Today's Training Looked Like This:
Free Squat
Raw
55 x 5 x 2 sets
145 x 3
255 x 1
Added Single Ply Titan Super Centurion (straps down)
345 x 1
435 x 1
485 x 1
Straps Up
535 x 1
585 x 1
635 x 1
665 x 1 (15 pound PR)
Reverse Band Free Squat (doubled mini band)
715 x FAIL
715 x 1 (10 pound PR)
Deadlift
Last week of Coan-Phillipi Deadlift Program
135 x 2
225 x 1
315 x 1
405 x 1
475 x 1
515 x 1
555 x 1
585 x 1 (this is my Eastside Deadlift PR, most I have pulled in a long time)
Back off Sets (deficit deadlifts on 1 inch of mats)
435 x 3 sets x 3 reps
Stability Ball Crunches
4 sets x 75 lb dumbbell x 10 reps
This was quite a long session, we started an hour earlier (9 am) to accommodate all the work and I wrapped up at 1:40 pm, which is an average finish time for us. Some of the guys kept going with assistance movements, but I was pretty fried, and was quite happy to come out of today with some PR's despite not really feeling strong today. I broke the weight out of the rack, and I really felt it more than usual, I also felt I wasn't getting back as much as usual on the Squats. I saw video of my squats, and they were decent, but I wasn't exactly satisfied. Nonetheless, 665 came up real easy and is 35 pounds under my goal for my next meet, which we haven't even begun our training cycle for yet. I had some issues with taking too much air on some of my squats and inflating my chest and head area which caused some air issues. That is why my first 715 reverse band is in the book as a fail. I let my air out at the bottom, and my spotters grabbed the bar. On the second 715 Danny suggested I take a little air, swallow it, and push my belly out hard. It made a world of difference.
Deadlifts were a different story today and I felt really strong here. I'm starting to see how my timing and technique are right and dead lifting had felt the most natural to me since I pulled a meet PR 628 raw, and a training PR 650 raw on several occasions. After that my deadlift went to shit. Now it is on its way back. I also think all the extra conditioning I have been doing is helping out major here. Even the 585 today, felt easier than some 500 pound pulls I grinded out back in October when I first came to Eastside. My goal for my next meet is 600, as of now I am confident I can surpass that goal in the fall.
One of my training partners commented that Matt Smith said: "You know you are getting stronger whey your deadlift is going up." I was also told that I am getting stronger, to continue doing what I am doing. I guess I must be making the most out of my assistance training days.
I had a dream last night where I was at a meet and I wasn't getting any Pr's. I squatted 625 opener and missed my next 2 attempts. That was 10 pounds under where I squatted 635 in a wrestling singlet in the video above. Then my bench was shitty. Then I redeemed myself when I pulled 670 with ease.
For a minute today I felt like I was headed into the crapper (like my dream), but all in all, a day with PR's cant be all that bad. Can it?
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Saturday training and more
Today's Training looked like this:
Face Pulls
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Low Cable Horizontal Shrugs (shoulder retraction)
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Barbell Curls
1 set x 45 x 20 reps
4 sets x 95 x 15 reps
Preacher DB Curls
4 sets x 50's x 10 reps
Preacher Machine Curls
5 sets x 120 x 20 reps
This was just a fast session to get some work in and stay fresh for tomorrows max effort free squat and the final session of our Coan - Phillipi deadlift program. Tomorrow is a big day and we are starting an hour earlier to accommodate all the work we have. For our guys doing the Pro- Am tomorrow is their last max effort, the following week is their deload, the following week is rest, and the meet is the week after. I have my airline tickets to Cincinnati Airport of Northern Kentucky. I expect big meets from our guys doing the Powerstation Pro-Am.
It was cool this morning I got to train with Bernard, who was once a member of our World Gym B team for some time. Bernard was classic, I remember one day he didn't want to do an exercise, so I gave him the option to do 20 minutes on the Coochie Machine (or the abductor) while singing I am a little tea cup, or do his sets like a man. Here is what he chose:
Spent some time helping a friend move furniture from a storage locker in Bridgewater, in to his new apartment in Roselle Park so I count that at some GPP. Going to take it easy the rest of today, with the plan to SFW tomorrow!
Face Pulls
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Low Cable Horizontal Shrugs (shoulder retraction)
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Barbell Curls
1 set x 45 x 20 reps
4 sets x 95 x 15 reps
Preacher DB Curls
4 sets x 50's x 10 reps
Preacher Machine Curls
5 sets x 120 x 20 reps
This was just a fast session to get some work in and stay fresh for tomorrows max effort free squat and the final session of our Coan - Phillipi deadlift program. Tomorrow is a big day and we are starting an hour earlier to accommodate all the work we have. For our guys doing the Pro- Am tomorrow is their last max effort, the following week is their deload, the following week is rest, and the meet is the week after. I have my airline tickets to Cincinnati Airport of Northern Kentucky. I expect big meets from our guys doing the Powerstation Pro-Am.
