185x3 at the end of my last cycle of 3. I plan to hit bodyweight for a triple by the time I get back to triples in twelve weeks.
Thanks for hitting me up.
GunRock
08-27-14, 10:05 pm
8/25
General Warm Up
Flat Bench
40% 95 x 5
50% 120x5
60% 3x5 @145lbs
Closegrip Bench 3x15@120lbs
Lateral Tri Set 2x10 per position, no rest between exercises, 40 seconds rest between supersets
Bent Over Laterals
Laterals
Front Raises
The goal here is to let my joints recover from the previous three weeks of work and build anticipation for next month when I go up in weight and start sets of 8. I also completed 25 pullups by day's end doing sets of 3-5 everytime I passed my power rack. Goal is to have 150 by the end of the week spread out over six days.
GunRock
08-27-14, 10:09 pm
Hamstring work with the band
Shoulder mobility with a green band
Weekly Pullup Total is up to 35. I'm not getting as many repetitions done as I should. I'm tempted to increase the reps per set but I don't want to take away from how easy it is to recover from it while getting pulling done.
GunRock
08-27-14, 10:17 pm
Back Squat done high bar, ATG. all reps paused for 3 seconds at the bottom
135x5
170x5
3x5@205
Light hamstring work with the green band (I CAN BEND MY LEG ALL THE WAY!!! THANK YOU JESUS FOR CONTINUING TO HEAL ME!!!)
Lunges 2x10
Standing Crunches 3x10 (done later in the evening when I got to work)
My total pullups for the week are at 65 now. I'm 85 pullups away from my goal which means I need to get about 30 per day over the next three days. I'll make it happen.
Back Squat done high bar, ATG. all reps paused for 3 seconds at the bottom
135x5
170x5
3x5@205
Light hamstring work with the green band (I CAN BEND MY LEG ALL THE WAY!!! THANK YOU JESUS FOR CONTINUING TO HEAL ME!!!)
Lunges 2x10
Standing Crunches 3x10 (done later in the evening when I got to work)
My total pullups for the week are at 65 now. I'm 85 pullups away from my goal which means I need to get about 30 per day over the next three days. I'll make it happen. good to see you busting it out man. Where are you at in georgia? I'm also recovering from a tumor and aiming to compete in the 220 although i have a bit to cut for that.
What's up WamBam! I'm in Dallas man, just south of Cartersville, north of Marietta by about 30 minutes. I had a follow up appointment today and the doctor told me that they found no signs of cancer anywhere in the tumor, that it appeared to be benign so now all I have to do is recover. She thinks it might be six months to a year before I'm back to 100% but that I can cut that short by training smart.
I really want to get an ABC set up before the year's out and we've got some options including Iron Beast Barbell in Gainesville and of course my humble garage gym. If not, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the National ABC (which is pretty awesome to attend I must say)
I also plan to lift in the SPF Body By George Meet in Loganville this year. I was going to do the USPA meet in Lithia Springs just because it's so close but one of my lifters is competing in that and I had a bad experience the last time I tried to compete AND platform coach in the same meet.
Have you competed before?
Foam Rolling
IT Band 20 passes
Quads, Adductors 15 passes each
Hip Flexors 20 passes
Core 3x no rest
Ins and Outs 10
Rollovers to V sits 10
Moving Side Planks 10
Neck Work
Yes 10/10
No 10/10
Roll 10/10
Shoulders
Arm Circles
Forward/Back 10/10
Arms Wide to Hug Yourself 10
Hips
Frog Stretches 10
Hip Circles 10/10
Dirty Dogs (Fire Hydrants) 10
Leopard Crawl 3x10 feet
Crab Walk 3x10 feet
normally I do a tire jump in between but my hamstring hurts too much to jump so right now it's not happening
Jog 100 yards (basically out the door, down the driveway, around the cul de sac and back)
This is my warm up on lifting days and it serves as active recovery on non lifting days
Got my pullup total to 100. Just 50 to go and I should get 50 during tomorrow's training session, meaning whatever I get on Saturday is gravy.
Did some miscellaneous lifting, had to do the first part of a Barbell Complex because the middle school girls I coach just couldn't get the concept. I used 135lbs.
Complex repetitions were 1 2 3 4 3 2 1.
Deadlift
Barbell Row
Hang Clean
Push Press
Squat
Good Morning
Rest as needed
I frankly screwed up their loads so they were gassed by the time we got to 3 so I called an audible and told them we'd live to fight another day. In the process of explaining that I rested too long so my met con was now screwed up. So to salvage the day, I did a 200ft loaded carry with a barbell loaded to 185lbs right before I got in the Jeep to head to work. Learning has occurred so I'll do better next time.
Here's the video of the loaded carry:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-aiuUpRDRUxI
Here's the link to my YouTube channel to watch the video in case it keeps screwing up.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-aiuUpRDRU
Overhead Press Day
Did my normal warm up(still can't jump at all but crab walks are getting easier) then
Pullups 5x10 (this brought my weekly total up to 150 so I didn't do any other pullups today)
Overhead Press
65lbsx5
80lbsx5
3x5 @ 97.5lbs
Behind The Neck Press
65lbsx5
80lbsx5
3x5 @ 97.5lbs
Deadlifts tomorrow!
If anyone wants to see the video of my warm up let me know and I'll post it.
What's up WamBam! I'm in Dallas man, just south of Cartersville, north of Marietta by about 30 minutes. I had a follow up appointment today and the doctor told me that they found no signs of cancer anywhere in the tumor, that it appeared to be benign so now all I have to do is recover. She thinks it might be six months to a year before I'm back to 100% but that I can cut that short by training smart.
I really want to get an ABC set up before the year's out and we've got some options including Iron Beast Barbell in Gainesville and of course my humble garage gym. If not, I guess I'll have to be satisfied with the National ABC (which is pretty awesome to attend I must say)
I also plan to lift in the SPF Body By George Meet in Loganville this year. I was going to do the USPA meet in Lithia Springs just because it's so close but one of my lifters is competing in that and I had a bad experience the last time I tried to compete AND platform coach in the same meet.
Have you competed before?
hell yeah man! i would be more than happy to help get the ball rolling with something around here! lets do it!
I have not brother, haven't had the chance man. Just now getting to a point where i feel confident honestly. My shit was in my liver and it took a huge toll on me as i know you understand fully. I hit a pretty low point with myself mentally as well and just had the "ill never get anywhere" attitude but that shit can go die. Im looking to get my foot in the door man and it would be sick to meet up and move weight. The sooner we start the more people we can pull in
Deadlift Day
General Warm Up
Sumo Deadlift
190x5
237.5x5
3x5@285
Deficit Deadlifts (done deep with loading pin straddling two 24 inch boxes)
3x15@120
Ab Wheel 3x10 (I have a slant board set up and I'm working my way to being able to do these standing up. From standing all the way to stretched all the way out.)
General Warmup including 20 pullups
Med Ball Throws 5x3
Flat Bench 5x8@157.5 (last set done submax reps). Got 20 reps) I still feel a little tug in my right pec when I bench. I hope it's just scar tissue or stiffness).
Supplemental:
Close Grip Bench (done with a specialty bar, hands in neutral grip) 3x10@157.5
Assistance Work I need more upper back and deltoid mass.
DB Incline Bench 2x10@60lbs (this is ten pounds more than I've been able to do)
Pendlay Rows 5x10@135 (these absolutely SUCK!!!)
Lateral Tri Set
Bent over Laterals 15
Seated Laterals 15
Dumbbell Front Raises 15
California Presses 3x15
Tricep Kickbacks supersetted with 1 Arm DB Overhead Tricep Extensions
Tire Drag Curls 45lbs x 20 feet
My wife says that my back and shoulders are getting wider so this must all be working! (or she's just stroking my ego which is fine by me too)
Shoulder Mobility Work with a medium band
20 pullups which brought my weekly total up to 40. I do these five at a time whenever I enter my garage gym for any reason. Everything else I did below, I had to do to demonstrate to the kids I train. Pretty much showing them that the old man can still keep up!!!
Plate Circuit
Swings 5 4 3 2 1
Row 5 4 3 2 1
Reverse Lunge w/ a Twist 5 4 3 2 1
Twisting Pickup from Low To High 5 4 3 2 1
Overhead Presses 5 4 3 2 1
Run 100 yards
Ab Circuit
15 Toe Touch Crunches
15 Crossover Crunches
15 Bicycle Crunches
15 Planks with alternating knee taps
Squats Tomorrow!
General Warm Up you can watch this here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lO1ybV2CcuM
This is two of my athletes because I was holding the camera. When I train, I'm normally the only one there or at least the only one who can work the camera phone. The elementary school kids usually get distracted too easily!
Anyway, I was finally able to do low tire jumps and crab walks without pain. On to the "real" work.
Back Squat
5x8@235lbs
I dropped the 5x10 pause squats and decided to just pause the first three reps of every set.
Supplementary Movement
Front Squats
Just out of curiosity, I wanted to see if I could front squat for one rep about 225 yet. Answer was yes. Could probably have done more but I decided to quit while I was ahead and moved on to assistance work.
Assistance Work
Lunges 2x12 @25llb dumbbells. Probably need to go up in weight on these.
Leg Extensions 2x12 w/ 45lb plate
Leg Curls
Used the green band since I'm now able to fully bend my right leg. Strength going up steadily.
Ab Wheel Rollouts
Dropped the board down about two inches and did 3x10. Hope to be able to do these on the floor from standing to full extension by October.
I got home after a 12hour night shift intending to rack out for about six hours and train when I woke up...then I saw my 17 year old son deadlifting in the gym alone. http://instagram.com/p/sj9JrhC7e6/?modal=true
Can't let the youngblood outdo me, plus he's one of my favorite training partners! So...
General Warm Up
Pullups 5x10(this brought my weekly pullup total up to 120)
Primary Movement 1 minute rest between sets
Overhead Press
5X8@105lbs
Supplementary Movement 45 seconds between sets
Behind The Neck Press
85x9
2x5@105
Assistance Work 45 seconds between sets
Lateral Tri Set 3x15 @ 30lbs no rest between exercises, 45 seconds rest between Tri Sets
Bent Over Laterals
Seated Laterals
Seated Front Raises
Incline Bench 2x12@70 another ten pound increase but on the second set I only got six reps before I had to drop to 60s to finish. I'll camp out at 70lbs for awhile
Incline Flyes 2x12@30lbs I do these all the way down, halfway up, all the way back down, all the way up and that counts as one rep.
Neutral Grip DB Nosecrushers 2x12@30lbs
Tricep Kickbacks supersetted with One Arm Overhead DB Extensions 2x12@30lbs
Barbell 21s
Incline DB Curls 2x12@30lbs
Finisher: 200ft Overhead Carry@ 135lbs It was a little after 9am by this time and I was fried after not being asleep since 2pm the day before. Couldn't handle 185 like I did the week before (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q-aiuUpRDRU) so I dropped the weight but did it overhead rather than in front rack position.
Animal PM, Animal Flex, shake, shower and bed! I was so tired, I couldn't finish my Oh Yeah Cookies & Creme (don't worry I destroyed it as soon as I opened my eyes six hours later!)
Deadlift day is usually shorter for me. It's at the end of my work week meaning I've worked at least 3 12hour night shifts in a row. It's also at the end of my training week normally so my volume isn't as high as on the other days. Finally, I usually train as soon as I get home along with whoever is coming by to train that day. So I focus on hitting my numbers and taking a nap so later on I can get out to enjoy the rest of the weekend. Today was a little different, I had to visit a brother Marine in the hospital who's recovering from colon surgery. Then my entire gym went to visit one of our members who's been making some bad choices that are screwing up his life and his family's. So at 945am we were gathered in a group on this guy's lawn. Not being judgmental, just reminding him that he's a brother and that his actions ripple outward affecting everybody connected to him. We don't want to lose anyone. It was a good time. Then I took a nap, woke up and had to work a charity booth for my church at a local festival. Lots of temptation to skip training today so I loaded the barbell with my weights and left it in the middle of the floor so I'd have to do something about it when I got home. (I usually enter through the garage so I HAVE to pass by the gym).
General Warm Up focused on rolling a whole lot more. Not foam rolling, rolling around on the ground tumbling etc.
No Pullups today.
Primary Movement 1 minute rest between sets
Deadlift
5X8@325lbs last set done submax. I got 13 reps.
Supplementary Movement 45 seconds between sets
Deficit Sumo Deadlifts done with a T handle.
3x15@180lbs
Finisher: Trap Bar Farmer's Walk 200ft @225lbs
Animal Flex, protein shake, shower and bed!
GunRock
09-10-14, 12:58 am
Pretty rough day. I slept wrong yesterday or something and woke up with a ferocious crick in my neck and pain radiating down my traps. Add that to some elbow pain in my right arm. I also managed to fit in some lower back pain. No amount of mobility, foam rolling fixed it. Soo... I took a page out of 5/3/1 and did a day of only primary movement. No warm up other than the ineffective stuff I'd already tried unless a liberal application of liniment counts.
Flat Bench
60% 145x3
67% 162.5 x 3
72% 3x8@175 last set was a submax and today that was 12 reps.
Tried to do pullups but I was done for the day after the first one.
Tuesday
Felt a LOT better! Banged out some pullups to make up for not doing anything but feeling sorry for myself yesterday. Weekly total is now at 20. Didn't do any behind the neck pullups on the off chance that's the culprit. More liniment. Much more liniment.
Squats tomorrow. Let's get back to normal life!
General Warm Up
Pullups 5x10
Flat Bench
First of all, I screwed up the numbers when I set up my spreadsheet for this week and I programmed by bench day using my squat training max. The good news is I proved that I'm further along than I thought in my chest recovery from the pec injury last March.
182x5
217.5x3
255x1
272.5x4
Right here I was a little discouraged because I was supposed to get 8 reps on that last set. I went back to look at the spreadsheet and noticed that something was a little off. The light bulb went on and I realized I should have done that last set with 180! So....
180x15 now I felt like a strong and recovering idiot instead of a weak poser! Still not back 100% but we're getting there.
The rest of this day was the same as my other Monday training sessions. Got good pumps in my arm work too which was a bonus.
Easy day today. I run the gym in sync with the local school schedule and they're out for Fall break so I don't have to train anyone. Good to focus on my own training except for the guys getting ready for the WUAP Worlds.
Foam Rolling
Stretching
Mobility work for my hips to get ready to squat tomorrow.
General Warm Up
I was able to jump onto the stacked big tires (each tire is about 29 inches high and we stack them for everyone except the elementary age kids) for one rep today. Prior to surgery, I could bang out sets of 3 at a time. Getting there though.
SQUAT pause the first 3 reps of every set
182.5x5
217.5x3
255x 1
272.5x AMRAP I got 15 reps here. Really tried to focus on hitting depth every time. Still don't have a lot of strength in my right hamstring and I feel it in the hole but I'm hoping to hit around 400 in competition early next year. I was able to get 303lbs at a meet on August 9 but I had to wave off my final attempt cause it felt like my stitches were tearing open. Now that the stitches are out I'm hoping to make steady recovery.
Walkout 450 5x1 Could probably have handled 500 on these.
Rest of the workout was the same as my normal Wednesday training session. only thing of note is that I still can't bend my right leg all the way so I'm still stuck using a 3lb dumbbell for lying dumbbell hamstring curls. Frustrating to sit there struggling with such a light weight but that's the way life is right now.
Yesterday was a lazy day. Didn't do much of anything beyond mobility and stretching. Didn't feel like logging that.
General Warm Up I had to cut this short because we only had 45 minutes to train, shower and get across town to a fundraiser my church was running in the town square. My son War Machine and one of the other lifters I train were both working the event and I had promised to help set up before heading to work. So... today's warm up consisted of:
Two scoops of Shock Therapy, one Animal Pak, One Animal Nitro pack, spraying half a can of liniment on my elbows, shoulders, wrists and lower back (hey, I'm in my 40s and if I can't warm up, I have to improvise!)
Ins and Outs 1x10
Arm Circles Fwd/Back 1x10
Overhead Press DO PULLUPS IN BETWEEN UNTIL 100 PULLUPS COMPLETED my goal is to be able to get this done in five sets eventually. Right now it takes me 8-10 sets.
82.5 x 5
97.5x3
115x 1
122.5x AMRAP I got 12
Behind the Neck Presses 3 sets of 9, 7 and 5
Lateral Tri Set done twice
bent over laterals 30x10
seated laterals 20x10
seated front raises 15x10
That was all I had time for so we cut the session short.
GunRock
09-20-14, 10:42 pm
General Warm Up took my shock therapy, Animal Pak, Animal Flex and Animal Nitro. I went up to Dayton to train with Uncle Boo at his outdoor gym Pankey's Athletic Training.
Deadlift
250x5
300x3
350x1
405x1 this, 450 and 500 were unplanned. I just wanted to take advantage of the motivation from having my brother right there yelling at me.
450x1
500x1 Didn't get it. My leg just said no every time I tried. Dropped weight and went back to my scheduled training.
375x AMRAP I got 20 reps. I'm thinking about switching to conventional if my hamstring is still less than 100% by the time my December meet comes around.
If you want to see it check out this link: http://youtu.be/7WIBvrlBrA8
Because of my upcoming trip to Europe, I've decided not to deload this week. The town we're heading to in Austria is a fairly small one and I don't want to risk having to have two weeks without hard training. So, I'm going to start my month of five reps this week and call my trip to Europe the deload week. That way if I do find a gym I can enjoy the experience without pressure and if I don't, I can just do some active recovery. It's strange but since I'm not going to be competing at this meet, I'm not guaranteed to be able to lift even though I'll be surrounded by weights.
Anyway here's the week so far:
Monday 9/22/2014
General Warm Up including taking Animal Pak, Animal Flex, Animal Nitro (this is new) and Universal Shock Therapy about 20 minutes before lifting.
Flat Bench 6 x 175x5 (70% last set done as a submax got 15 reps. I'm concentrating on form the entire way, )
Close Grip Bench 3x5 @ 175 this ends up just extending the sets from before. Only difference is I move my hands in about 3 inches closer and focus on keeping my elbows tight.
Incline Bench 2x10@70lbs used my Power Hooks for these for the first time in a while. Forgot how much I like not having to heave the dumbbells up from the floor. Probably going to increase to 80 or 90lbs next time since I don't have to heave the weights up.
Pendlay Rows
First I got a PR in a strict bent over row 225x1. Most I've ever done without a ton of body english. My wife says, my back and shoulders are really developing. She might be right. :)
Followed that up with 5x10@142.5 (70%)
Laterals did a tri set with 30lbs 20lbs 10lbs to the rear, sides and front. 10 reps per set.
supersetted for three supersets. My arms are still lagging and I think I need to get some serious ART or something to give my aching elbows some relief.
Tricep kickbacks 30x10
Overhead single DB extension 30x10
Ab Wheel Rollouts 3x10
Finished up with an Overhead BB Carry 135x200 feet (to my mailbox and back)
Tuesday 9/23/2014
Did some painful mobility work to get ready for Wednesday's squat session. I didn't invent it, Kelly Starrett did and as I do it, I'm seeing a huge improvement in my form as my body doesn't have to fight itself just to get into position
Also foam rolled the leg that had surgery. Made a BIG difference the next day when I did db hamstring curls.
Wednesday 9/24/2014
General Warm Upincluding taking Animal Pak, Animal Flex, Animal Nitro (I'm really liking this stuff!) and Universal Shock Therapy about 20 minutes before lifting.
I still can't jump all the way onto stacked tires easily because I can't pull my right knee all the way to my chest but crab walks are a lot easier
Back Squat
267.5x5 (70%) with the last set being submax. I had to squat outside my rack because of other people's training needs so I didn't push the submax as hard as I normally would. Still got 9 reps.
DB Hamstring curls
3lbs x 10, 8lbs x 10, 10lbs by 10 (post surgery PR!)
Poor Man's Yoke Walk for absolutely no reason I decided to find out how far I could walk with a barbell loaded to 225lbs on my back. Answer is at least 200ft without stopping. Should have gone heavier but I wasn't sure about the trip back up the hill to the garage gym.
Carries (no rest between sets)
Front Squat Position 225x200 feet
185x200 feet
Overhead Carry 135x200 feet
spent the rest of the evening stretching my hips
Got back from Austria and it's time for my AMRAP week! Last week's deload was pretty cool plus I got to see some awesome lifting by some seriously strong dudes. America needs to step up BIG TIME! War Machine and I were discussing how in Europe at 275lb lifter normally is built like an NFL outside linebacker whereas in America, you often get some doughy looking lifters.
I've been a part of the problem. I was a soft 225lbs when I got hurt last March at the North Georgia Ox Mover but . . . Just got off of the scale. Says 198lbs. That means I've lost 27lbs since my injury. Love handles are going away and I actually put on the same size pants as my 6ft, 150lb son. (32,34).
http://instagram.com/p/uIcuzFi7aT/?modal=true
I'm hoping to equal my numbers from last March this March but at 27lbs lighter.
Still trying to lose fat and put on muscle. Who's with me?
GunRock
12-15-14, 12:17 pm
Had a great meet this past Saturday at the SPF Body By George. Here's a write up on that if anyone's interested: http://forum.animalpak.com/showthread.php?43309-This-Iron-Journey&p=1396135#post1396135
Anyway, it's deload week so here go.
Flat Bench worked up to 85% for an easy 5 reps.
Stability Benches (this is a great way to train yourself to stay in the correct bar path) 202.5 done for 4x10 here's a video of my friend Eric Head showing me and War Machine how to do it if you want to check it out: http://instagram.com/p/v3JSPXC7bg/?modal=true
Pull Ups 3x10
Tire Rows Across My Driveway 3x supersetted with
Sandbag Bentover Rows (done to improve my grip and upper back strength) 3x15 supersetted with
DB Incline Benches 3x15
Standing Band Crunches 3 sets to failure
Strongman work tomorrow and Squats on Wednesday
Today was a Planned vs Actual Day meaning, I had things I wanted to do but it didn't all work out.
On the positive side, I got to train with my 14 year old son. He's just beginning his Iron Journey so it was cool to lift with him, The Cage DVD was playing in the background while we trained and he especially liked G. Diesel's comment about how training causes small, unnoticeable changes until one day you realize you've transformed yourself.
