Hi, Animals,

I know it's been a while, but the last year was NOT what I hoped it would be. Two shows, two crappy placings, and I got REAL depressed. Then I got sick right after Thanksgiving, and only got back in the gym seriously last week.

I need to add mass. I need, particularly, to build up my legs. Unfortunately, thanks to the old nerve damage, I'm having the devil's own time making them grow. I have finally had to give up on the idea of free squatting. I realized it was an "ego" thing, and I wasn't really building my legs with it. So, back to the Smith Machine. Strength is decent. I can hit 225 to parallel, and 8-9 plates a side on the leg press, but the quads just aren't growing. My current gym doesn't have a hack squat, which makes things a challenge.

I'm sorry I kind of dropped off the face of the planet -- the only real highlight last year was getting married, but the year was a financial disaster, I had to give up on the Kentucky Derby show because of funds, and my prep for both the Vulcan Classic and Tricky Jackson Classic were impacted because, frankly, the budget for food was real tight. I was REAL depressed after the Tricky.

I'll go into more over the next few days, but I realized I really needed to get back to the Forum -- the Animal encouragement and spirit have been really missed by me.

Just to get started, here was yesterday's back/biceps session:

Wide Grip Pulldowns: 140x10 180x10 200x9 x8 x6 140x8
Reverse Grip Machine Row: 135x15 150x12 205x10 235x8 x6 295x1 (I had to see if I could move the whole stack -- it was a full rep with a solid squeeze, but damn, it took a while to get there)
Straight Arm Pulldowns: 40x 20 60x15 85x6 (sloppy) 75x8 70x 10 x12
Wide Neutral Grip Low Pulley Rows: 120x15 150x12 180x10 210x8 x6
Rack Deadlifts: 135x12 225x10 x10 315x8 405x1/2 (oh, well) 365x4

Standing Alternate DB Curls: 25x12 40x8 x10 x8 45x 6 50x4
Isolation DB Curls: 15x10 20x8 x8 15x8
Machine Preacher Curls: 80x15 95x12 x10 x10
Rope Handle Cable Hammer Curls: 42.5x15 52.5x10 x10 x8
Reverse Cable Curls: 52.5x12, 57.5x10, x10
DB Wrist Curls: 20x many -- all directions

. . . if anyone wants to see pics, I'll post links.

I'm REALLY looking forward to the Cage -- I need the kick in the pants!