It was cool this morning I got to train with Bernard, who was once a member of our World Gym B team for some time. Bernard was classic, I remember one day he didn't want to do an exercise, so I gave him the option to do 20 minutes on the Coochie Machine (or the abductor) while singing I am a little tea cup, or do his sets like a man. Here is what he chose:
Spent some time helping a friend move furniture from a storage locker in Bridgewater, in to his new apartment in Roselle Park so I count that at some GPP. Going to take it easy the rest of today, with the plan to SFW tomorrow!
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Thursday's Bench Assistance Day
Today's Training Looked Like This:
Dynamic Effort Bench (straight weight)
135 x 3 reps x 2 sets
205 x 3 reps x 6 sets
Dumbbell Bench Press
3 sets x 105's x 10 reps
Incline DB Bench Press
3 sets x 75's x 15 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Incline DB Tate Presses
45's x 8; 50's x 8; 55's x 8; 60's x 8
Cable Pressdowns
4 sets x 245 x 10 reps
All in all it was a decent bench day. I was able to get in more pressing related movements to make up for Mondays true bench only session. I also did upper back yesterday so I was able to do dumbbell movements instead of lat pulldowns and bent over rows.
Big Steve took a shirt for the first time since Skiba's Barbell Club, or should I say late 2010. He actually hit a shirt PR with 465 in a single ply Titan F6. Once he gets the hang of it more and becomes accustomed to flaring, he will be over 500. Solid day.
FC worked 3 boards all day. His sticking point is around the 3 board point, so we focused on his top end today. His main movement was close grip triples to the 3 board, he was able to work up to 2 sets of 3. Then we moved him to regular grip bench to the 3 board raw, where he did 4 sets of 5 with 205. This goes to the point of train what is weak and you will someday be strong. Afterwords he did Tate Presses and Cable Pressdowns
John Bernor giving a brief explanation of how to use a bench shirt. Good video
Dynamic Effort Bench (straight weight)
135 x 3 reps x 2 sets
205 x 3 reps x 6 sets
Dumbbell Bench Press
3 sets x 105's x 10 reps
Incline DB Bench Press
3 sets x 75's x 15 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Incline DB Tate Presses
45's x 8; 50's x 8; 55's x 8; 60's x 8
Cable Pressdowns
4 sets x 245 x 10 reps
All in all it was a decent bench day. I was able to get in more pressing related movements to make up for Mondays true bench only session. I also did upper back yesterday so I was able to do dumbbell movements instead of lat pulldowns and bent over rows.
Big Steve took a shirt for the first time since Skiba's Barbell Club, or should I say late 2010. He actually hit a shirt PR with 465 in a single ply Titan F6. Once he gets the hang of it more and becomes accustomed to flaring, he will be over 500. Solid day.
FC worked 3 boards all day. His sticking point is around the 3 board point, so we focused on his top end today. His main movement was close grip triples to the 3 board, he was able to work up to 2 sets of 3. Then we moved him to regular grip bench to the 3 board raw, where he did 4 sets of 5 with 205. This goes to the point of train what is weak and you will someday be strong. Afterwords he did Tate Presses and Cable Pressdowns
John Bernor giving a brief explanation of how to use a bench shirt. Good video
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Wednesday's Upper Back Training
Lat Pulldowns
6 sets x 300 x 3 reps
Bent Over Rows
135 x 3; 185 x 3; 225 x 3; 275 x 3; 315 x 1
345 x 1 (strict)
355 x 1 (cheated some)
High Cable Close Grip Lat Pulls
4 sets x 90 lbs x 15 reps
Banded Face Pulls
4 sets x doubled purple (light) band x 15 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Banded side bends
2 sets x doubled mini band x 15 reps each side
Standing calf raises
3 sets x 270 x 15 reps
Wednesday is typically hamstring day, but I am saving my legs for Sundays max effort free squat, and the final session of Coan- Phillipi which of course is the heaviest week of the program. I am very excited for Sunday's session. I split my Thursday bench assistance day and did upper back and abs, while tomorrow I will do more bench related movements, and triceps, with abs of course. I may opt out of doing my typical friday cardio as well, or at least limit it to 1-2 miles at most.
Today was a strong day for Big Steve doing week 4 of the Coan- Phillipi deadlift program. As for FC, it was a learning day. Sometimes I learn from watching FC's experience under the bar. He had one of those days where it wasn't the best of days, nor was it the worse of days. I make him tape the mirror when he squats, cause squatting in the mirror causes the onset of the HIV, or in other words it is just plain gay. Theory is this, if you squat in a mirror you will never develop proper technique, and you will become so reliant on the mirror that when you go to a meet you will be all over the place. You can always tell the lifters who train in the mirror at the meet.
Today he didn't have his duct tape, and had to squat in the mirror and I think it cost him. All in all it was a learning day for him, and I'm sure in 4 weeks when he takes his next max effort free squat he will blast through the numbers that he had issue with.