Planned Workout
Squat 5x5 up to 85% (I didn't squat in my meet the other day so I didn't plan on a complete deload of that lift, just decreasing all of my volume and dropping the intensity)
Lunges 2x12
Chainbag Leg Extensions 2x12 (I use a sandbag filled with chains draped across my feet as the weight)
Lying DB Leg Curls 2x12
Standing DB Calf Raises 4x20 (I have horrible calf development)
Front Squats to Sprints 3x
100 reps of Ab work
What actually happened:
Woke up at 2PM. Took Shock Therapy, Animal Pak and Flex. Set up the weight room while waiting for it to kick in. Somebody had unhooked the DVD player so they could hook up the Xbox so it took a little bit before I could get the Cage DVD to play. Down to business; I warmed up pretty well.
Squat 4x5; 1x2 at 85% I could have gotten the last 3 but it would have been a struggle and it is deload week
Lunges 1x12 then the elementary school kids came in and wanted to tell me about their day. I finally got them calmed down and warming up so I could hit my last set of lunges.
A vendor that I'm trying to use as a way to raise money to fundraise for us to afford to pay a tutor for the kids I train called about a banner logo and I had to take the call. When I got off the phone, the kids were ready to do their training. It was AMRAP week and my 10 year old and another elementary school kid I train had to be done in time to eat and rest before heading off to wrestle with the middle school that evening. They were nervous enough about wrestling older kids without being rushed so I chose to run the training session myself to use it to build their confidence.
Hit my first set of Lying DB Leg Curls.
My wife called and said I had to get my son to the school by 4:30 so he'd be able to warm up properly. I asked when they were scheduled to start and she didn't know so I had to make some calls. I did the second set of lying DB Leg Curls in between calls. Had to leave messages. I went upstairs to tell my son to get his stuff into the car. I let my oldest son (War Machine in case you were wondering) run training for the middle schoolers while I got this accomplished.
Ran back downstairs and decided to call an audible. I did the Front Squats to Sprints and called it a day.
One of the middle school girls showed up for tutoring but since we didn't have the tutor lined up yet, I had War Machine help her with her math homework while I showered and changed.
Got the info that we didn't have to be at the school until 6pm.
Did I have time for calf work and abs? I would have IF a high school girl I train who was raking leaves for me as a way to raise money to pay her fine for an indiscretion (that's how she ended up training with me. Her mom decided she needed a strong male role model)had an emotional breakdown in my yard so I took time to give her a pep talk.
Too late to finish now.
Went and watched the wrestling match.
Came to work.
Did the calf raises on the steps in the stairwell, did the ab work at my desk. Benefits of working at night.
Posted this.
Sequence A
Ab Wheel Rollouts 5x15
Chainbag Front Squats 5x3
Trap Bar Farmers Walks 5 (225x200 ft - to my mailbox and back)
Sequence B
Ab Wheel Rollouts 5x15
Chainbag Front Squats 5x3
Sprint 200ft (to my mailbox and back)
Did 5 Rounds, rested as needed between sequences. The original plan was to do Farmer's Walks the entire time but that was too much so I switched to sprints (at least I thought I was running fast but it probably looked like slow jogging to the untrained eye lol!) By the third round, I had to drop down to 135lbs for the Farmer's Carry.
Overhead Pressing tomorrow. I'll be trying to get a good pump in tomorrow's workout which is my normal post meet goal. I like to get blood into and out of my muscles to speed recovery and help me start pushing hard again the week after.
Just for fun and to motivate one of my newer lifters after I did my normal training as posted above, she and I did Chainbag Front Squats in I go you go style for a total of 20 reps. Her form wasn't great, but this was more about building belief in her that she can do things that seem impossible to her. Her previous m.o. has always been to avoid discomfort and choose the easy, safe path but that's not how The Iron Journey works.
Here's the video: http://instagram.com/p/ww5LWZC7fj/?modal=true
Overhead Press
5x5 worked up to 85% (I didn't compete in overhead pressing so I went a little heavier)
50 Pullups I ended up doing this in 5 sets of 10
KB Throws (I stand under a tall tree branch and try to throw the kettlebell up in behind me over the branch.) 5x1
Handstand Pushups 5x Submax
Deadlift
Worked up to an easy single at 85%. decided to go conventional since I've been training sumo for the past 4 months. this was also my first time doing it the way Richard Hawthorne recommends( ie touch and go but not allowing the weights to crash to the ground). I tried to set the weight down so gently that I didn't hear the plates clank. Really puts pressure on your core!
Called it a day after that.
Warm Up
Keg throws- 3x3 here's a clip http://instagram.com/p/w7EAZhC7at/?modal=true
Bench- 125x5, 155x5, 185x3, 220x3, 250x3, 282xSubmax (I left two in the tank)
Overhead Press- 5(80x15)
Kroc Row- 5(70x20)
Incline DB Bench+ Bent over Laterals- superset 2X15
Close Grip Bench- 3(205x5-8)
Kick Backs- 2x10
Overhead DB Extentions- 1x15
Barbell 21's- 2x
Incline Curls-1x10
Ab Wheel Roll-outs- 50
Post Workout
Soaked In Epsom Salts- 20 Minutes
Warmed up and did some intense foam rolling on my IT Band. I drove 200 miles today and all of the sitting caught up to me.
Tire Jumps 3x3
Squat
145x5, 180x5, 215x3, 255x3, 290x3, 327xsubmax (got 7)
Walkouts 405x1
Pause Squats
3(217x5)
Lunges 2x10
Leg Extensions 2x10
Leg Curls 2x10
50lb KB swings 5x10 (I planned to do SLDL and Glute Bridges but I had to leave for work so I just did the KB Swings at work.)
This was my Christmas Eve workout. I was squatting with uncleboo56 on the Bluetooth deadlifting in Tennessee. Some might find that distracting but we've treated each other like training partners for so long it's actually a little weird when we're in the same place training together!
Here's a pic: http://instagram.com/p/xAY_e7C7c4/?modal=true
Merry Christmas!!!
1 Arm KB Throws 2x3
65x5, 80x5, 95x3, 115x3, 130x3, 147.5x submax (got 5 reps)
Handstand Pushups 3x supersetted with
Recline Rows//Fat Boy Pullups 3x
Lateral Tri set: Bentover Laterals+Standing Laterals+Front Raises 3x10
Incline Flyes 2x10
Flat Bench 3(175x10) used Slingshot for last set due to some right pec tightness
Dips BW 2x12
1 Arm DB Overhead Extensions 1x10
Hammer Curls 2x10
Concentration Curls 2x10
Incline DB Curls 1x10
Finisher: Leopard Crawls 4x100 feet rest as needed
20 minutes soaking in Epsom Salts bath
Coming off of three days of 12 hour night shifts, deadlifting is always iffy. I got 5 hours of sleep before training.
I've started implementing Richard Hawthorne's touch and go technique where I try to touch the weights down so lightly that you don't hear the plates clink, immediately change direction and go back up to maintain constant tension. Really kills the core! I normally try not to change too many things at once but today I decided to try a slightly different foot stance, toes pointed a little more forward so I can harness more torque. I know that guys like Kelly Starrett and the Supple Leopard camp advocate toes forward as opposed to out but I never understood how that would affect my sumo until after I watched a technique vid by JL Holdsworth where he mentioned that hip flexibility plays a role in how far out your toes need to point. Tried it and I felt strong despite still being sore from squatting on Wednesday.
Deadlift
200x5, 250x5, 300x5, 350x5,400x5,450xsubmax (ended up with 2 reps. I could have grinded out more but this was submax. Saved a little for my AMRAP next Saturday)
Deficit Deadlifts (3inch box) 5(250x10)
SL Deadlifts 3(250x10)
DB Leg Curls 3x10 (done on an decline bench. Used 25lbs each set)
Glute Bridges 3(135x10. I usually use more weight but my legs were pretty gassed by this point)
Keg Carries 4x100 feet (I put water into the keg until it's half full then carry it 100ft. I pour out some water if necessary and carry it back. I'm holding the keg upright with my hands underneath like carrying a paper bag of groceries. Repeat 4x, rest as needed)
Headed back to work for my final 12 hour shift. Sitting in Epsom Salts tomorrow after church to speed recovery.
Spent most of the weekend icing my shoulder. Tried to AMRAP today but I got 297x1. Was shooting for 7 reps. Oh well. Sometimes Jesus says no.
I do know that my body doesn't respond well to not ramping back down after meets, normally I would have dropped back to a full month of 10s or 8s after peaking but I decided to run 5/3/1 for a month to keep my strength as high as possible before I start getting ready for USAPL Military Nationals. I think my body is telling me to keep it real and remember how last March's rotator cuff sprain felt. So I stopped instead of pushing it.
I'll be back though.
405x1 the goal I set for myself last January, the Lord has allowed me to achieve. Despite injuries, illness and all of the other troubles throughout the year! His praise shall continually be in my mouth! Bless His holy name!!!
Warm up/mobility work
180x5, 215x3, 255x1, 290x1,327x1, 345x1, everything after this was new territory. 385x1; 405x1, 405x1 I did this twice because I thought that my first attempt was shallow and as soon as I racked it, my son told me that I was high so that was confirmation. I rested about 5 minutes and tried it again. My son confirmed that I hit depth this time.
Deficit DL 2(185x10)
SL Deadlift 2(185x10)
DB Leg Curls 2x10
Glute Bridges 3x15 supersetted with DB Farmer's Walk 80lbs per hand x 200feet 3x
100 Crunches
Hollow Body Position 5x as long as possible
BJ Whitehead
12-31-14, 7:29 pm
That's awesome!! Set a goal and work to achieve it!!
Pale Rider
12-31-14, 8:12 pm
Happy new year
AJones148
01-01-15, 5:02 pm
Let me know if you got my PM. I tried to send it a couple times but it's not in my "sent mail" so idk..
Also, Happy New Year & congrats on the 405 squat!!
Let me know if you got my PM. I tried to send it a couple times but it's not in my "sent mail" so idk..
Also, Happy New Year & congrats on the 405 squat!!
I'm just replied to you.
Happy New Year and thanks. I feel like I'm finally at the point where I can START getting strong now.
That's awesome!! Set a goal and work to achieve it!!
Means a lot coming from a lifter of your caliber! Happy New Year!!!
Happy new year
Happy New Year!
Been dealing with severe soreness in my rear delts since I've added overhead kb throws into my routine. Had to cut today's session short.
Warm up
Overhead KB Throws 3(20lb x1) ended up making it over the 13.5ft mark on two reps but one rep, the KB hit the bottom of the tree branch and came straight back down. I looked up and here it came. Barely had time to do a head slip and slight pivot (felt like I was back doing MMA again) to avoid getting hit in the back of the head. Hit me in between my shoulders. Ow. Checked form and did it again and got over the branch this time.
Overhead Press
65x5, 85x5,95x3, 122x5, 140x3, 155x1 this last set was supposed to be AMRAP and I could only manage one rep so I took what I could get.
HSPU+Recline Rows on the rings superset 3x got 5 reps/15 reps, 4 reps/15 reps, 2 reps/15 reps. Didn't rest between sets. My son held my feet and we stopped when he had to hold me up.
Ferruggia-Even Esh Bar Benching multi grip benching using a bar designed by those two and made by Black Widow similar concept to the EliteFTS Football Bar
1x5
Shoulder didn't feel right. Called it a day.
time for my first drink of Animal Whey!!!
Deload next week
Trained during the Georgia ABC Meet Up
Sometimes distracting because I spend time walking around making sure that everybody is having a good time and getting the coaching they need. Had 12 guys there including our special guest, Universal athlete Leanna Carr. She, world record holder Eric Head and Iron Beast Barbell co owner Marcell Allen did a great job of giving tips and coaching the other ABC attendees. I worked all night and didn't have my belt. I lost the paper I wrote my stuff on and had to go from memory.These are not excuses, just me recognizing that sometimes things aren't optimal.
I listed below what should have happened and what did happen.
foam roll and active warmup while waiting for the RageXL and Juiced Aminos to kick in
Deadlift
planned 200 x 5, 250x3, 300x2, 375x1, 425x1, 475xAMRAP.
actual 200x5, 250x5, 305x3, 405x1, 475xmiss sucks that I missed this but on the other hand, I handled all of these easily without a belt and I didn't get hurt with the 475 attempt. Shows that my core is getting stronger.
Paused Squats (I go ATG then come up, pausing at each one of my sticking points for a count of three)
Planned 182x12 for 2 sets
Actual 185x5, 2 sets of 225x10
Leg Extension
2x12 ended up doing one long drop set from 70lbs all the way up to 10lbs on the stack, stripping weight each time so
70x12, 60x7, 50x2, 40x2, 30x3, 20x3, 10x4
Called it a day.
Time to deload Baby!!!
Let me know if you got my PM. I tried to send it a couple times but it's not in my "sent mail" so idk..
Also, Happy New Year & congrats on the 405 squat!!
I got your email and I'll check it out first thing Monday at the latest.
Be easy.
125x5
155x5
185x5
done except for the stretching and ice.
Mobility work
45 minutes of Gerbil Time (i.e. treadmill)
Not fun or exciting but I'd say that the most hardcore thing about it is making myself stay on the treadmill despite everything that tells me to get off. I do HIIT and strongman type conditioning but there's something to be said for the fact that most of the people who are lean do some sort of extended duration cardio.
So I'm doing it.
But it sucks.
But I'm doing it.
Wednesday
woke up with a scratchy throat and ferocious headache. Didn't feel like training. Added ibuprofen to my Animal Pak, Animal Flex morning stack.
At work, did prisoner squats 1x3 periodically throughout my 12 hour shift. Tried to never be sore, just work on mobility and opening my hips up to break parallel. Did a few sets of sprints up and down the flight of steps in the back hallway.
Thursday
Made up Wednesday's training
Back Squat 145x5, 180x5, 215x5 (40%, 50%, 60%)
Walkout 3 (405x1)
Lunges 25x12
Leg Extensions 60x12 (used a sandbag filled with chains)
One leg SLDL 60x12/12 (same sandbag, held one handed)
GunRock
01-10-15, 12:41 am
Handstand Pushups braced against a wall. 10 at a time. Every couple of hours.
Hollow Body holds as long as possible every couple of hours.
Nothing fancy. Building anticipation for Monday when the DAMAGE starts again!!!
Switching from my customized Juggernaut Method template for a while as I start to train with the 1% Krew out of Iron Beast. I'm not writing my own program for the first time. Good to have somebody else running the show for a while.
Front Squat
1x10@45lbs, 1x5@135
3x4@50%
Flat Bench
Barx10, 135x5
4x2@75%
Squat
1x5@135
4x2@ 75%
Did 100 situps a few at a time over the course of the day. This didnt seem like much but when I got to the second set of back squats my legs suddenly felt very tired. Had to refocus on form because my weight shifted forward too much on the first rep of that set.
James500
01-12-15, 7:05 pm
How you like lifting in the USAPL?
GunRock
01-12-15, 10:01 pm
its got its pros and cons. On the one hand they are sticklers about a great many things that other organizations might let fly such as the knee sleeve/knee wrap thing. there are times when I feel that some of the rules they have are just there so they can say that they're stricter than everybody else not necessarily to improve lifting or for the safety of the competitor which should be paramount. On the other hand, I like the fact that they give a lot of opportunities for people to compete, they are a recognized organization with a qualifying total required to go to Nationals as opposed to some groups that have one meet a year in their backyard and call it a national meet. as far as the drug tested thing goes, I think they take that way too far. For example they wouldn't allow you to compete in one of their meet at the Arnold if you had also competed in a non drug tested organization that year. If you have competed in another organization even if that one is also drug tested, you cannot be on the USAPL national team to go rnd world the United States and world competitions.I think that is a bit much considering you pay them to compete they don't pay you, you are the customer but they're telling you that you cannot be a customer of any one else.
the weight classes are a little bit different and I'm still trying to wrap my head around why they did that but it is pretty cool to be able to weigh a little bit more going into a meet now.
10 min mobilty work
30 min treadmill walk
20 minutes Epsom Salts soak
AJones148
01-13-15, 11:15 am
I was looking at this and I saw you take the Flex pak.. So do you take the standard Animal Pak and the Flex Pak on the same day? If yes, do you take them at the same time? I just got the Flex and I was thinking I'd take that on non-lifting days, and take the standard Pak on lifting days.. Then I was thinking maybe that's backwards and I should do the opposite.. Which way would you take them?
I can't really take them both every day (for now) cause I only have 37 Paks & 41 Flex, and the meets 63 days out so I was thinking I could rotate them up until a week or 2 out and then take both daily right before the meet..
'
Rught now I take Pak in the morning and with my post training meal and Flex with PM right before bed.
I used to take Pak and Flex at the same time in the morning. I'm just trying something I saw G Diesel say he does.
The point of any supplementation is to make up for holes in our diet. So that plus the fact that in my opinion vitamins and anti inflammatory supplements function sort of like creatine monohydrate in that your body needs to have a certain amount of it in the tank to function optimally, means that you could probably skip a day of Pak or Flex and not see a huge difference. we don't know what the optimal level is for anybody so you kind of have to go with how you feel and how your training is progressing. However, I would try to eat a little bit cleaner and boost the amount of veggies on the days where you don't take Pak and probably eat a little bit more fish on the days when you don't take Flex.
I think that this is a good topic to explore in the Packs section also. A lot of guys have their stacking routines posted.find somebody in your situation and see what he or she does.
Deadlift to knees w/ 2 sec pause
135x5, 185x5, 225x1, 4x3@70 (315)
Bench 70%x3,5,7,4,6,8
Deadlift to above the knee w/ pause
4x2 @75% (337.5)
Feeling good so I added
California Press 3x5
Arnold Press 3x10
Deadlift to knees w/ 2 sec pause
135x5, 185x5, 225x1, 4x3@70 (315)
http://instagram.com/p/x1flaOi7SS/?modal=true
Bench 70%x3,5,7,4,6,8
http://instagram.com/p/x1kaFIi7Y0/?modal=true
Deadlift to above the knee w/ pause
4x2 @75% (337.5)
Feeling good so I added
California Press 3x5
Arnold Press 3x10
Go Away
01-15-15, 11:24 am
Did you enjoy the Juggernaut Method?
My boy bailed from the Lilliebridge Method because he felt there wasn't enough volume for him and went to the Chad Smith program. He's in there for like 2.5 hours all the time and never seems like he's hitting anything under 12 reps on all the big lifts... crazy different from what we are doing in there.
Did you enjoy the Juggernaut Method?
My boy bailed from the Lilliebridge Method because he felt there wasn't enough volume for him and went to the Chad Smith program. He's in there for like 2.5 hours all the time and never seems like he's hitting anything under 12 reps on all the big lifts... crazy different from what we are doing in there.
Yes I did. It's a template that you're supposed to adjust as you learn your needs so you have different options for training frequency (he has one called the 9 day work week ) and then each 16 week training cycle starts with sets of 10@65% and works it's way down to a 3 rep month that you could transition into a 6 week meet prep. So it's good if you are only competing a couple of times a year but want to train year round. He also gives you an option to incorporate 531 if you wanted to as that's one of the program influences. I like it because I train in MMA and it's got options for programming in speed/power work plus conditioning. Really it's a program for athletes who want to add another sport besides powerlifting. He's a former thrower and Strongman who trains a fair amount of football players and jiu jitsu practicioners plus Crossfit Games competitors so the template reflects his need for flexible programming. My sessions now are about an 1.5 hours four days of lifting a week and 20-45 minutes of conditioning on non lifting days.
20 minutes sitting in an Epsom Salts bath
20 minute treadmill sprints at 80% ending with one all out sprint at the top speed. Previous max was 8.2 mph for one minute, today I maxed the treadmill out at 10mph for 1 minute. So new PR! And I haven't even been running a lot, doing mostly 30 minute light intensity walking, strongman based conditioning (i.e. tire flips for time/distance and loaded carries)
10 minute contrast shower (hot as you can stand for 1 minute, cold as you can stand for 1 minute)
self myofascial release with The Stick, a lacrosse ball and softball. Lower body mobility work.
My son told me that my waist line looks smaller so something's happening. Weights are still light so I won't know if I'm maintaining strength until next week or maybe the week after.
That's it!
GunRock
01-16-15, 10:05 am
Warm up
shoulders felt tight. Had to do extra work with the lacrosse ball.
Bench
4x3@212 (75%)
Squats
4x3@255 (70%)
Board Presses
3x2@240 (85%)
Overhead Press 5x15@100lbs
Bed
Drove down to train with The 1% Krew at Iron Beast Barbell. My first day training WITH them although I have trained AROUND them before. It was an okay experience just the pace was slower than I am used to.
Deficit Deadlifts 4x3@60%
Did these conventional except for the last rep which I did Sumo because I was curious about how it would feel.
Here's a video http://instagram.com/p/x9S2zDC7QV/
Block Pulls
3x2@85%
Did half conventional and half Sumo
All sets today were done beltless
Standing Overhead Presses because they aren't in the program. I had done some of these yesterday but I didn't want to disrupt the flow.
Had someone else from that gym ask me about Animal (I'm known for being with Animal and I'm always having to explain that I don't work for Animal, I am just involved with the ABC) and we signed her up on the spot using the gym desktop.
20 minute Epsom Salts soak.
Shoulders were on fire today. Not used to the bench volume. Ice and mobility work makes the training bearable but just.
Squat
5x2@290 (80%)
Bench
5x2@227(80%)
Band Pull Aparts 5x10
1 Arm DB Row 5x10@70lbs
100 Situps done periodically over the course of the day
Had to take DMSO last night and the shoulder issue was almost completely resolved this morning. Used to use this stuff all of the time back when I was fighting and I swore by it. It's definitely back in the arsenal.
Did 100 KB Swings with a 40lb KB for cardio at the rate of 10 per minute for 10 minutes. Rest was whatever time I had left in the minute after completing the 10th swing.
Second application of DMSO in the evening to get me ready for tomorrow's training.
Bench
5x3@197.5 (70%)
w/ KBs hanging off bands
Deadlift w/ 5 sec pause below the knee
5x3 @337.5 (75%)
Bench
5x3@197.5 (70%)
w/ KBs hanging off bands
Deadlift w/ 5 sec pause below the knee 5x3 @337.5 (75%)
Bench looks pretty pathetic but it'll get better I keep telling myself
http://instagram.com/p/yHq0gcC7dC/?modal=true
Deadlift went conventional instead of sumo cause I believe that one style helps another
http://instagram.com/p/yHulgDi7TM/?modal=true
Planned Cardio
KB swings 15 every minute for 10 minutes @ 30lbs
felt good, practicing my hinge mechanics and burning some calories.
Unplanned Cardio
Had to go to downtown Atlanta to be a part of a focus group on Goodwill Industries and how they should be allocating their resources. GPS took me to the wrong address (West Peachtree instead of Peachtree) and after driving around for awhile including two trips through the wrong parking garage, I decided to just walk. The security guard said it was only five minutes walk to the correct building (this is after I walked around looking for someone to help me.) Too bad he pointed me in the wrong direction so after walking five minutes in the wrong direction, I turned around and walked back to the starting point which was the parking garage at the wrong building. But from there, I got directions to the correct building this time and walked there. Once I got there, I had to find the entrance and ended up wandering through a high end restaurant in a beanie, Chucks, t shirt and zip up hoodie. Ended up in the employees only area and got directions to the right area which meant going back outside and walking all the way around the building. Went inside, yet another security guard who actually helped me and I went upstairs to the meeting location. Too bad I got there 15 minutes late and was told I couldn't go in. I just shrugged and walked the three blocks back to the first building, back downstairs to the parking garage and got back in my ride to leave. By that time, I recognized that it was just one of those days and I was determined not to let what was happening to me make me a dick to others. Jesus doesn't like that kind of stuff. Positive side I got 25 minutes of nonstop walking including stairs out of the deal.
And I remembered why I don't work in downtown Atlanta. And never will.
Legs felt better today. Shoulders still tight from benching 3x per week.
Front Squats 4x4@185 (50%)
Board Presses 3x1@255 (90%)
Good work like keeping w/percents
GunRock
01-23-15, 10:37 pm
Good work like keeping w/percents
Thanks. I know the trend now is RPE but I just like percent based training. I rarely have a session where I don’t hit any of my planned numbers because I use a training max rather than a true 1RM. For meets I just plan to hit numbers about 5-10lbs more than my previous meet performances. I probably leave lbs on the platform that way but this is a marathon not a sprint for me.
Trained with 1%Krew again.
Deadlift with 8kg of chain weight
3 (335x1)
Back work
TBar Row
45x10, 90x10, 2 (135x8)
Hammer Strength Row
4(200x10)
Low Cable Row
2(200x10)
BB Pullovers
Shoulders
Standing Press
Football Bar 85x5, 100x5, 2 (110x10)
Log Press 150x5
Arnold Press 3(40x10)
Bentover Laterals 2(40x10)
Front Squats
3x3@200lbs (55%)
forearms still pretty tight so my wrists and elbows get beat up a little when I do this. It's getting better though.
Flat Bench
2x1@240 (85%)
2x2@227.5(80%)
Band Pull Aparts 20x Green Band
Pause Squats (all the way down, pause for a three count on the way back up at my sticking point)
4x2@272.5 (75%)
Low back feeling a little tight today. Didn't work last night so I trained at 8:30am. Back felt stable at the bottom and where I paused (about 3 inches above parallel)
10 Ins and Outs
10 Rollovers to V Sits
10 Moving Side Planks
10 Neck mobility up, down, side to side
10 Frog Stretches
10 Hip Circles (each way)
10 Dirty Dogs
10 Arm circles forward and back
20 Band Pull Aparts
Crab Walk 20 ft
Leopard Crawl 20 feet repeat 2x
Side to side hops
Jog 100 yards
15 KB swings EMOM (Every Minute On The Minute) for 20 minutes w/ 30lb KB
20 Band Pull Aparts
Mobility work for upper and lower body. I like doing this on off days so I don't have to spend a lot of time on it in warm ups.
Soak in Epsom Salts for 20 minutes
Really feeling all 300 of the KB swings from yesterday.
Paused Deadlifts (to the knees, pause for a 5 count)
4 x 337.5lbs x 2
Flat Bench
197.5 x 3, 197.5 x 7, 197.5x4,197.5x8, 197.5x2, 197.5x6
Block Pulls
4x360lbsx4
Lots of volume in here! You put some serious work in... respect.
Lots of volume in here! You put some serious work in... respect.
Thanks brother. I'm doing Shieko for the first time and it's tough on the recovery but I felt the volume was what I needed to put my squat where it needs to be. I've got some pretty aggressive goals for this year and I felt that I needed to do something different or I would get what I've always gotten.
Still got love for The Juggernaut Method though. I plan to use it as my normal template and Shieko as a "peaking routine" when I have a meet coming up.
Board Press
3x255x1 (90%)
Squats
4x290x2 (80%)
Stability Bench
4 185x4 including 20lbs of kb weight hanging from the bands (65%)
Not a bad training session all things considered. I'm a walking ball of soreness right now. Been forever it seems since I wasn't sore somewhere in my body.
Probably part of the reason why I'm still working on my squat form. Plus it's not automatic yet to use my hips as much. I'm still used to high bar, using my quads. It's better than before though and I'm consistently hitting dept and I haven't missed a lift yet in training despite all of the soreness. Feeling good about the decision to go with 10% of my true 1RM as a Training Max rather than programming based on my true 1RM like I first considered when I started the program. That 10% training max thing is a stroke of genius. Props to whoever first thought of it, wish it was me. Deadlifts tomorrow, then I get to conduct an interview for Power Magazine!
Go Away
01-30-15, 11:53 am
Thanks brother. I'm doing Shieko for the first time and it's tough on the recovery but I felt the volume was what I needed to put my squat where it needs to be. I've got some pretty aggressive goals for this year and I felt that I needed to do something different or I would get what I've always gotten.
Still got love for The Juggernaut Method though. I plan to use it as my normal template and Shieko as a "peaking routine" when I have a meet coming up.
I tried it two years ago and it was brutal!!! Up the calories... things are gonna get wild.
GunRock
01-31-15, 12:38 pm
Pause Deadlifts
4x337.5x2 reps
Deadlift with chains
4x337.5x2 reps
Overhead press
80x5, 95x3, 112x1, 120xAMRAP(14 reps)
Arnold Press
3x45x10
T Bar Rows
5x90x10
Low Cable Row
3x10 (I don't know the weight. About 1/2 the stack)
Pale Rider
01-31-15, 2:04 pm
Nice work
BJ Whitehead
01-31-15, 11:12 pm
Impressive
Impressive
Nice work
Thanks guys. I appreciate the encouragement from both of you.
15 minute walk before church. Steady pace up and down hills in the neighborhood around the church.
Hung out in the bottom of the squat position while playing some PS3.
Back to the grind tomorrow!
GunRock
02-02-15, 12:13 pm
Front Squats
3x185x3
Flat Bench (did a set of 10-20 band pull aparts before each set)
115x5, 142x5, 172x3, 200x3, 4x230x3
Squats
257x3, 257x7, 257x4,257x8,257x2,257x5
I'll add the squat video after this one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xz_oq-G3S1E
GunRock
02-02-15, 12:17 pm
[QUOTE=Gunrock;1401266]Front Squats
3x185x3
Flat Bench (did a set of 10-20 band pull aparts before each set)
115x5, 142x5, 172x3, 200x3, 4x230x3
Squats
257x3, 257x7, 257x4,257x8,257x2,257x5[QUOTE]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sh16WYoAA0
went for a 45 minute walk after breakfast this morning. Pretty brisk pace so even though I prefer to walk or do any kind of cardio before breakfast I think it worked out just fine. Had M Stak when I got back from the walk.
GunRock
02-04-15, 11:05 am
Warm up as normal 15 minutes
Deficit Deadlift 4x317x2 (70%)
supersetted this with barefoot runs at 70 yards apiece
Larsen/Stability Bench Press (no leg drive plus hung kettlebells off the end of the bar)
4x215x2 (75%)
Block Pulls
4x3@385 (85%)
Here's a video of the last set of Deficits, the Presses and the first set of Block Pulls
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=735pEv0hPFA
GunRock
02-05-15, 11:58 pm
Had a series of events beyond my control today. Work stuff etc., Anyway, choice had to be made between conditioning time or sleep. Ended up with a little under 5 hours of sleep before having to head . So no gerbil time today. Time to improvise.
Did sets of 20 Marine Corps style crunches (arms folded, hands in armpits, legs bent, crunch until point of the elbow hits the thigh) and 120ft leopard crawls. Good thing I'm the only person on this floor at night or I'd get some funny looks.
Here's a video of one of the leopard crawl sets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E6k-yj-6Ns
Bench
Used Larsen Presses again. No leg drive so I could concentrate on using my chest and lats the entire time.
4x255x2 (85%)
Squat
I was in a hurry to get to the high school to teach a class on writing so I decided to just squat in jeans since this was submaximal loading. I ripped my pants on the first rep so I had to go upstairs, change into shorts and come back. As my grandfather used to say, "Hurry, hurry bust trousers". Yes he really used to say that.
4x295x2 (85%)
Bench
5x225x4 scheduled for 210 but as I said, I was in a hurry so I just took the tens and fives off and used the weight that was on my squat bar. I was also only supposed to do 4 sets but I didn't remember to video one of the sets as a visual aid for a question I planned to ask Dan Green until after I was done. So, extra set. Hard work never killed anybody, although I'm not sure that's actually true. (look at John Henry the steel driving man.)
Anyway, deadlifts again tomorrow!
Bench
Used Larsen Presses again. No leg drive so I could concentrate on using my chest and lats the entire time.
4x255x2 (85%)
Squat
I was in a hurry to get to the high school to teach a class on writing so I decided to just squat in jeans since this was submaximal loading. I ripped my pants on the first rep so I had to go upstairs, change into shorts and come back. As my grandfather used to say, "Hurry, hurry bust trousers". Yes he really used to say that.
4x295x2 (85%)
Bench
5x225x4 scheduled for 210 but as I said, I was in a hurry so I just took the tens and fives off and used the weight that was on my squat bar. I was also only supposed to do 4 sets but I didn't remember to video one of the sets as a visual aid for a question I planned to ask Dan Green until after I was done. So, extra set. Hard work never killed anybody, although I'm not sure that's actually true. (look at John Henry the steel driving man.)
Anyway, deadlifts again tomorrow!
good work sorry not been ready your training as much.
keep good work.
I totally understand the being in a hurry prob 1 day week do not have to rush in gym other days can't waste time.
GunRock
02-08-15, 12:33 am
good work sorry not been ready your training as much.
keep good work.
I totally understand the being in a hurry prob 1 day week do not have to rush in gym other days can't waste time.
No worries Bruh. The Journey is the Journey whether it's a solo walk or you have somebody walking with you. Road still has to be traveled. I'm glad whenever anybody decides to stop by and check me out.
Hope to see you at The Cage and the National ABC.
Watched Generation Iron with the family last night. I missed my son War Machine and I both missed our morning training sessions. He because he was doing some yard work to raise money for a youth conference he and his brothers want to attend and me because I only had three hours of sleep between 12 hour shifts. My wife didn't want me driving the hour and a half to train with the guys at Iron Beast on so little sleep and she made me hit the rack when I got home. So I ended up sleeping most of the day in three to four hour spurts. (hard to sleep during the day).
Anyway, we watched Generation Iron as a family around 7pm, then watched Let's Be Cops. Throughout the movie, War Machine and I were both kind of looking at each other like there was something else we'd rather be doing. Finally at 10pm we couldn't take it anymore and went downstairs to hit the weights. It ended up being a pretty cool session. He's one of my favorite training partners and is always pushing me just by his incredible work ethic.
Block Pulls
4x3x385 (85%)
T Bar Row
90x10, 135x10, 180x10
Overhead Press
5x100x8 (last set done as a submax effort set)
Arnold Press
3x8-12 had planned on using the 50s but gassed from the overhead pressing. Used the 30s instead.
Lateral Triset 3x8-12 (bentover laterals, standing laterals and lean away laterals) no rest between exercises
Incline Laterals 3x8-12
Rear Delt DB Kickbacks I'd never done these before and I wasn't sure how they would go. Ended up getting a nice burn in my rear delts.
Here's a video. It's pretty long, we'd only planned on recording a couple of exercises but we got caught up in training and forgot. I lost my mind and took my shirt off for one set before I remembered that I'm fat and it went back on lol!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prEaxuo9pDo
Putting in the work after a long day and little sleep shows your work ethic. Nice job man!
Really cool to see you lifting together with your son!
GunRock
02-08-15, 12:40 pm
Putting in the work after a long day and little sleep shows your work ethic. Nice job man!
Really cool to see you lifting together with your son!
Thanks Bru, he's my favorite training partner other than my wife. All of my kids push and motivate me just by their work ethic in and out of the gym, but War Machine actually gives me feedback and won't let me get away with sloppy technique. He's been my platform handler multiple times and I'll miss him when he heads off to Parris Island to become a U.S. Marine. Got to leave the nest some time though right? Funny thing is He introduced Me to the Lilliebridges at a National competition last year. Took me over there and was like "Hey this is my dad, he wanted to meet you all." Surreal but I like how he's coming into his own as a champion and a lifter.
Warm Up 15 min.
Bench 4x2@240 (80%)
Squat 4x2@295 (80%)
I notice I'm having an easier time staying off of my toes. I'm going to keep squatting barefoot until I have my ankle mobility back and I can go back to Chucks.
Stability Bench (40lb Kettlebells hanging off of the bar)
4x2@225 total weight
Still keeping my feet elevated to force my chest and shoulders to get comfortable with stabilizing the weight.
Had a good session. Had to skip my normal AM session to take one of my sons to the doctor for some follow up testing. Then took a nap 'cause I'm working tonight. Anyway, ended up being in the middle of training when the afternoon crew showed up. Ended up being pretty good. Everybody hit up submax reps for the final set on main movements except me 'cause my program doesn't call for it right now. Here's a short clip of some of what went down:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vak54FCdv30
GunRock
02-10-15, 11:33 am
Did some mobility work at work. Focusing on my hips, getting them to release so I can hit depth with less effort. I'm really seeing it pay off in my squats.
Walked 30 minutes at 8:30am then had a light breakfast of three whole eggs, scrambled with cheese and jalapenos and three strips of bacon. Washed it down with an Animal mug of coffee. Water intake is right at 1/2 my bodyweight in ounces per day.
Bodyweight is at 200lbs. I had let it get up to 205 but now I'm going to take it down to 195 so I can beat theBoomBostic in our 60 day 10lb weight loss challenge! Water weight loss is not allowed, this has to be bodyfat and has to stay off for at least another 30 days afterwards so it's a permanent change for us both!
Paused Deadlifts paused below the knee on the way up and at the knee on the way down
4x317x2
Board Pressing
3x270x2
Paused Deadlifts
4x405x2
Here's a video of some of today's training featuring me, my three older sons and my new Animal Singlet T
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3c7QeuNtqVQ
I got the notion today to try to beat my previous gym max deadlift. The most I've ever pulled in the gym is 500lbs. I have gotten 525lbs at my last meet and I've been using a different training program and I was curious about where I am, so I decided to go for 515lbs. I didn't really believe that I'd get it, I'd already done 4 sets of paused deadlifts and I only got 5 hours of sleep this afternoon. Physically, my grip was fine. Nothing hurt during the lift. I did think that the bar got away from me, I don't think I used my lats to pull it in. Also first day trying to have my dominant hand palm up like Richard Hawthorne suggests. I did break the weight from the ground so I think I could have gotten it if I were fresh. No excuses, just analyzing what happened. Not trying again until the cycle is done in March.
Here's the video, anybody with any technique related input feel free.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eRDKt4CQG6Q
GunRock
02-13-15, 11:04 am
Trained at Iron Beast Barbell this morning after my short night (8hr shift ).
Had neck pain on my right side halfway through but still finished. Took M Stak 30 minutes prior, Pak with my PWO meal.
Squat 4x2@85%
Bench 5x3@80
Squats 3x2@80
Grabbed a quick training session before heading back to the hospital. My son's in ICU due to having out of control blood glucose. We'd been trying for two years to figure out why he couldn't gain weight with different tests and doctor visits but they finally told us this week that it's Type I Diabetes. He's relieved that it wasn't anything he did (mentality of a teenager. I'd have wanted it to be behavioral so I could correct it but oh well). Now we're learning all about insulin pumps, checking blood glucose etc.
On a positive note, I no longer have to decide which diet is best for me. We're all switching to a Paleo style diet (so sorry for your loss McDonald's and Wendy's) so he'll never be the odd man out at the dinner table.
My wife and I are swapping out at the hospital with him 'cause we also agreed to be host home for the teenage girls from our church youth group as they go through a leadership conference. So I'm letting my wife be at the hospital with him in the day while I rest and train whatever's on tap for the day and she comes home at night to let the girls in and get some sleep in our bed. Priceless for a woman past her second trimester.
I love how God prepares us for the hammers that are about to fall. Last week I watched Generation Iron and Kai Green made the comment that this has to be a lifestyle not a sacrifice or else when life happens (he specifically said the words, "a loved one goes to the hospital and you want to be there. You still have to go to the gym at 6am) you'll crumble. Training was a welcome respite from the mental/spiritual battle at the hospital.
Anyway here's what I did today:
Deadlifts paused above and below the knee
4x2x340
Overhead Press (still working on my beat up shoulders. Just focusing on getting some extra work and moving blood in and out of them to help with bench recovery)
95x3
105x3
2x115x8
115x10 (submax set. left about three in the tank)
Arnold Press
2x50x10
Bentover Laterals 5x10
Incline Laterals
T Bar Row
5x10
AJones148
02-14-15, 6:55 pm
Sorry to hear about your son. But glad to hear its not anything worse. I saw your ig post but I didn't realize that was your son. I hope he feels better soon.
GunRock
02-14-15, 11:04 pm
Sorry to hear about your son. But glad to hear its not anything worse. I saw your ig post but I didn't realize that was your son. I hope he feels better soon.
Thanks God's going to get us through this like He does everything else.
Be sure to keep checking the Georgia Animal Barbell Club thread so you're up to date on our travel plans.
Drove up through the ice to train with uncleboo56 at his new backyard gym and pick up the birthday present he got my 11 year old son. Great time training, trip was definitely worth it even though we had to warm our hands between sets on the heater. It wasn't his day to train but he did matched me set for set anyway just to keep me company!
Bench
4(255x2) second rep done as a Larsen Press
Squat
4(240x2) done with a Buffalo Bar. First time using this, threw my center of gravity off but still good training.
Bench
4(240x2) second rep done as a Larsen Press
Plate Around the Worlds just a finisher to hit my core and shoulders.
3x6/6
Here's the video of the Iced Out Training
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3n7Z5ZtPiQ
GunRock
02-18-15, 10:22 am
Today was a little discouraging. Trained at 7:40am with theBoomBostic while my 17 year old walked on the treadmill. I decided to try Paul Carter's warm up routine on my first lift. He calls it an over warm up and basically he works up to a heavy single, going past whatever his training weight is for the day, then comes back down.
Plan called for deficit deadlifts as the first movement of the day so I did deadlifts from the floor up to 405 for a single. Felt waaaay too heavy in my opinion. I'm trying to trust the program but I might have changed too many variables at once. As I said before, I'm experimenting with switching to having my dominant hand palm up as Richard Hawthorne advised in his Beyond Basics Deadlift video, plus deadlifting more frequently.
Here's the workout:
Sumo Deadlifts from the floor
135x5, 225x2, 315x1, 405x1
Deficit Deadlifts (standing on a 4.5 inch block)
4x317x2
Bench Press
45x5, 135x5, 185x2, 225x1, 4x240x2
supersetted with palms down Band Pull Aparts
Deadlift off Blocks (4.5 inch block)
4x362x4
neck work pulled from Josh Bryant's Jailhouse Strong ebook. (pretty good read by the way)
http://instagram.com/p/zP0lPYi7Rg/?modal=true
Anyway, not changing anything. Going to wait and see what happens when I've had a chance to rest a little plus whatever happens at the National ABC. I might not be doing Military Nationals anyway based upon finances so that means my next meet will be WUAP-USA Nationals.
Decided to check my weight tonight. Sitting at 196.8 lbs. Still not happy with physique so I'm going to continue to focus on muscle building and fat loss so I stay in the 195-200 lb range. Ultimate goal is to be able to eat into competitions rather than having to cut weight.
Cellardweller
02-19-15, 10:43 am
Drove up through the ice to train with uncleboo56 at his new backyard gym and pick up the birthday present he got my 11 year old son. Great time training, trip was definitely worth it even though we had to warm our hands between sets on the heater. It wasn't his day to train but he did matched me set for set anyway just to keep me company!
Bench
4(255x2) second rep done as a Larsen Press
Squat
4(240x2) done with a Buffalo Bar. First time using this, threw my center of gravity off but still good training.
Bench
4(240x2) second rep done as a Larsen Press
Plate Around the Worlds just a finisher to hit my core and shoulders.
3x6/6
Here's the video of the Iced Out Training
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3n7Z5ZtPiQ
That is one sweet set up. Props for training out in the cold. A garage gym is cold, but out in the open without any walls to block the wind is pretty hardcore.
That is one sweet set up. Props for training out in the cold. A garage gym is cold, but out in the open without any walls to block the wind is pretty hardcore.
It was cool no pun intended. I felt like a kid at a new playground! Always fun training with my brother!!
GunRock
02-20-15, 10:00 am
Came home and got mad at the kids so I decided to channel that energy into something positive.
Worked up to a heavy single at 415. Most I've ever done was 405 and it's definitely the most since my surgery. I felt like I might have been a little high but that's something I can fix.
Rest of the workout was:
Squats 4x295x2
Bench worked up to a single at 275lbs then
Stability Bench w/ Kettlebells
4x210x4
Squats
4x257x4
Here's the 415x1. Any critiques welcome. Time for bed!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCH2WKQzetk
So now I'm paying for all of yesterdays motivation. I feel like I've been set upon by the Russian mob. Couldn't train until 4pm because when I got home from work this morning, I was so sleepy I couldn't see straight. I don't even remember parts of the trip home. Everybody panicked 'cause we were supposed to have an ice storm that never happened. Oh well, I submitted both of the articles I wrote for Power Magazine so maybe one day I'll be writing full time and not have to monitor substations for a living. (not that I don't thank God for it. My job has truly been a blessing. My schedule lets me be home when the kids get off the bus and allows me to write in my off time. I'm truly grateful to have it, I'm just drained right now)
Anyway as you can tell from how I started this, today was not a stellar training day, just a brick in the wall.
Deadlift
worked up to 405 x 1
4x3x340 done 1 1/4 style (up to the knees, down to the ground, all the way up = 1 rep)
Overhead Press
77x5, 92x3, 110x2, 117x1, 125x10 wanted more but this is just my way of not doing OHP for 3 months while on this program so I took what I could get
Arnold Press
2x50lbsx10
YTWL just getting blood into my rear and side delts and lower traps
5x10
Rear Delt Kickbacks same reason as above
2x failure
Epsom Salt is the right thing to do at this moment along with some quality sleep.
Cellardweller
02-21-15, 6:59 pm
Squat looked good. Depth probably wouldn't cut it in comp, but like you said, that will come. Great job. Did Superman film that?
Squat looked good. Depth probably wouldn't cut it in comp, but like you said, that will come. Great job. Did Superman film that?
Yes he did as a matter of fact. Hardest part is getting him to hold it at the right angle. He' pretty uncoachable that way.
I used to use the safety bars as a depth guide but they won't be there in competition so I am trying to just teach myself how my body feels at depth regardless of weight on the bar. Lots of submax work just trying to grease that groove.
Alpha Bench
02-22-15, 3:39 pm
Nice work adding in the Larsen presses those will really help your bench for sure.
Cellardweller
02-22-15, 5:27 pm
Yes he did as a matter of fact. Hardest part is getting him to hold it at the right angle. He' pretty uncoachable that way.
I used to use the safety bars as a depth guide but they won't be there in competition so I am trying to just teach myself how my body feels at depth regardless of weight on the bar. Lots of submax work just trying to grease that groove.
When people are calling you "super" all the time, you tend to get a big head.
I'd still use the safeties. They're not there in comp like you said, but in comp you have 3 spotters. Use the safeties, film yourself and close your eyes to focus on the feel. Don't skimp on safety. I usually squat in front of a mirror and find myself relying on that to judge depth.
When people are calling you "super" all the time, you tend to get a big head.
I'd still use the safeties. They're not there in comp like you said, but in comp you have 3 spotters. Use the safeties, film yourself and close your eyes to focus on the feel. Don't skimp on safety. I usually squat in front of a mirror and find myself relying on that to judge depth.
Unfortunately the safety pins get in the way which is why I stopped using them. Tried it again today while warming up and it didn't work. They're not so low that I couldn't just drop a hair lower and put the bar down although they were probably too low in the last video. I wish my rack had more holes like some of the newer Rogue models but this one is a little older enjoying a second life after it's time in a college weight room years ago so no dice.
Anyway the pins are normally set up where they are in the second position in this video from today's training.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMiWhUJNPZU
thanks for the tip anyway!!
GunRock
02-23-15, 11:51 pm
Still using the over warm up technique. Makes the work sets feel a bit lighter.
Squats
worked up to a double at 315 then
5x300x2
Walkout
455x3 second hold
Bench press
worked up to an easy double at 275 then
5x240x2
20 Band Pull aparts between every set
No pre workout once again but also no M Stak. Trained in the late afternoon it wasn't a factor but might be if I train when I first get home from work. Back to M Stak next week and adding Cuts to the mix.
bodyweight at 196.8 need to up the muscle mass but stay under the weight class limit here's what I look like.
https://instagram.com/p/zYTZx-iZpf/
GunRock
02-24-15, 10:39 pm
Literally. Walked to the top of my block and back, tried to maintain top speed. Did it in about ten minutes which ain't bad for walking. Got tired of being on a treadmill plus I wanted to see if ice was going to be a problem when it was time to get to work.
It wasn't.
Deficit Deadlifts
185x5, 225x3, 270x2
385x1 PR
4x365X2
Board Press
155x5, 185x1, 225x1, 255x1, 3x285x1
Deadlifts to knees alternated between sumo and conventional
4x340x1
Here's a video of the last set of board presses and the first two sets of Deads to the knees
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84WKMbCjoJE
Bench
worked up to a single at 275 then
Larsen Presses 4x255x2
Squats
worked up to a no belt, no wraps single at 365 then
4x300x2
Bench
3x240x2
first set tried to use leg drive like in the Dan Green video. Still feels strange but I expect to feel awkward since I'm still new to it. No rush to add weight, I want to master it first. No video, sorry. My older boys were arguing over who has the biggest arms out of the three of them so they couldn't hold the camera. I ended up busting out the tape measure between my own sets to measure whoever wasn't doing a set at the time. (sigh. to be young and carefree again.)
Deadlifts worked up to 455lbs x 1 then
Deficit Deadlifts on a 4.5inch block 4x2x317.5
Block Pulls off 4.5 inch blocks 3x2x385
Just for fun, pulled 450lbs with no belt after my son got done with his mock meet. Came up no problem.
I'm feeling like the bar might be drifting away from me so I went a little heavier in my over warm up than I normally would have. Looks like the bar goes forward a little but I can't really tell.
Here's my 455lb pull:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LqEvRSEi2M
Stayed up until 2am to check my son's blood sugar. Couldn't sleep afterwards. Tried to train at 7:30 am but felt super sluggish.
Had my first serving of Animal Cuts for the day but the red pill wasn't helping.
Squats worked up to 365lbs x1. Felt too heavy so decided not to keep going up but to just do my planned sets for the day.
3x322x2 did the first two sets and felt wrong on the way up after rep 1 of set #2. Called it a day. Don't want to get injured right now. Right hip is starting to throb.
Stayed up until 2am to check my son's blood sugar. Couldn't sleep afterwards. Tried to train at 7:30 am but felt super sluggish.
Had my first serving of Animal Cuts for the day but the red pill wasn't helping.
Squats worked up to 365lbs x1. Felt too heavy so decided not to keep going up but to just do my planned sets for the day.
3x322x2 did the first two sets and felt wrong on the way up after rep 1 of set #2. Called it a day. Don't want to get injured right now. Right hip is starting to throb.
After typing up my last post, I went to lie down and just as I got comfortable the dentist called to remind me that I was supposed to be at their office in twenty minutes. There went the nap. Because that meant I couldn't give my son the car and go to sleep. I'd have to take him to school and then take an hour nap before heading to the dentist. Get to the dentist, of course they called everyone else in first. I finally go in back and the tech informs me that it was time for the X Rays that I'm only supposed to get EVERY FIVE YEARS. Add an extra 15 minutes. Good news is I don't have any tooth problems or gum disease.
Head back home. Now I have two hours before the kids get off the bus for the afternoon training sessions. Animal PM down the hatch.
Get up two hours later and after training the kids, I decided YOLO and put the weight back on the squat bar. Started the session all over minus the over warm up. Got it all done. Not a record breaker but I still feel like it was a Veni, Vidi, Vici moment.
Squats
3 x 322.5 x 2
Bench
4x250x2
Squats
4x302.5 x 2
Here's the video of my first two sets of squats, sore hip and all and War Machine trying out the Slingshot for the first time. I was so glad to get the squats done, I didn't yell at War Machine for leaving the wood blocks in my way when I had to get under the squat bar to do my set.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YNi5Qp0F1DM
GunRock
03-05-15, 12:53 pm
Couldn't train yesterday. I was too sleepy. After working all night, I headed to a diabetes education class with my son. Only got an hour of sleep. I tried to lift but it didn't work out. As soon as I loaded 225 on the bar, I knew it wasn't in the cards.
Tried again today.
Deadlifts 4(340x2)
Bench 225x1, 245x1, 2(267x1), 2(250x1)
Block Pulls
3(407x2)
Double arm hangs 3x30 seconds
time for a nap. Then I'm heading off to get an oil change.
Cellardweller
03-05-15, 2:36 pm
Props for getting it done dispite a hectic schedule. Once you get some quality sleep you'll be hulking out on some heavy weight.
GunRock
03-09-15, 10:49 am
Props for getting it done dispite a hectic schedule. Once you get some quality sleep you'll be hulking out on some heavy weight.
Thanks man! I wore myself out this past weekend going up to The Cage and training at The National ABC but it was well worth it. Sam Byrd gave me a master class on squat form. J. Wong gave me pointers on not falling over and Ibn Mahama dropped knowledge about beltless squatting to train the obliques and elbow position to keep the torso erect. All I can say is that I am beyond, BEYOND grateful.
Here's my training from this morning trying to implement what Sam, J and Ibn told me featuring my ashy knees and brand new Cage 2015 t shirt.
SQUATS worked up to singles at 332lbs and 350lbs. Rested about 1:30 between sets.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdcYDyo78fc
BB 21s 2x
INCLINE DB CURLS 1X10
BAND PULL APARTS 100
1 Hand Bar Hangs 2x15 seconds
FLAT BENCH
150x5, 185x5, 4x2x225lbs with 45 seconds
rainman
03-09-15, 12:34 pm
Bet you only did that video to show off your Cage shirt! Seriously though, your squats look dialled and I'm pretty jealous you got pointers from some of the best in the business to boot. Funny you mention about not falling over. I squat in Chucks and I've had the same issue from time to time.
Bet you only did that video to show off your Cage shirt! Seriously though, your squats look dialled and I'm pretty jealous you got pointers from some of the best in the business to boot. Funny you mention about not falling over. I squat in Chucks and I've had the same issue from time to time.
Lol. Don't forget the ashy knees!
What Sam and Ibn told me was that me falling forward was a combination of not getting tight at the top (I was starting the squat with my knees soft instead of glutes squeezed tight and knees locked) and not keeping my abs tight. I had been trying to create torque by twisting my feet into the ground but I wasn't twisting hard enough, basically, my quads line up up with my shins if I torque hard enough. Once I fixed those things, my squat improved. If you look at the videos from a couple of weeks ago vs this one, there's a HUGE difference!!
GunRock
03-11-15, 12:08 am
Hips felt pretty tight today. One big difference in the way I'm trying to squat now is how much it hits the hips. Did two minutes per side of the couch stretch and two minutes per side of a wall calf stretch. Did a HIIT treadmill session, 40 seconds sprinting and 20 seconds rest. Total time 20 minutes. Tried to use Superman to film it but somebody called during my stretching so after Rage quitting and flinging some stuff, Rachel, one of my trainees showed up and held the camera for the rest of my stretching and the first 5 minutes of treadmill sprints. Anyway, I started at 8 mph which should be about 80% but I had to drop it back to 6.5 after the first few rounds. That means my cardio has gone down, but my squat has gone up, my waistline has gone done and I'm a power lifter not a CrossFitter or triathlete so . . .
Sorry about the video by the way. Somewhere in there I must have got bit by a radioactive spider.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DqxmgTtAX8k
Yesterday was the anniversary of my graduation from Parris Island in 2000. I'll be forever grateful for the lessons about mental toughness, time management and service before self that I learned from my time with Uncle Sam's Misguided Children. It was a Crucible that taught me the lessons about manhood that I'd been searching for my entire life, the Lord used it to fill a knowledge and moral gap that I had due to growing up without a father. This date and the Marine Corps birthday will forever be precious to me as are those men who had my back through the fires of war, who stood and returned fire with me when some would have run away. Oorah Devil Dogs.
As for today's training, War Machine coached me through what Richard Hawthorne showed me about deadlifting this past weekend. Some things are very different like not dragging the bar up my shins but I can see how it reduces the distance the bar travels.
Trained with BoomBostic who had to Squat. I coached her through what Sam Byrd and Ibn Mahama taught me about squats this past weekend. Thanks to Superman for doing the video.
DEADLIFT TO KNEES 4x317.5x2
BOARD PRESS 3x275x2
DEADLIFT TO KNEES 4x340x2
T BAR ROWS 2x75x10
HAMMER CURLS 1x50x10; 1x50x6 then dropped to 40x4 tried to make each set last 45 seconds.
Here's the video of some of the deadlifts to knees and a set of BoomBostic squatting:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJhQcZxHdeA
GunRock
03-13-15, 10:35 am
I'm closing in on the end of my current cycle and I'm eager to start my meet training. Normally in the current training program, I'd add a bunch of accessory work to the primary movements but today I accepted a challenge from Machine to get my training done in 15 touches. This transformed my training session, I didn't go heavy on bench but to make each rep count, I did them as Larsen presses and slowed down the eccentric portion. My squats felt pretty crappy as far as form goes at first but I can say that my last set was my best set. That was a GREAT feeling to end the session feeling like I could do more, not like I didn't work hard but like I'd gotten stronger as the set went on and I hit my groove. You can read the full challenge here: http://forum.animalpak.com/showthread.php?43641-15-Touches-Going-Against-The-Grain
Here's my training from today:
Squat
45x5
135x5
225x1
4x315x2
Bench
135x5
5x240x2
Squat
3x295x2
Trained with War Machine. We both tried to implement the techniques Richard Hawthorne showed us at The National ABC. Felt strong.
Deadlifts
267x5, 295x5, 315x5
Paused Deadlifts (paused below and above the knees)
4 (340x2)
Joker set of 425x9 cause I felt good.
For the rest of the workout we tried to maintain about 40 seconds time under tension, doing drop sets if necessary. No counting reps just keep going until the timer went off.
T Bar Rows 3x (drop set on the second and third sets. Slow controlled reps)
1 Arm DB Rows 4x 40 seconds (this was all drop sets)
YTWL 2x 10 reps per letter
Rear Delt Kickbacks 2x 40 seconds
Standing DB Curl 2x 40 seconds no drop set needed. After the second set immediately did DB Incline Curls 40 seconds no drop set.
Bar Hangs 2x as long as possible. Managed about 20 seconds each time.
Cellardweller
03-15-15, 2:05 pm
Baring my current injury, paused DLs make my back hurt just thinking about them. Maybe I should try them though. Usually what you dread doing is just what you need to be doing.
Those timed sets sound crazy and fun too. Was your rest timed as well?
Baring my current injury, paused DLs make my back hurt just thinking about them. Maybe I should try them though. Usually what you dread doing is just what you need to be doing.
Those timed sets sound crazy and fun too. Was your rest timed as well?
You might like them you just have to keep the weight fairly light. My every day max is about 500lbs but I did paused deads with 340lbs so it's not bad. They are good if you stall around knee level.
As far as rest, I rested until I could deliver the same level of performance for my primary lift. The assistance work that I do for hypertrophy has timed rest periods of 45 seconds to 1 minute. Pretty rough to do with straight weight which is why I used drop sets. Let me know how it goes!!
Trained with Breadman, who is a new Georgia Animal but a long time friend to my family. His first ABC was The National ABC and he's still fired up about the training atmosphere and everything to do with the Animal lifestyle. Glad he brought his enthusiasm over to The Iron Journey to train with me. Tried to recreate the experience by having The Cage video play in the background and when that was over, popped Pumping Iron into the DVD player.
Per a recommendation from Alpha Bench, we front loaded our upper back and bicep work to provide some cushioning and stability for our shoulders before benching. Also as part of my warm up, I followed my normal pre meet practice of doing walkouts with weights that I'd like to hit at the meet, just to get my body used to the feeling of having it on my back.
Walkouts 5x430x1
Pullups 3x (no rep goal here, just did the sets with bodyweight only until I felt the pump in my back)
DB Rows 5x10 tried to go slow and controlled. Did drop sets where necessary.
BB 21s 2x and after set 2 immediately did a set of Incline DB Curls for 1x10
Flat Bench did either band pull aparts or vacuums between each set of these
165x5
197x3
230x2
247x1
262x1
280x1
295x1
305x1
Larsen Presses 3x230x5
DB Nose Crushers 2x10
Band Pressdowns we set up three different bands with three different tensions, starting at the heaviest and moving to the next lightest tension as we fatigued. Continued the sequence, resting as needed until we each got 100 reps.
Here's a video of the rows and benching
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cVuxwrA9Ueg
My sister passed away last night. I held her hand until she was gone. Common sense would have kept me where I was. Instead I chugged two servings of Rage and drove two hours back home to hold my wife. Six hours later, I rolled out of bed, took a double scoop of Shock Therapy and got under the squat bar.
Worked up to 362lbs for a single. Then hit six sets of 325x1 in the deadlift.
Then I had to go back to the grind of phone calls and funeral arrangements. Glad I got at least an hour break.
You and your loved ones will be in my thoughts brother. I think it's very brave of you to have sat beside her as she passed away.
You and your loved ones will be in my thoughts brother. I think it's very brave of you to have sat beside her as she passed away.
Thank you Embee. Hardest part is dealing with the b.s. from the "long lost relatives" and "friends" who had no time for her in life but want to voice opinions about how we honor her memory.
ATLMusclBro5
03-19-15, 10:19 am
My condolences to you bro and to your family.
G Diesel
03-19-15, 10:49 am
My condolences my brother. All the best to you and yours during these trying times.
Good to meet you at The Cage.
Peace, G
My condolences to you bro and to your family.
Brother, I really appreciate it and I especially appreciate you and Failsafe reaching out to me outside the Forvm. It meant a lot to see your text, not two minutes after Failsafe called me, both of you wishing me well. I was halfway through my drive to Chattanooga to make additional funeral arrangements when I got the messages.
Means a lot.
My condolences my brother. All the best to you and yours during these trying times.
Good to meet you at The Cage.
Peace, G
Thanks, G. The Animal Family has really been supportive. Not something others might understand, but I always say that this is more than a supplement company or a Forvm to talk shop. It's a real family.
Great meeting you as well. I was excited when I came home to tell my wife that you all were considering greenlighting my idea. She's been behind my dreams for a long time so to see them get closer to fruition was exciting. Even if it doesn't work out, thanks for giving them a fair hearing.
I've been missing my cardio. I could say that it's because of everything that's going on, but I made time to lift weights so there's no excuse. I will give myself a pass for Tuesday, I didn't do my normal morning walk with the other guys from church because I had to head up to the ER to be at my sister's bedside but I could have done something. I did spend a lot of time pacing so that would have worked if I hadn't sat down so often. Anyway, the devil tries everything to steal joy. I was really motivated after returning from The Cage/National ABC. I know that life is a series of mountains and valleys so I should have expected something to bring my balloon crashing back down to earth, just not this.
In any case, I spent some time with friends and family. Uncleboo56 dragged me out of the hospital and made me come over to have dinner with he and his wife. I helped with some of the beginners he's training at his gym for about ten minutes before going back. Again, I wasn't thinking straight. I'm not trying to be hardcore, this is advice I give people. We feel frustrated when we have circumstances beyond our control, doing something you can affect is often just what we need. A walk would have helped clear my head and I would have felt victory because I at least stayed on track.
It's easy to let the events of life derail us. Too easy. Usually, they derail us from doing the things we didn't want to do anyway. So I skipped cardio, secure in the knowledge that nobody would condemn me at this time. It wasn't conscious but as I felt progressively worse, grabbing crap food on the side of highway and not doing anything to burn it off, I knew I had to do something.
So yesterday evening, I ran an easy mile with War Machine. He's young, so he kept up a stream of conversation as I imitated the first day of a Lamaze class next to him. It was great, my son gave me more insight about why he decided not to join the wrestling team for his senior year. Why he loves power lifting and what motivates him to want to be a strength coach. I was able to just listen to a young man's plans for the future, breathe in and out and concentrate on nothing but matching my footsteps to his.
Turns out meditation really is good for you.
I'm still a little sore from the run with War Machine. That's not good. I should be recovered by now, so that means I haven't paid as much attention to my conditioning as I should these past few weeks. Granted at 199.6lbs, I'm right where I should be on the scale to make weight for the 205lb class next month but I don't like having performance suffer. On top of that, my left shoulder has started to act like my right one did last year before my rotator cuff injury. The past two nights, I've had to sleep with my left arm stretched out over my head so I can stretch my lat on that side and get some relief. Being really aggressive with rolling with a LAX ball, stretching with bands and icing the area. I'll adjust my numbers at the meet if I have to. Whatever I total isn't as important as staying healthy enough to make progress. I've got plenty of time left this year to hit a 350 bench at this bodyweight so I'm not going to cry about it if I don't get it next month.
Now's not the time to work on it but it's on the list. I'll just start adding in some walking and retest my run recovery during the deload week after the meet.
Anyway,
Walkouts 5x430x1 This sucked immensely. But I got it done.
Front Squats 3x257 x 8 didn't even come close to happening. Legs are still sore as I said so I had to drop down to 135 to complete my sets. War Machine of course is unaffected by the run and was able to do all three of his programmed sets at 185. Young punk.
Banded Crate Squats 3x135x10 could have used more weight, probably could have handled 180lbs so I'll take that as the only bright spot of the day
Barbell Hip Thruster 3x135x15 really felt these in my glutes today, probably because of what came before
Arnold Press 3x30lbsx15 shoulder started talking to me. Finished the set but decided to call it a day. With age (hopefully) comes wisdom.
Cellardweller
03-22-15, 3:35 pm
Sorry to hear about your sister. Hope all is well with your family.
Sorry to hear about your sister. Hope all is well with your family.
Thanks Brother. Honestly, it's hit my Dad harder than me. This is the second child he will have buried and that's got to be hard. He's in his mid seventies and I'm his last living offspring. Now granted, he's got grandkids through me but if not for that, anything that happened to me would kill off his name.
I appreciate you taking time to reach out. The Animal family has been amazingly supportive through this. From phone calls to text messages and PMs on here as well as posting in the threads I frequent, the love is tangible.
Take care.
GENERAL WARMUP
WALKOUT 5x430x1 did these no belt whereas last week I used a belt. I also squatted down to the pin this session and I'll continue to do that all week. Next week if I don't have any issues, I'll drop the pin to the next hole down and squat down to it every set. This is not what I plan to squat at the upcoming meet next month, I'd like to be able to squat it at my meet in June.
Pullups 2x didn't count, just went slow until I felt a pump in my lats
DB ROWS 5x10 used 50s for every set of these today. Last week I had to drop set using first the 40s then the 30s to end the set. Form seemed to be the same so I think I'm just used to the movement mechanics again.
BB 21s used just the bar
Incline DB Curls used 25lb dumbbells here. I think I used the 20s last week but I don't know and I really don't care enough to keep track of it. Just a movement to get a bicep stretch
FLAT BENCH I did 20 band pullaparts between every set up until 230lbs
165 x5
197.5 x3
230 x 2 my left shoulder was acting up so I put on a Voodoo Floss Band for this set. Eased the pain so I could finish training for the day.
247.5 x 1
262.5x 1
280x 1
287.5x 3
DEAD PIN PRESSES 3X247.5
DB NOSE CRUSHERS 2X10
BAND PRESSDOWNS 100 reps did these as drop sets, switching to less and less band tension throughout each set as I got tired
ibnmahama
03-24-15, 12:24 am
Sorry about your loss bro?
Sorry about your loss bro?
Thanks Ibn. I'll be glad when we get the funeral done so healing can begin. My Dad just got in from Ghana and we've got more overseas family coming so we had to wait. We'll make it through. Everybody on here has been super supportive and I thank you all.
20 minute walk outside. Uphill part of the way.
Had to pay for a giant plate of food including grits and a meat and veggie omelet.
GunRock
03-25-15, 10:30 pm
Trained right after work. Had a compressed session 'cause I had to drive out of town. This was my first time attempting to use Richard Hawthorne's deadlift technique at a weight close to my max. I say attempting to use because on the final set, when we looked at the video, it looked like I still pulled the bar into me about halfway up instead of keeping to a straight up and down bar path. It felt like a real grind, not as fast and smooth as 477 normally is, but Richard said that he doesn't want it to be fast. As I understand it, he thinks that moving too quickly is bad for the joints in the long run and tends to pull the bar out of the groove. Anyway, I'm working on it.
Warm up
Deadlift 217.5
272.5 x5
325 x3
380 x 2
407.5 x1
435 x1
457.5x1
477.5x1
Walkouts
5x430x1
Squats since I was pressed for time, I did these as a modified mini cluster, resting about 30 seconds between sets. Had issues near the end, War Machine said that I didn't hit depth on the second to last set and that the bar came up unevenly on the final set.
6x 265 x 1
was also supposed to do T handle Deficit Deadlifts, Glute Bridges and the Ab Wheel but I didn't have time. At least I got the main work in.
I'm a little nervous that 477 was such a grinder. I don't want to bomb out in the deadlift so I'm thinking of dropping my opener. We'll see.
Cellardweller
03-26-15, 1:34 pm
Just by watching Richard and Jay Nera's videos I think I've corrected alot of things with my deadlift. Awesome that you got some coaching by Richard. Maybe you just need to get used to this change up for the heavier weight to feel right.
Just by watching Richard and Jay Nera's videos I think I've corrected alot of things with my deadlift. Awesome that you got some coaching by Richard. Maybe you just need to get used to this change up for the heavier weight to feel right.
Yeah Richard told me that he thought I was pulling the weight instead of pushing the floor away. He also told me to fix my head position. Here's the video if you want to see it:
https://instagram.com/p/0pqTqTCZpQ/?taken-by=johngreavesthethird
Wasn't feeling the treadmill today. I'm increasing the frequency of my HIIT sessions as opposed to slow cardio i.e. going for a walk until June. The goal is to improve my body composition while not drastically reducing my weight or losing too much strength. But the treadmill just wasn't going to work for me today. Plus I needed to scout the trail where I take the kids from my gym to run to make sure it's not destroyed by the four wheelers from this past fall and winter. So off to the woods we went.
Walked 1/2 mile (I think it's silly to drive somewhere so I can run. Yet another reason I don't do marathons or triathlons)
Ran 10x40 yard sprints my Achilles told me to stop at around set number 7 but I figured I could gut out 3 more. So I let my ego and my heart overrule my Achilles. Two body parts against one.
Walked 1/2 mile back to the house as my cool down. Here's a video of the fourth sprint, mostly so you can enjoy nature vicariously with me.
https://instagram.com/p/0tHJKZCZpA/?taken-by=johngreavesthethird
Wasn't supposed to train today but . . . yeah right.
Mobility
PVC rolled my lats and did some stretching with the band.
Anderson Squats 3x430x5
Called it a day.
Today was a so so training session. I hit all of my numbers but I had some left shoulder pain on my top sets. I didn't time my rest periods because I trained with Breadman but he injured himself after the third set of bench so I had to just guess about how long I rested. Should have put myself on the clock but it worked out.
Warmed including a new rear delt movement I saw on Critical Bench's Youtube channel. It's supposed to help open up your chest and improve posture and spinal mobility. Thought I'd give it a try. Here's the video of it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGPardz0-Ww
After that I did my normal training routine.
Walkouts 5x1@430
Pullups 2x again I didn't count reps here, just went for a decent pump in my lats
1 Arm DB Rows
went up to the 60s today. Previously I'd been using the 40s and 50s. Did 5x10
BB 21s went up by ten pounds with this one as well. Did 55lbs total for 2 sets
Incline Curls 1x10
Flat Bench Press
165x5
197x3 used Voodoo floss bands on my left shoulder on this set
230x2
247x1
262x1
280x1
295x1
312x1
Larsen Presses
3x5@247lbs went up in weight on these and I could tell. The weight was moving a lot slower today than usual. I still felt good about going up, I felt strong but I noticed that my elbows drifted about a third of the way up on each set and I just couldn't get them to stop. Might have been the extra weight, might have been a shortened rest period since Breadman wasn't working in with me after the third set of bench.
DB Nose Crushers 2x10
Band Pressdowns 100
I also did Band Pull Aparts between three of the sets.
Went out and had Cuban food for the post workout meal so I'm fat and my vision is blurry as I'm typing this. Almost time for a nap!
AJones148
03-30-15, 8:11 pm
Sorry to hear about your sister. My condolences to you and your family.
I know this is late, but I really hadn't been reading anyones journeys since after my last meet up until today.
Sorry to hear about your sister. My condolences to you and your family.
I know this is late, but I really hadn't been reading anyones journeys since after my last meet up until today.
Thanks Lil Sis. I appreciate it.
GunRock
04-01-15, 10:48 am
Warm Up
Squats
I screwed up and wrote the wrong day's workout on the board but it ended up okay because I had issues hitting depth so I had to do a couple of sets more than once.
205x5
245x3
285x2
327.5x1
342.5x1 War Machine said that I stopped just at parallel so I took this one again.
342.5x1 nailed it
360x1 didn't get below parallel again. War Machine said that I'm getting to parallel not breaking it. Took it again. Have to fix this.
360x1 got it on the second attempt.
Anderson Squats 5x430x3-5 replaced walkouts with these on Squat and deadlift day.
Deadlift
4x325x1
took War Machine to school then ran hill sprints. Which may have not been a good idea because a. the hill is steep and slippery from last night's rain and b. I was wearing my worn out old competition Chucks. Oh well, many battles have been won because of crazy ideas that ended up working. So,
Hill Sprints
10x40 yards
Pete Rubish
04-06-15, 4:41 pm
I might be pulling at Iron Beast tomorrow afternoon. I'm in Georgia right now.
I might be pulling at Iron Beast tomorrow afternoon. I'm in Georgia right now.
Snuck in town on me. I normally train there on Saturdays but this Saturday I'll be at my sister's funeral. The Saturday afterwards I'll be at uncleboo56's first strongman comp at Grit House Cleveland, TN. You'd like that gym as well I believe. It reminds me of Iron Beast. How long are you going to be in Georgia? I'll be at Iron Beast on April 25th to train with Marcell and Eric.
As my uncle used to say. I hate backing out of meets but with all of the changes that have come down the pipeline for my family in the past few months, not to mention the big one coming up in eleven weeks with the impending birth of our daughter, I've decided that what a man does in this situation is put powerlifting meets on the back burner. I'm still training but I won't be competing on April 25 or in Illinois at WUAP Nationals on June 20. I just can't justify taking my wife four hours in the car to Florida in her advanced condition just so I can compete, nor am I willing to leave her behind. She was already awesome enough to let me go to The Cage without complaining. I think she and our daughter need to be top priority. Additionally, we've got some other possibly life changing stuff in the works so Nationals just won't work out. So, that means I won't be competing until August at USAPL Powerlifting For Pups (if I can get my entry fee in on time). Bad news? Maybe, but it's also a chance to drop the poundages and work on improving my foundation. I've trained with technique workarounds since last March, trying to do enough to still compete and I don't want to have to do that anymore.
So after watching the Train With Kai Green series, and with some input from Adrian Larsen, I've made some changes to my accessory lift training. The lifts remain the same but HOW I do them has changed. I'm working on the mind muscle connection more now that I finally understand how to achieve it. I trained in this style this morning and both War Machine and I noticed how much we had to drop the weight. This is exactly what I was hoping to achieve with my plan to train like a bodybuilder for a year. I'm actually pretty excited to see how my body responds. I know that my pump this morning was ferocious! I never knew that 8lb dumbbells could be so heavy!
(Note that although this is a bench press day, in bodybuilding terms it ends up being a back and chest day with a little upper arm work thrown in. My overhead press day will end up being a shoulder and tricep day and my deadlift day will be a second back training day.)
PULLUPS 2X
DB ROW 2X10
BB 21s 3x
YTWLI 2X
EXPLOSIVE PUSHUPS 5x3
FLAT BENCH
4x197.5x8
1x197.5 submax (idea in week one is to leave three reps in the tank. I got 10 reps today.)
INCLINE DB BENCH 2x60x10
DB FLYES 1X10
DB NOSECRUSHERS 2X10
BAND PRESSDOWNS (no rest between bands, repeat circuit 4x)
Green EliteFTS Band x 45 seconds
Green Band (don't know manufacturer but it's got less tension than the EliteFTS band) x 45 seconds
Onyx EliteFTS Band x 45 seconds
EliteFTS Band x 45 seconds
SPRINT CUL DE SAC barefoot (about 100yards) 10x 45 seconds rest between sets
I sprint barefoot on this day because it teaches you to not slam your foot into the ground like too many people do when wearing running shoes. That's a recipe for knee pain or shin splints. This teaches a more natural form of running. I do wear shoes when I run trails or anything over a mile.
Pete Rubish
04-06-15, 7:43 pm
Snuck in town on me. I normally train there on Saturdays but this Saturday I'll be at my sister's funeral. The Saturday afterwards I'll be at uncleboo56's first strongman comp at Grit House Cleveland, TN. You'd like that gym as well I believe. It reminds me of Iron Beast. How long are you going to be in Georgia? I'll be at Iron Beast on April 25th to train with Marcell and Eric.
Well I might be in Georgia a lot more in the near future, but that's all I'm going to say about that...
I'll only be in Georgia until Wednesday though.
And I'm very sorry to hear about your sister though. You have my condolences.
GunRock
04-08-15, 10:01 pm
Well I might be in Georgia a lot more in the near future, but that's all I'm going to say about that...
I'll only be in Georgia until Wednesday though.
And I'm very sorry to hear about your sister though. You have my condolences.
Thanks Pete.
GunRock
04-08-15, 10:21 pm
Switched my deadlift day because I'll be training squats on Sunday. Kept training volume low for the assistance work. Trying to improve the quality of each repetition of each movement. This was again a humbling experience and I kept finding that I had to drop the poundages way lower than I expected. I'm also finding that my core is a LOT weaker than I thought. It's sometimes the limiting factor in my main movement each training day so I know I need to prioritize it. I'm doing that by engaging it on every weight bearing movement were I'm not sitting or lying down. I'm also trying to limit my lying down and seated movements. Whenever I think about it, I'm engaging my core, doing vacuums, bracing while doing bodyweight squats, doing planks periodically at work etc.
DEADLIFT 4x295x8, 1x295x15 (submax set)
CRATE SQUATS (deficit deadlift using a T handle, straddling two crates)115x2x10
SL DEADLIFT 225x2x10
Lying DB LEG CURLS 1x25x10
FRONT SQUATS 2x135x10 (planned to do 185 but my legs were getting pretty wobbly by this time)
LUNGES 2X10
SISSY SQUAT 1X10
TOE RAISES 2X30
AB WHEEL 3X10
EXTENDED CRUNCHES 2X10
Had to compress my training because I had a ton of stuff to get done before heading out of town. This training session set the tone for my day though. It was my only chance to meditate and be alone with God before going to handle the viewing for my sister's body. Like The Rock says, "A morning workout is like the rudder for the day."
SPRINT DRIVEWAY BW 5X
POGO STICK JUMPS 10FT 3X
PULLUPS 2X
SUPERSET WITH RECLINE ROW 3X
HAMMER CURLS 2X10
BAND PULLAPARTS 4X20 supersetted with
OVERHEAD PRESS 100 4X8 focused on doing this bodybuilding style. Stopped short of lockout on every rep and didn't rest at the bottom.
100 submax (got ten reps. left three in the tank)
ARNOLD PRESS 2X10
YTWL 2X10
INCLINE DB BENCH 2X10
INCLINE FLYES 1X10
Had planned to do more but by keeping rest periods to 45 seconds or less, supersetting the push/pull movements and slowing down each movement so I could feel the contractions better, I felt like I got what I needed.
Wasn't my normal squat day. Plus I've had sinus trouble for the past two days. I've been coughing up green stuff since Saturday morning.
Skipped church service, lay in bed after a hot toddy of Jack Daniels, Bacardi Rum, sweetened iced tea (southern style of course) and honey with a cough drop added in for good measure. Drank the toddy with a couple of night time sinus tabs. My lovely wife rubbed medicated rub on my chest and back and I snuggled up in my Animal sweats and hoodie.
By evening I was moving around but still coughing so I decided I needed to break a sweat and since I hadn't squatted, why not?
Weight stayed light just tried to keep form consistent.
5 x 235x8 fifth set was a submax and I actually got ten reps on that one, leaving at least three in the tank.
Got a sweat going and headed upstairs to take a hot shower and repeat the above self medication.
Don't try this at home kids. Not FDA approved. But I swear it works.
I hate allergies. Really.
HILL SPRINT 5x first set sucked. Started coughing by set three. Looked like my running form was shot by the third set. Watch and enjoy.
https://instagram.com/p/1bd9KyC7dV/?taken-by=theironjourneygym
SQUAT JUMP TO TIRE 3x1
PULLUPS 2x submax (trying to concentrate on movement quality and a good stretch at the bottom.)
DB ROW 4x10 (using the 60s for every set now. Ten pound increase with the same quality of technique per rep)
BB 21s 3x able to add one more set than I've been doing. Progress
YTWLI these continue to suck.
FLAT BENCH
182.5x3
205x3
3x220x8
220x submax (left two in the tank. Started getting dizzy everytime I lay down to bench or stood back up. Called it at ten reps.)
Larsen Presses 2x205x10 good strong reps.
DB FLYES squeezed at the top.
DB NOSECRUSHERS 2x10 going to add another set of these and slow down the reps to force some more growth.
Whatever's going on with me is still working its insidious magic. Praying for healing, praising for the ability to train at all. I know many would kill to be able to do even what I did today.
SQUAT 217.5x3
245x3
262.5x4X8
Started feeling dizzy. Called it a day. I'll do ab work later at work if I can.
Did situps yesterday and the day before. My abs are so weak it's embarrassing. Read a Charles Staley article where he talks about doing exercises that help you, not just listening to exercise Nazis. Seems to me that I need direct ab work at this point in my training. Maybe later when I've built the physical intelligence to be able to recruit my core better during squats and deads, I won't need to do situps, ab wheel rollouts and crunches. Until then, I am doing them.
600 meter barefoot run hadn't planned on doing it but my son needed someone to run with him at the end of his workout. My shoes were upstairs so I just ran with him. Shaka Zulu's warriors didn't have shoes either and I deadlift more than all of them so I should be able to do it right? Anyway it hurt. But I got it done, in the rain. Had to dig deep when I looked up and my 11 year old is already at the top of the hill and he's jogging in place to wait on the old man. Did not let that happen again, caught up and stayed next to him through every rain puddle and up every other hill.
Pullups 3x10 chin over the bar. No kipping.
supersetted with recline rows 3x submax, got about ten per
Hammer Curls 2x40x10 left front delt started to hurt around rep 8. Powered through to do another set of ten.
Defranco Band Pull Aparts 40 reps got them done
Behind The Neck Press
decided to try this since overhead pressing has really hurt my left front delt lately. Still doing the mobility and lax ball rolling.
2x45x8
2x65x8
3x95x8
Crunches 100 took forever. Stopped whenever form broke down.
Going to check out UncleBoo56 at his first strongman competition tomorrow then deadlift. Who could ask for more?
Cellardweller
04-17-15, 8:13 pm
What're abs? Seriously, its usually the stuff we hate to do that we need to be doing. I'm lacking on the ab front too. Been on my mind for a couple weeks but you've gone a step further than me and actually did something about it. Props to you.
Give Uncleboo56 my best and wish him luck. You guys train hard and I know he'll do well.
AJones148
04-17-15, 8:17 pm
Did situps yesterday and the day before. My abs are so weak it's embarrassing. Read a Charles Staley article where he talks about doing exercises that help you, not just listening to exercise Nazis. Seems to me that I need direct ab work at this point in my training. Maybe later when I've built the physical intelligence to be able to recruit my core better during squats and deads, I won't need to do situps, ab wheel rollouts and crunches. Until then, I am doing them.
600 meter barefoot run hadn't planned on doing it but my son needed someone to run with him at the end of his workout. My shoes were upstairs so I just ran with him. Shaka Zulu's warriors didn't have shoes either and I deadlift more than all of them so I should be able to do it right? Anyway it hurt. But I got it done, in the rain. Had to dig deep when I looked up and my 11 year old is already at the top of the hill and he's jogging in place to wait on the old man. Did not let that happen again, caught up and stayed next to him through every rain puddle and up every other hill.
Pullups 3x10 chin over the bar. No kipping.
supersetted with recline rows 3x submax, got about ten per
Hammer Curls 2x40x10 left front delt started to hurt around rep 8. Powered through to do another set of ten.
Defranco Band Pull Aparts 40 reps got them done
Behind The Neck Press
decided to try this since overhead pressing has really hurt my left front delt lately. Still doing the mobility and lax ball rolling.
2x45x8
2x65x8
3x95x8
Crunches 100 took forever. Stopped whenever form broke down.
Going to check out UncleBoo56 at his first strongman competition tomorrow then deadlift. Who could ask for more?
I couldnt find UncleBoos Journey so tell him I said good luck at the Strongman!
What're abs? Seriously, its usually the stuff we hate to do that we need to be doing. I'm lacking on the ab front too. Been on my mind for a couple weeks but you've gone a step further than me and actually did something about it. Props to you.
Give Uncleboo56 my best and wish him luck. You guys train hard and I know he'll do well.
Will do Brother. I'll try to post some video and/or pics. I'll pass on your good words. As far as the abs go, I let myself get complacent. My waist has crept back up on me and I'm not eager to go back to wearing size 36 pants. Goal was to make size 34s baggy again and it's going to happen. With no loss of strength. Can't let the youngsters get us.
I couldnt find UncleBoos Journey so tell him I said good luck at the Strongman!
He doesn't have one. He's really not into the online forum thing. Just loves the Animal brotherhood so he checks out videos and comes on here to comment in the different threads from time to time.
If you follow him on IG that's the best way to hit him up and get a fast response. I'll pass on the well wishes though. He's been anxious to lift something all week 'cause this is his first time making weight for something plus having to deload for a contest. He's deloaded for training but never just stopped completely to save himself for competition.
Saw Sam Byrd at The Strongman competition so I decided to go ahead and train. Sam agreed to watch me and he corrected some technique errors that were making my upper body unstable in the squat. Also corrected my depth issues. Ended up with a beltless PR at 355 then Sam had me repeat multiple singles with 355 in between watching the strongman events as he kept fine tuning my technique. Learned a ton.
Finished the day with deadlifts
135x5
225x1
4x325x8
Lying leg curl 2x10
GunRock
04-22-15, 12:52 am
Decided to train in the afternoon with my sons. Pretty good session, we all exceeded our rep goals but they got more reps than me.
STAIR RUNS
MASAI WARRIOR JUMPS put that into a search on YouTube. We did that minus the spears. Just a good way to get some jumps in without going too hard. Was a welcome change from Sandbag Jumps, Bounds etc.
HAND OVER HAND SLED PULL 90LBS x 15 feet x4
YTWL each movement done ten times. Each giant set done 3x.
Standing DB Curls 3x10 used 40lb dumbbells. Hadn't done these in a while. Just wanted a change. Could have gone heavier. I will next time.
BENCH 152.5 x5
182.5x3
212.5x2
227.5x1
242.5xAMRAP got 9 reps. My kids both got 11 reps with theirs so I had to listen to them but they never rubbed it in too much.
LARSEN PRESSES 182x10, 165x10, 165x10
DB FLYES 2x10
DIPS BW 3X10
DB NOSECRUSHERS 3X10
BAND PRESSDOWNS 4 bands done as a "drop set" as usual. Did the whole circuit 4x.
Went to dinner. Had Rice and venison stew over at a friend's house. Good times.
As I mentioned above, I had the chance to train with Sam Byrd recently. Or more accurately, he watched me squat and critiqued my technique. This was a follow up to some instruction he gave me at the National ABC and I've got to say I was blown away by the insight he gave me. From hand position to bar placement, Sam analyzed what was holding me back in the squat helping me to refine my technique and hopefully lead to much bigger weights in the future. I can't stress enough how beneficial it is to train under guys like this every time you get the chance.
In this case, I was watching my shield brother, fellow Forvm member Uncle Boo at his first strongman event. Sam came by because the gym hosting the event had purchased the monolift that Sam broke the world record on and wanted him to autograph it. It says a lot about him that he agreed to do that. We spoke briefly while we were watching the event and I asked if he'd mind checking out my form. This was normally a deadlift day for me and I'd already squatted earlier that week but again, the world record holder was standing right there. Sam graciously agreed to check my form. Here's what I learned:
Hand Placement
In the past, I'd always put my hands roughly where I do when benching, pinkies at the rings. After watching me set up and squat a few times, Sam had me move my hands out further. I had them in close based upon watching Jay Nera's Beyond Basics Squat video but Sam saw that it wasn't working for me. The reason was I was hunching my shoulders slightly to get the pressure off of my wrists. So I'd set up and get under the bar, but because the bar was placed just at the base of my fingers, it hurt my wrists. I was hunching my shoulders to get away from the pain. This tipped me forward so that whenever I'd miss a squat it was because I fell forward or I turned it into a squat morning as AJones148 would say. Later I tweaked it further so that instead of placing my calluses on the bar, I put the heel of my hand on the bar so when I stand up, the weight is in the heel of my hand, just like when I bench or overhead press. This is much less painful and I don't hunch over to run from the pain. This lets me keep my chest up. It also stretches the snot out of my chest like a really good doorway stretch.
Getting under the bar
Sam had me put my feet under the bar then squeeze my glutes to straighten my back while blowing air into my belly and diaphragm so when I stood up I wasn't leaning forward. Before this, I'd always had a slight forward lean when I stood up. I'd stand, walk the weight out then squeeze my butt. Sam had me start that process before I ever picked up the weight. He compared it to having bone on bone support when holding a rifle the way we were both taught in the Marine Corps. The way he had me stand also reminded me of how women in my birth country carry heavy jugs of water on their heads with perfect balance because they are completely straight.
Sliding Up and Wiggling Down
If you watch Dan Green and Sam and some other big squatters set up, you see them get under the bar and the first thing they do is slide the bar waaay down their spine then slowly inch back down until the bar ends up sitting on a "shelf" just somewhere around their rhomboids. I could never figure out why they didn't just put the bar on their rhomboids in the first place. Sam had me try it and it felt a lot more stable. Basically, by going past where you're going to have the bar then slowly working your way to where you want it, you get to find the sweet spot every time you set up. It also feels sort of like when you're putting a puzzle together and the pieces click into place. It's hard for me to describe, but basically the bar will hit a spot on your back where it just feels solid. Not necessarily comfortable, but solid. I felt like my upper body and the bar were a single unit. My hands were not only holding the bar vertically but pulling it into my back horizontally. So I no longer felt the bar wiggle around when I walked out my squat as it did in the past.
Pregnant Belly
I thought I was bracing correctly. Not so much. I mean it wasn't bad but Sam kept smacking me in the belly, telling me to push more air in there. He kept telling me to get pregnant which in retrospect, would make my fortune since Walt Disney offered a ton of money to the first man who could do it. It also caused my son to double take when he came in and Sam and I were just standing in there talking. Not every day that you walk in and two guys are discussing how one of them needs to get pregnant. Basically though I've been trying to get more and more abdominal pressure. Ibn Mahama had told me that you need to have air pressure in your stomach not just in front, but front, back and both sides. I'd never felt that before and I've been trying to do it since the National ABC. I thought I'd gotten better at it, but Sam told me that I needed to force more and more air in there so that it was literally like doing ab work. I can understand why some guys say that all you need for abs is heavy squats and deadlifts after following his and Ibn's advice. The net effect was that I felt like I was wearing a belt even though I'd left mine behind that day by mistake.
Sam did say that I'd fixed my depth issues and I looked a lot more solid as I went down and up than I did at the National ABC. I really felt like I could have PR'd that day but didn't because the techniques were still new to me.
If you have the chance to pick the brain of a seasoned professional, take it. Online coaching is great but not a substitute for having somebody in front of you. I also have to say that Sam may have been cool with helping me even without the Animal Pak connection but I wouldn't have had the nerve to ask him for help if not for the fact that we've spoken in the past due to Animal. Anyway, hope this helped.
Today was not a day to PR. Pretty tired on the way home. I've gotten used to training in the afternoon after waking up but I decided to train right after work. No preworkout so I could still sleep after.
SQUAT
182.5x5
217.5x3
255x2
272.5x1
290x AMRAP got nine reps which beats my rep goal of 8 (it's 8s wave) but it was less than my personal goal of 15. Legs felt really tired and I guess I'm not used to all of the bracing et cetera that I learned last Saturday. I expect to get better and I'm hoping to show more improvement when I go to 5s next month. I'll also start adding joker sets after my submax sets but not after AMRAP.
Cellardweller
04-23-15, 2:12 pm
Jealous of the one on one with Sam. I've never gotten that kind of coaching from anyone. Makes me wonder how much better I could be. I've met Brandon Lilly 3x, 2x at meets and he was competing and once at an ABC. We were all deadlifting and he'd stop someone and correct them some if he noticed they were off. He never stopped me but I should have asked him to watch me. Oppertunity lost. Sam Byrd has done hands free squats at the Cage and I think he deadlifted while having a loaded bar across his traps too.
Jealous of the one on one with Sam. I've never gotten that kind of coaching from anyone. Makes me wonder how much better I could be. I've met Brandon Lilly 3x, 2x at meets and he was competing and once at an ABC. We were all deadlifting and he'd stop someone and correct them some if he noticed they were off. He never stopped me but I should have asked him to watch me. Oppertunity lost. Sam Byrd has done hands free squats at the Cage and I think he deadlifted while having a loaded bar across his traps too.
I found it more difficult in the past to approach people for help. It's still difficult honestly, I'm a natural introvert; hence my decision to train in my garage rather than at a gym. Over time though, it's become easier, some of it because I was forced to step up and interact with people at different levels in the Marine Corps, in sharing my faith and definitely in putting together ABCs. I feel like I kind of know these guys a little bit better because Animal has made them so accessible to us so from there it's a matter of just asking.
Don't get me wrong, I don't get answers or have a positive experience every time I ask for help, not even with the Animal athletes. But I think someone who's got the track record and credibility you do would definitely get help if you asked for it.
I think the most important thing though is that these guys love training. It's like meeting a guitarist and asking for help with something on the acoustic. I think it takes them back to when they were in our shoes. I think that as long as we don't pester them, always respecting that they get tired or busy like anybody else on earth, they'll always be willing to help out when they can.
Read Brooks Kubik's Military Press Course last night. Reinforced how gorilla strong the old school lifters from the 40s and 50s were. Motivated me to attack my Overhead Press today. Tired or not. Moved my hands in closer and cleaned the weight up for the first rep instead of walking it out of the rack like I normally would. Left shoulder didn't bother me as much. Got a PR. Also read Harry Selkow's Prowler Progression from EliteFTS and it gave me a structured approach to conditioning. I've done the sled before, just taking it out and loading it with something heavy then pushing it basically until I got tired. Not a bad approach as a finisher but I decided to try a goal based approach to improve my conditioning. Eye opener. Real eye opener.
PULLUPS 5x submax
SUPERSET WITH RECLINE ROW 5xsubmax
DB ROW 5x10
OVERHEAD PRESS
75x5
90x3
107.5x2
115x1
122.5xAMRAP (got 11 reps. Enough to bump my training max up to 160lbs. I think bringing up my overhead press will be just what my bench press needs to get back to the mid 350 range pain free and hopefully close to 400 eventually.)
Behind The Neck Press 3x5-8
couldn't do these before but I found that after setting up for the Squat the way Sam showed me, my chest isn't as tight. This means I can get into position for behind the neck pressing without pain. I didn't do percentages on these, just went by feel, starting with the bar and going up a little at a time.
Arnold Press 3x10
Laterals
I did exactly what Frank McGrath did in his Barebones bodybuilding video minus the dumbbell pressing
Sled Push
6x90lbsx40 yards
For some reason, even though I felt the pain from these in my soul, my neighbor felt comfortable asking me questions about how my pregnant wife is coming along and asking me what I thought of the T25 program for her since she just had a baby. I care about how I represent my Savior so I didn't walk over and vomit in her lap like I wanted to but I did sound like the first day at Lamaze Class when I was answering her. Plus her 6 year old daughter decided to jog laps around the cul de sac while I was pushing the sled up and down in it so it felt like Odin had sent Valkyries to collect my soul. I was like "Nooooo! I love Jesus, don't take me to Valhalla!" Or those might have been vultures. I don't know. I was delirious.
I was so tired after doing these I thought I was going to pass out. Climbed into the dog water trough and the cold water woke me up enough so I could go upstairs to take a shower and head to work. The dogs weren't happy but I put up with enough of their crap that they can just deal with it. My sweaty carcass can't be worse than drinking from the toilet bowl. Plus my sweat had Juiced Aminos in it so they should thank me.
https://instagram.com/p/137ByDCZhL/?taken-by=johngreavesthethird
BEHIND THE NECK PRESS
ARNOLD PRESS
LATERAL TRISET
SLED PUSH (SESSION 1)
Pre: Pak, Flex
Intra: RageXL, Juiced Aminos
Post: Juiced Aminos, Pak
Still battling a pretty bad cough. Hoping it's not bronchitis but looks like I'll need to make a doctor's appointment this week. Didn't feel like lifting at all. Came home and crashed on the couch then slept most of the day. That evening, I decided to just get my AMRAP done for my main movement and call it a night. My (very) pregnant wife came down to keep me company and the baby moved around so she couldn't get up when my main movement was done. Figured since we had to stay downstairs anyway, I might as well finish. Turned out pretty well I'd say. Got done with everything and she could move again. Granted she might have pulled a fast one to get me to do the whole workout but that just makes it more awesome if that's what happened.
pre workout: Pak, Flex
DEADLIFT
225x5
270x3
315x2
337.5x1
360x14 (AMRAP set)
CRATE SQUATS 5x15
LUNGES 3x10
SL DEADLIFT 2x225x10
TOE RAISES 3x10
AB WHEEL 3x10
EXTENDED CRUNCHES 2x10
post workout: Juiced Aminos, Pak
here's the AMRAP set
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBRrLySJAsQ
DB ROW
PULLUPS
DB CURLS
INCLINE DB BENCH
60x5
planned to do 75x5 but my shoulders hurt too much. Dropped down and did 2x40x5
called it a day
Easy day minus leftover soreness in my quads and abs from Saturday.
SQUAT
145X5
180X5
215X5
PAUSE SQUATS 2X45X10
LUNGES 2X10
SISSY SQUATS 1X10
AB WHEEL 5X10
Been too lazy to log my training the past two sessions. Here's Monday 5/4/2015
Had a breakthrough, I've been posting about shoulder and pec pain for what seems like a year. First the right pec got injured last year, then my left shoulder started acting up in Jan. Been hammering mobility. Helped but pain was always there, just under the surface. Got to the point where anything where my arm was elevated sent sharp pain going through my left delt. That includes putting my hand on top of the steering wheel, getting out of bed etc. Monday was no different. I prayed as usual, dedicated the training session to my Savior, then got to work. After set one, I just had the urge to try a mobility drill I hadn't done in a couple of months. I did it and bam, the pain was gone. Felt so good that I actually came out of the groove on bench that set cause the pain I expected wasn't there. Anyway, I'm doing thoracic mobility stretching every day, leaning back over a PVC pipe and letting my arms hang until my hands touch the floor with my arms straight. Doing thoracic bridges etc. since I couldn't get in position to squat correctly. Not saying that's not helping but this is the stretch that finally fixed the shoulder pain. https://youtu.be/skHV4sTF3hI
DB ROW 5X10 supersetted with
BENCH
215 5x5
215 submax
INCLINE DB BENCH 2X10 supersetted with
BENTOVER LATERALS 2X10
most I've been able to use for the past few months was 40 pound DBs. Used the 80s today.
DB FLYES 1X10 supersetted with
REAR DELT FLYES 2X10
DB NOSECRUSHERS 2X10 supersetted with
DB CURLS 2X10
BAND PRESSDOWNS 100 supersetted with
INCLINE DB CURLS 1X10
What an excellent day. Thank you Lord for healing me and for the motivation to keep at it even when the weights aren't moving like I want them to. Keep driving me to do my utmost for Your highest praise.
Pretty good session. Weights felt so light I thought I had miscalculated my percentages. Definitely seeing improvement as I get more flexible in my chest to be able to get into position under the squat bar. Learning to brace my core better too. Depth issues are probably solved as I ripped a hole in the seat of my shorts on the first rep and the hole grew with every rep after that. Finally had to go upstairs and change before I got dust from the floor on my balls. Get that image out of your head haha. Look at this one instead. https://instagram.com/p/2YY8AtiZg7/?taken-by=johngreavesthethird
Anyway, pushed the sled. It sucked.
SQUAT
255x5x5
255 submax
PAUSE SQUATS 135 2X10 dropped the weight and tried to focus on flexing my quads to stand up and squeezing my glutes and quads at the top.
LUNGES 2X10 same objective as the squats. Feel the glutes, hamstrings and quads working. I didn't pause at the top or bottom, striving for continuous tension.
GLUTE BRIDGE 2X10 more squeezing
DOUBLE KB SL DEADLIFT 50lbs1X10
TOE RAISES * 2X10
AB WHEEL 3X10
EXTENDED CRUNCHES 2X10
SLED PUSH (SESSION 1) 90 6X40 YARDS I repeat. This sucks.
Today was Overhead Press - I just finished reading every post in Sam Byrd's Journey and Q&A starting from 2007 - his last post in 2013. It was pretty encouraging to see his ups and downs as he worked through injuries, an insanely busy work/school schedule and training plateaus on the way to where he is now. Adjusted some of my training to mimic what he did to boost his conditioning and build muscle. One tip is to condense all assistance work into circuits to save time and boost the conditioning value. Primary movement and secondary assistance exercise maintain their normal rest periods.
Thoracic Extension https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GSkOT7n7m5Q (Sam likes the stuff on MobilityWOD but this is the one I'd been doing and this one doesn't require a weight plate)
Bully Stretch https://youtu.be/skHV4sTF3hI
First superset (go through the entire circuit, rest 45 seconds and go again. Do entire circuit 3x.)
10 RECLINE ROW
10 DB ROW
10 HAMMER CURLS
10 BAND PULLAPARTS
Primary Movement (rested about 45 seconds between sets. Rest period goes up next week.)
OVERHEAD PRESS 4x92x10
92xsubmax (left three reps in the tank. got 11 reps)
I'm actually at the point in the training cycle where The Juggernaut Method Template would have me doing sets of 5 but I feel that I need more muscle mass in my shoulders so I've decided to alternate between months where I do sets of 10 and months where I do sets of 8 instead. Last month was 8s so it's back to 10s this month. I'm still increasing weight for my training max based upon my AMRAP set at the end of each month so the weight I'm lifting is still slowly increasing, I just don't see any particular need to do sets of 5 and 3 for OHP right now since I don't compete in a sport that calls for low rep overhead singles.
Second Giant Set (go through the entire circuit, rest 45 seconds and go again. Do entire circuit 2x I just used whatever weight let me get all of the reps so I dropped weight between sets 1 and 2 on every exercise except incline bench and incline flyes.)
10 ARNOLD PRESS
10 BENT OVER LATERALS TRI SET
10 STANDING LATERALS
10 DB FRONT RAISE
10 INCLINE DB BENCH
10 INCLINE FLYES
Entire thing took 45 minutes, normally takes an hour and a half with all of the rest periods. Still did my normal 10 minute general warm up too!
Deadlifts tomorrow!!
I was supposed to deadlift yesterday. Fell asleep after work though and didn't wake up except for a brief period around 2am when my lovely pregnant wife needed me. Apparently I was tired. Got out of bed at 6am and got to work. Took my preworkout stuff, helped my wife make breakfast by beating the eggs and called my mother. Ended up talking longer than I intended but it was all good. My son came downstairs to do his hip mobility stuff so I handed him the phone and I did my first two sets while he talked to his grandmother. She said by and I hit the rest of the training session.
Pre: Pak, Cuts, Juiced Aminos
During: Juiced Aminos
Post: Pak, Flex, Egg casserole
DEADLIFT
325x5x5
SUBMAX DEADLIFT 325X15 (left 3 in the tank. Calculator says this puts me around 530 as a 1RM which I take as my gym 1RM. I always exceed my gym performances at meets. So I'm on track still. Hoping to get 560 at my next meet. Don't know when that will be but I'm hoping to do the SPF meet at Grit House gym in August or maybe the USPA Georgia State in June. All depends on what the pregnancy/newborn situation is. I'd hoped to do Powerlifting for Pups again but that's apparently full.)
I had more stuff programmed but I decided that I'd rather spend the day with my wife than the weights so... bye.
Giant set #1 (do each circuit 2x)
DB Row 2x10
Bentover Lateral 2x10
Rear Delt Flye 2x10
Finished off with two more sets of DB row for ten reps apiece.
Flat Bench
192x2, 222x2, 4x237.5x5
submax 237.5x5 (got 9, left two in the tank. Was hoping for 15 but no dice.)
Giant set #2 (do each circuit 2x)
Incline DB Bench x10 used the 80s today. Pretty good day.
Incline Flyes x10
Flat Bench x10
Flat Flyes x10
Giant set #3 (do each circuit 2x)
DB Nosecrushers x10
Band Pressdown x10
Overhead Extension x10
GunRock
05-13-15, 12:49 pm
weighed 205 this morning. Not bad for not having done any conditioning other than my giant sets in the weight room. Last time I stopped doing cardio I shot up to 215 in no time at all.
SQUAT
237.5X2
265x2
282.5x3x5
282.5xsubmax (stopped at 5. I just didn't feel tight, weaving back and forth a little on the way up on the fourth and fifth reps. Next time this happens, I'll just break down my set into consecutive singles rather than going for reps.)
Giant Set (did the entire circuit 3 times. Rested 45 seconds between sets)
PAUSE SQUATS 135x5
LUNGES X10
GLUTE BRIDGE X10
SL DEADLIFT X10
SINGLE LEG CALF RAISES * X10
Superset
AB WHEEL 3X10
EXTENDED CRUNCHES 2X10
weighed 205 this morning. Not bad for not having done any conditioning other than my giant sets in the weight room. Last time I stopped doing cardio I shot up to 215 in no time at all.
SQUAT
237.5X2
265x2
282.5x3x5
282.5xsubmax (stopped at 5. I just didn't feel tight, weaving back and forth a little on the way up on the fourth and fifth reps. Next time this happens, I'll just break down my set into consecutive singles rather than going for reps.)
Giant Set (did the entire circuit 3 times. Rested 45 seconds between sets)
PAUSE SQUATS 135x5
LUNGES X10
GLUTE BRIDGE X10
SL DEADLIFT X10
SINGLE LEG CALF RAISES * X10
Superset
AB WHEEL 3X10
EXTENDED CRUNCHES 2X10
Had no plans on doing anything else after sweating like a madman during the above workout, but then I saw J. Wong post this Chael Sonnen quote so . . .
Sled Push 6x40 yards 90lbs loaded on the sled.
Here's the quote. Don't click unless you're prepared to HAVE to do something you've been dreading. https://instagram.com/p/2obGVbCZkU/?taken-by=johngreavesthethird
Relatively light day. Don't want to kill myself too much and be too burnt out to enjoy fellowshipping at our ABC "mini meet up" tomorrow. Also, I'm trying to stick to my guns about saving overhead press day for being primarily a reps/work capacity day to save my joints and build some much needed muscle through my shoulder girdle.
Pre: Pak, Cuts, Juiced Aminos
Giant Set #1
RECLINE ROW submax
DB ROW 10/10
HAMMER CURLS 10/10
BROOMSTICK LAT STRETCH 1 minute per arm supersetted with
OVERHEAD PRESS
85x3
95x3
102.5x2x10
102.5xsubmax (got 15 reps)
No rest except for when I was doing the lat stretch
Giant Set #2 did all of the exercises in a row, rest 45 seconds and repeat circuit. Did entire circuit 3x.
Z press 45x10
ARNOLD PRESS 30x10
FRONT RAISE 15X10
INCLINE DB BENCH 60x10
INCLINE FLYES 25X10
DIPS BWX10
Post: Animal Whey, Pak, Flex
I could have definitely gone about 40lbs heavier on the Z presses. Wasn't sure since I've never done them as part of a circuit. Once I did the first rep, I realized that as long as I brace the same way I do for squats, I'd be fine. Definitely adding weight next time. Took a tip from Arnold Schwarzenegger and did the flyes as if I were trying to touch my elbows to the floor. I found that the increased ROM meant I had to drop the weight a lot. The stretch felt really good in my chest though. The dips were HARD. I'm going to stick to bodyweight on them for right now, concentrating on going all the way down until my bicep hits my forearm to again, stretch my chest out.
Deadlifts tomorrow!!!!
GunRock
05-16-15, 10:22 pm
Had a mini meet up with ATLMUSCLBRO5 and Failsafe today. We trained deadlifts and then did some accessory work for upper back. I hit 15 nonstop reps with 360 which beats the 14 reps I barely got with it a couple of weeks ago.
Pre: Pak, Flex, Juiced Amino(cherry limeade. Tastes great! Can't wait to try it with Mango Rage once I let caffeine back into my life )
Deadlifts
300x2
335x2
3x360x5
360x15 (submax. Left 2 reps in the tank)
Bentover Rows 4x135x10
Face pulls sets of 30, 25, 20, 15 (left shoulder felt a little stiff on these. Had to stretch my lat with a band to be able to finish )
Upright Rows 4x65x10 super setted with California Presses 45x10, 3x65x10
Wasn't sure I could handle upright rows but was pleasantly surprised.
DB rows
50x10, 40x15, 30x20, 25x20
Walk to cool down
Post: Pak, Animal Whey (Chocolate Chocolate chip flavor. Amazing Taste!)
DB ROW 5X10
BENTOVER LATERALS 5X10
REAR DELT FLYES 5X10
DB CURLS 5X10
BENCH
152.5x5
182.5x3
215x2
230x1
245x1
260xAMRAP Got 6 reps which was 1 pound over the minimum reps for the day. Was hoping for 10 reps but my shoulder said no. Still it moved my training max up.)
LARSEN PRESSES 205x2x10
DB FLYES 252x10
DIPS bw+15lbsx2x10
1 ARM OVERHEAD EXTENSIONS 2x25lbsx10
Cellardweller
05-20-15, 12:44 pm
LMAO it's always deadlilfts when a bunch of Animals get together. I've never gone to an ABC and not deadlifted.
LMAO it's always deadlilfts when a bunch of Animals get together. I've never gone to an ABC and not deadlifted.
Probably 'cause ABCs are usually on Saturday and a lot of us deadlift on Saturday. Or it could be because it's the one lift that benefits most from ample amounts of Rage XL. Squats and Bench for me require a lot more concentration so I do them earlier in the week when I'm fresher. Exception was at The National ABC this year. I wanted to deadlift badly but it's my best lift and I like using the National ABC to work on what I need to improve, this year it was squats. It was pretty humbling to walk in there squatting about 365 to depth and 405 but a little high and have Sam Byrd tell me that I needed to do two solid bodyweight squats before he'd let me put the 45lb bar on my back. I'm proud that I ended up using 135lb for sets of three before the night was through. And speaking of squatting, that was the lift of the day. Pretty proud of Malcolm and War Machine. They each hit rep PRs to bump up their previous gym maxes by ten pounds each. Here's the workout with only my weights listed but we all did everything. They finished up with calf work but I had to head to work.
Pre: Pak, Flex, Juiced Aminos (also during)
Post: Pak
SQUAT
182.5x5
220x 3
255x 2
275x 1
292.5x1
310x AMRAP (got 11 reps. War Machine and Malcolm got ten apiece and I wanted to stop at ten but I wanted to beat the youngsters more than I wanted to rack the weight!)
PAUSE SQUATS 185x3x5
Giant Set (did all of the exercises, no rest between exercises, finished the circuit and rested about 45 seconds before repeating)
Lunges bwx10
SL Deadlift 225x10
DB Lying Hamstring Curl x10
Failsafe
05-21-15, 9:20 am
[QUOTE=Gunrock;1410920]Had a mini meet up with ATLMUSCLBRO5 and Failsafe today. We trained deadlifts and then did some accessory work for upper back. I hit 15 nonstop reps with 360 which beats the 14 reps I barely got with it a couple of weeks ago. /QUOTE]
Sorry for getting in here so late on this, but this was an awesome experience and a top-notch event for me. Absolutely amazing coaching from Gunrock helped me with a PR for my dead lift and I was just jacked when I left. Good lifts, good friends, good food and a building up of brotherhood; A perfect encapsulation of the ABC.
Thanks for opening up your gym, home and mind for us!
[QUOTE=Gunrock;1410920]Had a mini meet up with ATLMUSCLBRO5 and Failsafe today. We trained deadlifts and then did some accessory work for upper back. I hit 15 nonstop reps with 360 which beats the 14 reps I barely got with it a couple of weeks ago. /QUOTE]
Sorry for getting in here so late on this, but this was an awesome experience and a top-notch event for me. Absolutely amazing coaching from Gunrock helped me with a PR for my dead lift and I was just jacked when I left. Good lifts, good friends, good food and a building up of brotherhood; A perfect encapsulation of the ABC.
Thanks for opening up your gym, home and mind for us!
My wife loves hospitality so things like this past weekend really lift her spirits. And lifting her spirits lifts mine. So actually, I am thanking you and Redge for driving all of the way up to my neck of the woods. We'll definitely do it again. I'm thinking in September, maybe around Labor Day.
But before that, it's the Joint TN/OH/GA meet up in July at Grit House Gym! Let me know if you want to catch a ride with me.
20 minutes on the treadmill. Nothing fancy. No beast mode. Just walking to get blood flowing in and out of my legs to help with squat recovery. And take some fat off of my waist.
BAND PULLAPARTS 4X20 supersetted with
OVERHEAD PRESS
75x5
90x3
107.5x1
115x AMRAP (got
SUPERSET #1
Z Press 1x95x10
1x135x1 (PR) then immediately did a burnout set of 22 reps in honor of the veterans who commit suicide daily.
Here's a video: https://instagram.com/p/2_4zDGCZkK/?taken-by=johngreavesthethird
GIANT SET #1
ARNOLD PRESS 2X10
UPRIGHT ROW 2X10
BENTOVER LATERALS 2X10
LATERALS 2X10
FRONT RAISES 2X10
GIANT SET #2 (Completed circuit before resting. Then repeated. rested 45 seconds between sets.)
INCLINE BENCH 2X10
INCLINE FLYES 2X10
FLAT DB BENCH 2X10
FLAT FLYES 2X10
SUPERSET #2
DIPS 3X
BAND PRESSDOWN 3X
Journeyed out to Iron Beast Gym this morning to train and hang out with Eric Head. Eric and Marcell really push me just by being around them because Marcell is stronger than me in every lift despite being in my weight class and Eric is way stronger than me in bench, has squatted more than me in competition and is coming up fast behind me in deadlift. You can't get stronger if you're always the strongest guy in your training environment. You can get stronger training mostly by yourself but periodically you need to go get around somebody who will push you. Somebody who's definition of impossible is skewed to the left of society's. Within a few minutes of being there, we went over Eric's lifts and realized that he's in the top three in the world rankings right now in all three lifts and sitting at the top of the pile in bench. I shared samples of the new Juiced Aminos strawberry limeade with everyone (including a guy I just met today who wanted to know if I worked for Animal because he saw my Cage t shirt and homemade Animal shorts). The workout really has me thinking that I need to adjust our percentages because we've consistently gotten more than 5 reps over the minimum all this month. I can accept the occasional session where the stars just align and you gut out a crazy rep PR but consistently doing it means the weights aren't heavy enough and that's on me to fix. Here's my training for the day. I trained with Malcolm and War Machine again.
DEADLIFT 230x 5
275x 3
325x 2
347.5x1
370x 1
395x AMRAP got 15 reps and thought I was done but after I put my wedding ring on I just decided that I wasn't going to let Malcolm get more reps than me two training sessions in one week. Went back to it and grinded out three more reps. Goes to show you can do a lot by combining stupidity and guts in a batter of reckless abandonment.
CONVENTIONAL DEADLIFT 347.5x3X5
SUPERSET #1 2x10
KB SL DEADLIFT
KB SWING
LEG CURLS (had the opportunity to use a seated leg curl machine for a different stimulus than I'm used to)
AB WHEEL
SUPERSET #2 2x10
SHRUGS
HAMMER CURLS
REVERSE CURLS
WRIST CURLS
EXTENDED CRUNCHES
cardio tomorrow and deload next week!
rainman
05-24-15, 10:11 am
You can't get stronger if you're always the strongest guy in your training environment.
Smart words. I think training with stronger lifters has been the main factor in me putting up higher numbers and pushing myself further. Crazy deadlift by the way. I don't think I can even get my wedding ring off anymore!
Crazy deadlift by the way. I don't think I can even get my wedding ring off anymore!
Thanks Brother! I'm trying to really build up my supporting muscles so I can break the 600lb barrier. Biggest key is not getting injured and being consistent with adding weight to the bar. I'll get there. My wedding ring was tight until I lost 20lbs of fat. I can't resize it either because it's titanium but I'll get another one once my weight stabilizes.
Pre: Pak, Flex
Post: Animal Whey, Pak
CIRCUIT #1 (complete circuit 3x)
1 ARM DB ROW 50 X15/15
BENTOVER LATERALS X15
REAR DELT FLYES X15
BENCH
120X5
150X5
180X5
rest 1 minute
CIRCUIT #2 (complete circuit 2x)
LARSEN PRESSES 165X10
DB FLYES X10
DIPS X10
1 ARM OVERHEAD EXTENSIONS X10
took ten minutes for War Machine, Malcolm and I to complete.
GunRock
05-27-15, 11:30 pm
Objective was to just move and get some metabolic conditioning going. War Machine and I talked it over and he convinced me to just put Pause Squats into the circuit and go straight into squats without leaving the power rack or putting the bar down. Really pushed all of our limits today. Good experience. I uploaded the video to YouTube but no telling when it'll be done processing. I'll post it tomorrow if it's up before I head home and get to bed.
Pre: Pak, Flex
Intra: Juiced Aminos
Post: Pak
Circuit #1
3 Rounds of
Pause Squat
145x5
180x5
220x5
Squats x5-10
Lunges x10
Sissy Squats x10
Ab Wheel
Circuit #2
2 rounds of
Glute Bridge x10
KB SL Deadlift 50X10
Lying DB Leg Curls 10X10
Toe Raises x10
Extended Crunches x10
Objective was to just move and get some metabolic conditioning going. War Machine and I talked it over and he convinced me to just put Pause Squats into the circuit and go straight into squats without leaving the power rack or putting the bar down. Really pushed all of our limits today. Good experience. I uploaded the video to YouTube but no telling when it'll be done processing. I'll post it tomorrow if it's up before I head home and get to bed.
Pre: Pak, Flex
Intra: Juiced Aminos
Post: Pak
Circuit #1
3 Rounds of
Pause Squat
145x5
180x5
220x5
Squats x5-10
Lunges x10
Sissy Squats x10
Ab Wheel
Circuit #2
2 rounds of
Glute Bridge x10
KB SL Deadlift 50X10
Lying DB Leg Curls 10X10
Toe Raises x10
Extended Crunches x10
Here's the video that finally posted:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dF9tpNCFuc4
30 minutes treadmill walking
30 minutes Mobility focusing on my opening up my pecs, shoulders and lats
Boring but necessary. Mobility today allows me to train shoulders tomorrow without or with less pain.
GunRock
05-30-15, 12:30 am
War Machine graduated from high school tonight. His youngest brother graduated from 5th grade this morning at 9am. So I worked last night, got home at 6, took a three hour nap, went to the young assassin's three hour 5th grade event, came home, took a nap until 4, went to War Machine's graduation, went out to eat afterwards, came home at 11:30. Time to train. Still deload week.
Pre: Pak, Flex
Post: Pak, Juiced Aminos
Circuit #1 3 rounds with 65lbs, 85lbs, 100lbs
Z Press x10
Hang Cleans x5
Standing Overhead Press x5
rest 45 seconds between rounds 1 minute between circuits
Circuit #2
Arnold Presses round one 30x10, round two 20x10
Bentover Laterals round one 15x10, round two 10x10
Laterals 15x10 both rounds
Front Raises 15x10 both rounds
Minor shoulder pain today. Guess it's the gift that keeps on giving. I really like the rear delt flyes that I learned from a video by Alpha Bench. Really target my delt like nothing else.
SUPERSET #1 5X10
DB ROW used the 50s
BENTOVER LATERALS used the 30s for sets 1 and 2 then the 25s after
REAR DELT FLYES used the 15s.
DB CURLS used the 30s for the first three sets then the 25s afterwards
Pre: Pak, Flex
Intra: Juiced Aminos
Post: Pak
232.5x6X3 shoulder pain got me on the first set then I hit my groove on set 4.
232.5x submax (got 7 reps. Could have grinded out 8 or 9 but I'm trying to finally start acting like a grownup and make good decisions)
LARSEN PRESS 185x 3X5 20 pounds more than I expected to be able to handle
SUPERSET #2 2X10
INCLINE DB BENCH used the 50s for set 1 and the 80s for set two cause I was feeling froggy
INCLINE DB FLYES used the 25s
DB NOSECRUSHERS used the 30s. Could have gone heavier but couldn't heave them up into position courtesy of the shoulder.
BAND PRESSDOWN DROP SET
BLACK BAND
THIN GREEN BAND
Since I didn't get to go crazy on the nosecrushers I added in a set of db overhead extensions. I let the db hang out in the fully stretched position for a full minute then cranked out five reps to finish the day.
GunRock
06-02-15, 10:06 am
20 minutes Gerbil time then 15 minutes mobility.
Hip Flexor
Bully Pose
Thoracic Extension
Pec Minor Stretch
Pigeon Pose
Standing Wall Calf Stretch
Hips are improving in their ROM, pecs are still tight. I had a knot in my mid back that didn't go away until some time during yesterday's workout. Didn't do any mobility last weekend and I'm paying for it now. Got to get back on track. I can't afford to make mistakes that young people can get away with. What might give them a minor ache might lead to surgery for me. Ain't nobody got time for that.
Pre: Pak, Cuts, Flex
Intra: Water
Cellardweller
06-03-15, 12:29 pm
Lots of smart training going on in here.
Congrats to War Machine BTW.
Lots of smart training going on in here.
Congrats to War Machine BTW.
Thanks Brother! I'll pass it on. Hope you're recovering well.
Had a rude awakening when I tried Anderson Squats today. Haven't done them in two months, I've been Pause Squatting as my supplementary lift so I thought it was a good time to switch back. Attempted 425 at the same depth where I left off but I couldn't budge it for more than one rep in set #1 and not at all in set #2. Obviously, I've lost something here. So, I called an audible, took the pins back up to the first hole under the J Hooks and upped the weight to 455. Problem solved. Now I'm going back to lowering the pins every two weeks.
Pre: Pak, Cuts, Flex
Intra: water
Post: Pak, Animal Whey
Squat
7x285x3 (final set was submax and I got 7 reps)
Anderson Squats 1x425x1; 2x455x3 (at higher position)
Had more planned but time ran out. Spent too much time fooling with the DVD player trying to see if Stan Efferding had a squat session on his Rhino video. Answer is: he doesn,t. It's bench, grocery shopping, getting started in weight training, tips and tricks, deadlifts, arms and calves, benching with Ryan Kennelly. Still a good video especially where he describes his approach to close grip benching. Worth the $30.
Treadmill tomorrow.
Yesterday:
20 minutes Gerbil time. Began watching "Raw Iron: The Making of Pumping Iron". War Machine hung out and watched it with me as I walked on the treadmill. We had a good talk about how Arnold set and achieved goals.
30 minutes mobility work, getting ready for today's shoulder work and recovering from Wednesday's squats. Thoracic mobility work, bully stretches, pigeon pose, deep lunges, pec minor stretches using the squat bar. My wife caught me up on the latest happenings at work while I stretched and foam rolled. Then she held my wrists to help stretch my pec minor.
Today:
Overhead Press
5x102x8 last set was submax. Got 12 reps. In talking my overhead press over with my brother he mentioned that he's always taken aback by how light the weights I use for overhead pressing are but he knows that it's a lift I've always struggled to do. That's true, but I could press far more if I allowed myself to sit down and lean back slightly. I don't want to do that. Right now, just like in the squat and deadlift, my focus is on doing the lifts in such a way that I'm forcing the muscles of my core to kick in and help out so I end up lifting more weight in the long run. Leaning back would take my delts out of the game too much and the whole reason I'm doing these is to force my delts to get stronger so they can help me out on the bench. If I wanted to work upper chest, I'd just do incline bench. Not that there's not a place for upper chest work, just as I said in another thread about my goals for this year, I'm trying to bring up all of my weak links. So yeah. I'm trying to do this like a bodybuilder and take away mechanical advantage so that my delts have no choice but to grow. At the same time, I'm trying to use it as another opportunity to learn to brace my core in a standing lift.
Z Press 80x5; 95x5
I also hit 155x1. This is a new 1RM in the Z press and I did it thanks to the encouragement from my Junior Animals. Here's that video https://instagram.com/p/3j96xdCZko/?taken-by=johngreavesthethird
and the standing overhead press video is below:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0TdAjOaero
Competed unexpectedly Saturday in a benefit meet. I hadn't planned on lifting so I was originally going to deadlift with Malcolm and War Machine before the meet started. Didn’t happen. Tee Meyers called me to say he was lost at 8:30 (five minutes after I laid down to take a nap) so I ended up meeting him at the venue and staying there until the event started. During that time he talked me into deadlifting.
135x5
225x3
315x1
put on a belt and did 405x1
450 first attempt
500 second attempt
540 third attempt
took 555 for a fourth since that's the "record" and missed.
Rehydrated and stretched Sunday
Back was still a little tight from Saturday but I was still able to put together a decent bench session. Also added another 30 minutes of treadmill walking so I expect to get 3 thirty minute sessions this week. Bodyweight is sitting at 207.
AM session: Cuts, Pak, Flex
30 minutes Gerbil Time
PM session:
Circuit #1 5x10
DB Row 60lbs
Bentover Laterals 25lbs
Rear Delt Laterals 15lbs
DB Curls 30lbs
rest 2 minutes shoulder mobility
Bench
215x1
240x1
5x255x3 (last set done submax. Got 8 reps so War Machine beat me by 3 reps but I beat Malcolm by 1 rep)
Larsen Presses 3x225x5
Circuit #2 2x
Incline DB Bench 80lbsx10
Incline DB Flyes 40lbsx10
DB Nosecrushers 20x15
Band Pressdowns x50
1arm Overhead DB Extension 15x15
Intra: Juiced Aminos
Post: Pak
Slept until it was time to lift. Usually I'm up with about 30 minutes to spare. Stayed up late trying to get my body back into night shift rhythm as this is my first day back on 12 hour night shifts since Saturday. I tried Hawaiian Pump Shock Therapy mixed with Grape Juiced Aminos in a crushed ice smoothie. Very nice.
Pre: Pak, Cuts
Intra: Shock Therapy, Juiced Aminos
Post: Pak, Flex. Got some cardio when we thought my wife was going into labor, pretty exciting for a little bit with all of the running upstairs and downstairs.
Squat
247.5x1
275x1
5x295x3 got 5 reps on the submax set
Anderson squats
3x425x3
Circuit #1 done twice
KB Goblet Squat x10
KB Stationary Lunges x10/10
KB SL Deadlift x10
Circuit #2
Calf Raise x15
Toe Raisex15
Ab Wheel Rolloutx10
Vacuums x30 seconds
6/11/2015
Got a third day of treadmill walking in. Not exciting at all I know but as my weights go up, my cardio intensity goes down. Looking to increase to four days next week and eventually, I'll be walking every day for 20-30 minutes. I've noticed that my appetite had decreased about three weeks ago but it's now back up which I take as an indicator that my metabolism is moving again. I'm also not constipated like I was so that's a good sign.
6/12/2015
Did shoulders today and got to play with the new incline bench that was donated to us on Tuesday. Angles are a little different that the old one but it's a lot sturdier and the different angles mean my muscles get a slightly different stimulus. Also the holes are numbered so it's easier to keep track of what angle we use. War Machine and I played with the angles a little from set to set, we both used the same angle on set #1 then I pushed it almost to vertical for my second set of incline bench so I could hit my shoulders more, while he chose to only go up a few degrees above where we started, so he'd hit more upper chest and less shoulders. Malcolm wanted to keep it where it was for both sets so he could use more weight. Pansy. Ha ha. Before that, I was able to add twenty pounds to my upright row weight and I don't feel that I compromised my form at all so that's progress there.
We had a good talk about goal setting as we looked at world records for the WUAP and discovered that War Machine has the longest torso in the house but Malcolm has the longest legs. I'm the fattest. Juaquin (my eleven year old Animal) came through wearing roller skates and made each one of us flex our biceps so he could compare his arm and figure out how long it would take him to catch each one of us if he keeps training. We also had to listen to the ongoing debate between Malcolm and War Machine about whether or not Malcolm is stronger than War Machine was at his age and whose forearm veins are bigger between the two of them.
Good day overall. Here's the workout:
OVERHEAD PRESS
87.5x3
100x 3
107.5x2x8
107.5xsubmax (I got 16 giving me the highest rep number for the day. Showed those youngsters who Daddy is!)
Z PRESS 115x3X5
SUPERSET #1 2X10
ARNOLD PRESS
UPRIGHT ROW
BENTOVER LATERALS
LATERALS
FRONT RAISES
SUPERSET #2 2X10
INCLINE BENCH
INCLINE FLYES
FLAT DB BENCH
FLAT FLYES
DIPS 2x10
Cellardweller
06-14-15, 1:10 pm
We had a good talk about goal setting as we looked at world records for the WUAP and discovered that War Machine has the longest torso in the house but Malcolm has the longest legs. I'm the fattest. Juaquin (my eleven year old Animal) came through wearing roller skates and made each one of us flex our biceps so he could compare his arm and figure out how long it would take him to catch each one of us if he keeps training. We also had to listen to the ongoing debate between Malcolm and War Machine about whether or not Malcolm is stronger than War Machine was at his age and whose forearm veins are bigger between the two of them.
Golden. Love it.
Golden. Love it.
Appreciate the kind words. I tell everybody I train with that in six months they won't remember the epic workout, or PR they got today. But me and my sons will remember the good times we had in our garage gym for decades to come. I could probably get a whole lot stronger if I shelled out some cash to go train with some of the elite lifters who live near me but at what cost? I'd be missing out on days like the ones I described. Gunrock's Iron Journey is all about the things I experience as a result of my love affair with the iron and some of the best of those experiences happen in the company of my sons.
Saturday was a deadlift day. I had a horrible lifting day. I was scheduled to pull 420 for 5x3 with the fifth set being submax. I managed to grind out one rep, then had to drop down to 405 and do singles. My second set, I couldn't pull 405 at all, so I told the young men that I might be done for the evening. I thought about dropping weight and doing one more set but War Machine reminded me of a story I'd just told them. Basically, when I was 22 years old, I worked at a gym and one of the members was a man in his fifties. He would never go to failure. Every set was done for five easy reps no matter the exercise. I asked why he'd never push to get one more rep than before. His answer was "one more will get you hurt." I told the kids that whenever I've gotten hurt it's always been when I felt a twinge or the workout wasn't going well and I decided to get just one more and stop. That rep was always the one that hurt me.
So I heeded their advice (and my own) and called it a night. Malcolm had to face the music though. He's been bragging that he's stronger now than War Machine was when he set the SPF deadlift record for his age and weight class as a 14 year old. So his challenge was to deadlift 275 since that's what War Machine did as a 15 year old. He couldn't budge it. Then War Machine added insult to injury and did another set of 315 for three. Quote of the day by War Machine: "I'm the captain now".
Had a semi good day. Shoulder pain was a dull ache but more of a weakness than stabbing pain. But I still got to train in my new Animal shorts. That's right, I bought Animal shorts from The Shop! They arrived Saturday and I flexed them today. They only had 2XL but they run small so they still fit.
AM: 30 minutes Gerbil time.
PM:
Pre: Pak, Flex, Shock Therapy
Post: Pak
Warmup: Simple Six
Circuit #1 do 5x
DB Row 50x10
Bentover Laterals 30x10
Rear Delt Flyes 15x10
DB Curls 40x10
Flat Bench
155x5
185x3
215x2
232x1
247x1
262x1
277x AMRAP (got 4 reps)
Larsen Press 3x225x5
Circuit #2 do 2xs
Incline DB Press 70x10
Incline Flyes 25x10
DB Nosecrushers 30x10
Band Pressdowns x10
AM: Got home from work, logged my Gerbil time. 30 minutes. Motivated because my 12 year old neighbor Aaron showed up at 7:30 to train with my 11 year old son Juaquin. 11 year old Justin showed up right after. They started with a superset of KB Goblet Squats and weighted Pushups, 4x6-10. By the time they were done, these youngsters had done 3 sets of bodyweight walking lunges, three 200 meter runs and three sets of planks. I took my PM and hit the rack next to my wife who's so pregnant she struggles to walk from one room to the next but is frustrated because she can't get around like she normally does. Can't bike, swim and run like she normally does because she's too far along.
PM: 6 hours of sleep. Took Pak and Flex washed down with Shock Therapy.
Squats with Malcolm
Warm Up: Agile 8
Malcolm: 87.5x5; 105x3; 122.5x2; 130x1; 140x1;147.5x1; 157.5x
Pretty straightforward. He did well and is starting to hit depth consistently.
Mine: 190x5; 227x3; 267x2; 285x1; 305x1; 325x1; 342xAMRAP got three reps. After I watched the video with my sons, I realized that even though the depth FELT good, it was high. Tried again this time with a belt. Video showed it was still high. Started to get discouraged. Malcolm was doing Anderson Squats by now, so we had to move the safety bars up and down each time. The kids were patient with me as I worked through this. Tried one more time. Still high. I double checked the day's training plan to make sure I hadn't put the wrong numbers into the training max, one rep max or percentages for the day. Decided to drop down to a lower weight, change the direction I was facing so we'd have a better camera angle and try again. Nailed it. 327x3.
Conclusion: Apparently, I've been squatting high for at least the past two months and my training partners haven't caught it. Which means I haven't taught them how to recognize depth in others correctly. Thing is, on The Juggernaut Method, you take 90% of your actual 1RM as a training max. That number goes up or down based upon the number of reps over the minimum reps for that phase that you perform during your AMRAP set. So I've been moving up my training load based upon high squatting. For two months. Sigh. It's fixed now. Nothing to do but make sure it doesn't happen again. I had to use the USPA squat regulations including pictures to show the kids what they need to look for when they judge my squats. I also need to concentrate on mimicking the feel of proper depth, regardless of weight on the bar.
I told the kids that training hard is great, but if you don't train with precision, you've wasted your time. How can I present this garbage to God and say that this is my best?
A woman in labor and somebody on the toilet both work hard, but only one effort produces something that normal people would be proud to show the world. Hard work isn't enough. Look at your final product and decide if this is what you want the world to see.
AM: Got home from work, logged my Gerbil time. 30 minutes. Motivated because my 12 year old neighbor Aaron showed up at 7:30 to train with my 11 year old son Juaquin. 11 year old Justin showed up right after. They started with a superset of KB Goblet Squats and weighted Pushups, 4x6-10. By the time they were done, these youngsters had done 3 sets of bodyweight walking lunges, three 200 meter runs and three sets of planks. I took my PM and hit the rack next to my wife who's so pregnant she struggles to walk from one room to the next but is frustrated because she can't get around like she normally does. Can't bike, swim and run like she normally does because she's too far along.
PM: 6 hours of sleep. Took Pak and Flex washed down with Shock Therapy.
Squats with Malcolm
Warm Up: Agile 8
Malcolm: 87.5x5; 105x3; 122.5x2; 130x1; 140x1;147.5x1; 157.5x
Pretty straightforward. He did well and is starting to hit depth consistently.
Mine: 190x5; 227x3; 267x2; 285x1; 305x1; 325x1; 342xAMRAP got three reps. After I watched the video with my sons, I realized that even though the depth FELT good, it was high. Tried again this time with a belt. Video showed it was still high. Started to get discouraged. Malcolm was doing Anderson Squats by now, so we had to move the safety bars up and down each time. The kids were patient with me as I worked through this. Tried one more time. Still high. I double checked the day's training plan to make sure I hadn't put the wrong numbers into the training max, one rep max or percentages for the day. Decided to drop down to a lower weight, change the direction I was facing so we'd have a better camera angle and try again. Nailed it. 327x3.
Conclusion: Apparently, I've been squatting high for at least the past two months and my training partners haven't caught it. Which means I haven't taught them how to recognize depth in others correctly. Thing is, on The Juggernaut Method, you take 90% of your actual 1RM as a training max. That number goes up or down based upon the number of reps over the minimum reps for that phase that you perform during your AMRAP set. So I've been moving up my training load based upon high squatting. For two months. Sigh. It's fixed now. Nothing to do but make sure it doesn't happen again. I had to use the USPA squat regulations including pictures to show the kids what they need to look for when they judge my squats. I also need to concentrate on mimicking the feel of proper depth, regardless of weight on the bar.
I told the kids that training hard is great, but if you don't train with precision, you've wasted your time. How can I present this garbage to God and say that this is my best?
A woman in labor and somebody on the toilet both work hard, but only one effort produces something that normal people would be proud to show the world. Hard work isn't enough. Look at your final product and decide if this is what you want the world to see.
https://youtu.be/hRgDEZ9gkwk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hRgDEZ9gkwk
Had food poisoning apparently so about an hour after I got home from work, I had severe chills and stomach pain. I threw on my sweats, hoodie and socks and punished the toilet until about 12 noon. In between I was under blankets. My family shut off the a/c (that's a pretty big sacrifice on their part in 90 degree weather) Then I started to get overheated and I felt dehydrated. Anyway, didn't go to work so about midnight I felt well enough to hit my scheduled shoulder session. Had to cut the weights down some but I got it done.
Overhead Press
80x5
95x3
110x2
120x1
127x8 (AMRAP set)
Z press 3x85x10
Circuit (done twice)
Arnold Press first round 20x10, second round 30x10
Upright Row 65x10 this is twenty pounds more than last week but I thought that last week's weight was too light. This feels about right.
Bentover Laterals 20x10
Laterals first round 8x10, second round 10x10
Front Raises 10x10
had planned on doing some incline db benching but called an audible and I am heading back upstairs as soon as I finish typing this sentence so peace out.
Had a good day, drove to downtown Atlanta to grab some food to satisfy my pregnant wife's cravings. Also gave me a chance to give my seventeen year old a baptism of fire in interstate driving. You never feel so alive as when your kid with a learner's permit is going through traffic surrounded by people with a limited grasp of English and their own interpretation of America's driving customs. Great for the cardiovascular system. Anyway, got home and trained my newest Padawan. She came to me because her friends recommended me as a good way to begin to learn discipline and improve her body at the same time. Known her family since she was in single digits in age but she never knew this side of me. Good to have a hand in molding her character along with my wife now that she's a college freshman. I deadlifted afterwards. Here's what I did, as always all weights are in pounds unless noted:
Deadlifts
240x5
290x3
340x2
365x1
390x1
412x1
437x3 (AMRAP set and I'm happiest because I'm down six pounds thanks to the food poisoning but this is 32 pounds heavier than what I could barely single last weekend. I realize that I've pulled 500 in the gym for a double before but for some reason I couldn't get 405 last week and it started messing with my head. This was a good way to bust through that and remember what I can do.)
Conventional Deadlift 3x382x2
Circuit #1 done twice. 45 seconds between sets
KB SL Deadlift 50 each hand x10
One hand KB Swing 50x10
Ab Wheel Rollout 10
Circuit #2 done twice. 40 seconds between sets
One hand deadlift shrug (grab a loaded barbell in the center and lift it with one hand. Then shrug.) 135x8/8. Could only manage 4 with my right hand for some reason.
Hammer Curls 40x10/10
DB Reverse Curls 20x10/10
Behind the back BB wrist curls 135x10
Extended Crunches 10
Forearms are pretty pumped. I think my right side is doing more work than my left during deadlifts causing it to not be as strong in the assistance work. Whatever. What matters is how I look and perform on the platform. Not what I can do in assistance work.
Have a good rest of the weekend and a Happy Father's Day tomorrow!!
Cellardweller
06-21-15, 11:43 am
Great interview with Eric Head in Power. You even got a cameo in a pic styling in an Animal Barbell Club tee. It gives you some perspective on Eric's five foot oneness though. I'm amazed at how strong some of these "little guys" are. I mean, how many guys can do a 3x bodyweight bench? Impressive. That's right up there with Richard's deadlift.
Great interview with Eric Head in Power. You even got a cameo in a pic styling in an Animal Barbell Club tee. It gives you some perspective on Eric's five foot oneness though. I'm amazed at how strong some of these "little guys" are. I mean, how many guys can do a 3x bodyweight bench? Impressive. That's right up there with Richard's deadlift.
I try not to push myself out there as far as my writing on here too much 'cause that's not what this is for but I really appreciate it when somebody I respect sees and enjoys my writing. I'm still working on getting to write for the main site as well so maybe you'll see my stuff on there one day soon.
Eric is gorilla strong for real. I'm about 5'9, 5'10 on a good day and I'm guessing that's why they chose to include that photo. I'd gotten Boombostic (she's one of my GA ABC members) to take the pics since she's trying to get her photography biz off the ground and Eric wants more exposure for his career and his powerlifting team so it was a win for us all and great for Animal since the idea for the article came about during our last Georgia ABC meet up.
Eric's doing pretty well in deadlift and squat now as well, in wraps he's squatting about 4 and deadlifted 4 and a half not long ago. I sort of wish I hadn't done the article until after The Cage cause he made it onto #1 on powerlifting watch all time raw bench record with a meet we did together last December then broke the unofficial record at The Cage for bodyweight bench for reps by pressing his bodyweight 60 times. (Of course he slept the entire way up there and back but hey can't have everything lol)
So after a week of absolutely zero lifting, I was going bananas slowly! The time off apparently was needed though, it's been about a year since I took a week off from any kind of strength work. My right palm had started bothering me and my left shoulder never stopped so I figured it was time to give the old chassis a break. Plus I'm letting Steve Goggins program for me for the next nine weeks leading up to my meet in August and I wanted to come in completely fresh. Speaking of letting Steve program for me, when he says it's going to be a squat day, I can guarantee you that one thing you WILL DO IS SQUAT! We've got a newborn baby girl as of Sunday at 12:34 PM but I was up starting at 3 AM with my wife as her labor began. That affected my energy levels for Monday's training but Cuts plus Shock Therapy took care of that. I crashed hard afterwards though! Here's the day's training:
AM:
pre: Cuts, Pak
Intra: Water
Post: Animal Whey Chocolate Chocolate Chip one scoop to 10 oz water
30 minutes Hamster Time (previously known as Gerbil time but my lovely wife pointed out that Hamsters run in place while gerbils run around in a ball that moves from place to place so since this is supposed to be my jab at treadmill running a name change seemed appropriate)
15 minutes stretching
PM
Pre: Cuts
Intra: Shock Therapy
Post: Animal Whey Chocolate Chocolate Chip one scoop to 10 oz water
DeFranco's Agile 8
Squats
2X135X5
185X3
225x3
275x2
4x295x5
Pause Squats (one second pause at the bottom)
225x5
4x250x3
I did a video, with my son's help, it's black and white 'cause I wanted to play around with my new video editor app. Let me see how the Animal athletes live, sort of. Want to see it? Here it go:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLsJdAECsco
https://youtu.be/gLsJdAECsco
Pre: Cuts
Intra: water
30 minutes treadmill running
10 minutes foam rolling thighs plus mobility
BJ Whitehead
07-01-15, 12:37 am
Nice work!!!
Nice work!!!
Thanks Brother I'm trying!
AM Legs still sore from squatting the other day. Got home from work, told my wife "Happy Anniversary" then plopped my carcass down in an Epsom Salts bath for 20 mins. Took Animal PM, Pak and Flex and hit the rack.
PM
Pre: Cuts
Intra: Juiced Aminos
My wife was able to train a little bit today. She's cleared to walk for short periods so she logged in 8 minutes on the treadmill at a slow pace. Steps are still pretty rough on her so we didn't add anything else. My new daughter got to hang out in the gym for the first time but we didn't want to hurt her ears with the clang and bang so I tried to rack the weights quietly. She slept through my entire session, maybe 'cause my eleven year old was rocking her while he watched a movie on the gym television. Here's the training session:
Bench
135x8
185x5
215x3
Pause Bench
5x245x5
Overhead Press
95x6
115x6
2x135x6
115x6
95x6
Plate Front Raises 4x25x12
Lying Tricep Extensions
65x8 hurt my elbows so I switched to my Ferruggia-Even Esh Bar (like an EliteFTS football bar but this is one Jason Ferruggia and Zach Even Esh had Black Widow Training Gear design http://www.blackwidowtg.com/product_p/bar-zee.htm)
90x6 still hurt so I dropped weight back down
3x60x8
superset with Band Pull Aparts 3x25
Rotator Cuff Cleans
3x15
30 minutes Hamster Time walking pace
Post: Pak
AJones148
07-01-15, 10:34 pm
Your squats are lookin good. And congratulations on your baby!
GunRock
07-01-15, 11:36 pm
Your squats are lookin good. And congratulations on your baby!
thanks Lil Sis. I'm still trying to get tighter in my upper back and brace my abs better but I believe in my heart that once my technique is there, I'll start seeing gains come quickly and once my squat is moving up, so will my deadlift, so will my total.
Pete Rubish
07-02-15, 11:40 am
It's all still up in the air as far as where, but in two years or so we're still thinking about moving to North Georgia or the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area. Have you ever been up near Knoxville and trained at Maxed Out Gym? It has it's own powerlifting room so I'd love to train there full time. Plus it would make it easier to make it to ABC events!
Cellardweller
07-02-15, 12:13 pm
And congratulations on your baby!
Huge congrats!
It's all still up in the air as far as where, but in two years or so we're still thinking about moving to North Georgia or the Oak Ridge, Tennessee area. Have you ever been up near Knoxville and trained at Maxed Out Gym? It has it's own powerlifting room so I'd love to train there full time. Plus it would make it easier to make it to ABC events!
No I've never been there but that would be cool. I'm not far from Chattanooga so I'm down with supporting the Chattanooga ABC events though. I've driven past Knoxville to pick up equipment from Heavy Harris at Dynabody Fitness Equipment (the Go Heavy or Go Home guys) and it's about a six hour one way. I'd do it for an ABC though, heck when I last saw you, I'd just convoyed up to Ohio from GA then turned around and came back down that same night after the National ABC!
We'd love to have you come out on the 25th of this month to the Chattanooga area ABC but I know you've got a business to run and can't be on the road all of the time.
Huge congrats!
Thanks Cell, I'm blessed beyond words.
Came home from work, took PM and hit the rack. Got a call from work at noon which is right in the middle of my sleep cycle. Had to go downstairs to input something. Not happy but it is what it is. Plus side is my dog followed me back upstairs and got into bed with me so I had a furry pillow for until 4pm when my youngest son woke me up to get on the treadmill.
Pre: Cuts
Intra: 25 oz Water
30 minute Hamster Run
10 minutes mobility and foam rolling for upper and lower body. Still sore from squats the other day but I should be good to go tomorrow afternoon to deadlift. Also did diaphragmatic breathing. See video below. Hoping to get some good results in the way of improved squat and deadlift performance.
Ab Wheel Roll outs 3x10
Post: Water, Pak, Flex
10 minutes soaking in Epsom Salts bath
https://youtu.be/zX73Kn_ZHD0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX73Kn_ZHD0
First deadlift session of meet prep and last training session for this week. I had some issues with counting reps so I didn't do all of the planned reps for the work sets. Getting senile I guess. Also, I lost tightness on the last rep of the last work set and I felt it in my lower back. So I'm typing this with a hot pack on my lower back. I've already iced it and I'll ice it again tomorrow. I'm supposed to do cardio tomorrow and I'll probably still walk but no running unless my back feels up to it. I was able to do my accessory lifts but I had to go with a lot less weight than I'd originally planned to use. Oh well, I'm not training to do accessory lifts in competition.
Warm Up DeFranco's Simple Six
Deadlifts
135x8
225x5
315x3
375x3
3x425x5
Goggins SL Deadlifts (rounded back, chin tucked to chest, squeeze the hamstrings and glutes) 4x135x12
Shrugs (wide grip, chin tucked to chest, one second pause at the top) 4x135x15
Here's the video of the deadlifts from today's training:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNlOzcEMj8I
Got some in person coaching from Steve Goggins last night. Session ended up being pretty good but it had a rocky start. A friend of mine was celebrating his 33rd birthday, no family, he's recently divorced so I didn't want him spending his birthday alone. Unfortunately, that meant I was running late to get to Steve's and I HATE being late. So War Machine and I got to Steve's about twenty minutes late and start warming up. My lower back was still a slight question mark despite spending the weekend alternating between Epsom Salts baths and ice packs but whatever. I did some hip flexor stretches and loaded the bar. That's when the trouble started. First of all, Steve wanted me to use kilo plates and I'm completely unfamiliar with them. I've only seen them at meets so I didn't know what colors corresponded with what, next, we squatted out of the monolift and the J hooks were set up so my hands could be outside of them. That meant that when I took the weights off of just one side, unlike on my power rack, it unbalanced the load, the bar tipped up and almost fell on Steve. I must say that he's pretty nimble for a 51 year old. Now I'm ready to head for the hills. But we stayed and ended up having a great squat session.
Steve told me to be more aggressive with my squats, i.e. stop taking all day to go down, just be confident and go down then come up like a MAN. He also corrected my form on band pull aparts, I wasn't going through full range of motion and he gave me some advice about what he saw in my deadlift videos from last week. Biggest thing was that I tend to relax at the top and Steve said I needed to become like a statue in his words. Be rock solid at the top and drive my hips forward to get the last couple of inches. Basically, stop being soft in my lifting. Much needed kick in the trousers. I also got to use a leg press which I usually don't since I don't own one. Here's the workout:
Squat
2x135x5
185x3
225x3
295x3
4x319x3
Pause Squats (one second pause, Steve's idea of one second is a LOT longer than mine but it's all good. He also had me go down so low in the hole that the other guys who were there training, either saw Jesus or were calling Him but they definitely said His name every time I squatted.)
225x5
3x264x3
Leg Press
3x200x12
Got done and headed to a late showing of Terminator: Genisys which was EXCELLENT! Got home at 1:30am. Woke up at 7am and did 30 minutes of hamster running on the treadmill followed by mobility and foam rolling to get ready for bench tomorrow.
Great day. After being a treadmill hamster for thirty minutes, my wife and I took our daughter to meet three of my cousins at the best Ethiopian restaurant in Atlanta. I ate entirely too much and passed out in a food coma on my cousin's couch while War Machine and my other sons enjoyed my cousin's pool and everyone else enjoyed playing with our baby girl. Slept from 3:30 until almost 9pm, drove home groggy but my bench workout was waiting for me on the board. I enter and exit through the gym for just this sort of occasion. When I need to train but I'm not feeling it. Got it in and my son did me the favor of hanging out with me. We had a great conversation about periodizing your life so you can fully enjoy everything you are into AND still meet obligations. Here's the training:
Bench (paused)
135x8, 185x5, 215x3, 5x255x5
Overhead Press
5x95x6
Front Plate Raises 4x25x12
DB Nosecrushers 5x40x8 ( tried to use the bar but elbows hurt too much. Steve agreed that DBs are a better option for me)
Band Pull aparts 3x25 (doing these the way Steve teaches made me use MUCH LESS band tension but I felt the muscles working much better).
Rotator Cuff Cleans 3x8x15
Got done just after midnight.
Pre: Shock Therapy
Post: Pak, Flex and an Ice Pack for my left shoulder
Drove to Tennessee to train with Boo and go scout restaurants for our post training meal after our July ABC.
Good session identified that I've developed a bad habit of letting the bar drift away from me. Going to fix that before the August meet hopefully.
Deadlifts
135x8
225x5
275x3
325x3
385x2
440x3
440x4
440x1
GunRock
07-14-15, 11:21 pm
So if it wasn't clear from my previous post, I tweaked my back deadlifting last Saturday. That made my light day of squats pretty tough to get through. In fact, I didn't make it all the way through, although I ended up doing more weight than I thought. I've been spending a lot of time soaking in Epsom Salts, icing and taking ibuprofen. Here's the damage from Monday's workout:
Squats
135x8
135x5
185x3
215x2
5x225x5
275x2 (I was supposed to do 5x2@275 but as you can see from the video, after one set, I was done.)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAKkxwbC89Q
Still working through low back pain but arching to bench actually helped. Slept face down with heat pad on my back. Last thing I remember as I drifted asleep was my wife massaging a knot in my right glute. Woke up feeling much better and ready to bench. Didn't do any mobility, wanted to see what would happen. Didn't need to do anything until after my first work set and then just stretched my lats for 3 minutes. Took the precaution of wearing my belt on all my standing movements. Here's the training:
Bench (touch & go) 135x8, 185x5, 215x3, 235x1,
Pause Bench
3x265X5
Overhead Press (last two sets behind the neck)
5x115x6
Front raises w/plate 4x12,
Nosecrushers 5x80x6-8
Band pull aparts 3x25
Rotator cuff cleans 3x8x15
So despite having a knot the size of Stone Mountain in my lower back, I went by Steve's to some training in hoping he could correct whatever stupid habit I'd picked up that was making me hurt myself deadlifting. It was a good visit, some people might say I was stupid to train but I think training around an injury is a good habit. You quickly find out when you lose the groove and it was easy to tell whenever I did something wrong. Things Steve fixed were: I was getting air at the bottom instead of the top which made me loosen up, my head and shoulders for some reason had started going in front of the bar instead of in line with it (I pull sumo) and I needed to break from the ground then accelerate instead of trying to explode from the ground. Exploding pulled me out of my groove and onto my toes. Think rocket ship instead of dynamite. I ended up pulling 375 for 3x3 which is a big deal when I was having a hard time getting the 45s off of the weight tree. I also found when I tried to do glute ham raises, that I've got really weak hamstrings so that's a limiting factor in my being able to pull and squat big.
Saturday's Training:
Deadlift
135x8, 225x5, 275x3, 325x3, 3x375x3, 325x3
Shrugs 3x15
Glute Ham Raises total failure. I could only do these by using a band to help me get back up.
Band Pull Aparts 3x25
Rotator Cuff Cleans 3x15 I do these every day now, trying to heal my shoulders and improve my range of motion
Monday's Training
Squat
135x8, 135x5, 185x2, 3x225x5
Pause Squats
3x205x5 (3 second pause at depth)
Good Mornings
45x5, 65x5, 2x85x5
Had a great training session. One of the downsides of having to video the sessions is having to remember to hit record BEFORE starting the set. Today, I forgot and had to lay there with the bar on my chest while War Machine hit the record button. Some might say I should've let it go and maybe I should've but if I'm asking somebody to coach me, I've got to give them the data to coach me. Anyway, completed all of my reps no problem. No pain in the shoulder which was awesome. Last weight session before Saturday's ABC.
Bench
135x8
185x5
215x3
245x1
4x270x4
I was running short on time so I shortened my rest periods to 40 seconds. Had to use less weight but I Got a good sweat going because of it so overall that was a bonus.
Overhead Press 5x95x8
Front Plate Raises 4x25x12
Nosecrushers 5x85x8
Band Pull Aparts 3x25
Rotator Cuff Cleans 3x15
Ab work and conditioning tomorrow along with mobility and foam rolling to get my legs, hips and back ready to deadlift on Saturday. I'd tell you about it, but it's boring.