FC's Beginner Squat Program:
week 1- Max Effort Free Squat with Max Effort Deadlifts
week 2- Deload Free Squat with Speed Pulls
week 3- Heavy Box Squats with a special deadlift movement (IE: deficits or rack pulls)
week 4- Speed Box Squats with assistance movements (no deadlifts)
Note: program by Big Daddy Power
6 sets x 300 x 3 reps
Bent Over Rows
135 x 3; 185 x 3; 225 x 3; 275 x 3; 315 x 1
345 x 1 (strict)
355 x 1 (cheated some)
High Cable Close Grip Lat Pulls
4 sets x 90 lbs x 15 reps
Banded Face Pulls
4 sets x doubled purple (light) band x 15 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Banded side bends
2 sets x doubled mini band x 15 reps each side
Standing calf raises
3 sets x 270 x 15 reps
Wednesday is typically hamstring day, but I am saving my legs for Sundays max effort free squat, and the final session of Coan- Phillipi which of course is the heaviest week of the program. I am very excited for Sunday's session. I split my Thursday bench assistance day and did upper back and abs, while tomorrow I will do more bench related movements, and triceps, with abs of course. I may opt out of doing my typical friday cardio as well, or at least limit it to 1-2 miles at most.
Today was a strong day for Big Steve doing week 4 of the Coan- Phillipi deadlift program. As for FC, it was a learning day. Sometimes I learn from watching FC's experience under the bar. He had one of those days where it wasn't the best of days, nor was it the worse of days. I make him tape the mirror when he squats, cause squatting in the mirror causes the onset of the HIV, or in other words it is just plain gay. Theory is this, if you squat in a mirror you will never develop proper technique, and you will become so reliant on the mirror that when you go to a meet you will be all over the place. You can always tell the lifters who train in the mirror at the meet.
Today he didn't have his duct tape, and had to squat in the mirror and I think it cost him. All in all it was a learning day for him, and I'm sure in 4 weeks when he takes his next max effort free squat he will blast through the numbers that he had issue with.
FC's Beginner Squat Program:
week 1- Max Effort Free Squat with Max Effort Deadlifts
week 2- Deload Free Squat with Speed Pulls
week 3- Heavy Box Squats with a special deadlift movement (IE: deficits or rack pulls)
week 4- Speed Box Squats with assistance movements (no deadlifts)
Note: program by Big Daddy Power
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Monday's Moderate Shirt Bench and more
Monday's training looked like this:
Raw bench:
135 x 10 x 2 sets
225 x 10
225 x 1; 275 x 1 x 2 sets; 315 x 1
Shirt Bench
365 x 2 to a 3 board
405 x 1 to a 2 board
455 x 1 to a 1 board
495 x fail
495 x 1 to a 1 board
495 x 1 to a half board
495 x 1
All in all it wasn't my best day, but I didn't gas it all out either. That work took me over 2 hours when you take in to account the large crew we had benching yesterday down at Apollon Gym in Edison. I have been putting the shirt on early on my shirt days to allow it to warm up, and get set right. I do not need a shirt for 365 or 405. 520 was my single ply PR at the SSA Imperium Meet 4/30/2011 at Iron Asylum Gym. The first 495 fail was largely due to a wardrobe malfunction in the form of the shirt just not being set right. Went back and took the same weight 3 times with decreasing boards without incident.
Above is the video of my 520 from that meet. Apologies for the shaky camera in the beginning and the bad music. Before the attempt Dave Kirschen smacked me in the back and my son screamed and grabbed the camera. I made the lift, and that was what mattered.
Took to the park today and hit my 3 mile walk around 1 pm. It was nice and warm but not too terrible today and I finished my 3 miles in 38 minutes, which is a sub 13 minute mile average.
This morning I wandered in to a business meeting, where the guy in the fancy shirt was telling the employees the expectations. I listened for a little bit to his we are at 10% and we need to be at 14%, or the there is no reason we cant get to 20% on these. All of a sudden the light that went on reading the early parts of Dave Tate's Under The Bar kicked in. I realized this guy was telling his unmotivated employees (these guys didn't look like go-getters to me) where they are, and where they need to be. What was missing was the action plan, how do we go from 10% to 14%, how do we achieve that 20%. I used to love that when I worked in business and we'd have meetings, and have numbers and expectations thrown at us without guidance and a course of action. No wonder so many people fail in business they lack the vision that will get them to their goals.
And Dave Tate is living the dream at Elite FTS. Why? Simple, he used the lessons he learned under the bar. I now realize I can too. Powerlifting is applied mathematics to strength training. How do we measure progress in powerlifting? Through numbers, and personal records, as well as meet totals. If I can say I'm going for 1850 at my next meet, but I want to be at 2035, but I fail to prepare for either number I can't be surprised when I do not achieve either metric. If I can game plan for power lifting success, it is reasonable that I can be successful in life by simply applying the same preparation to other aspects of my life and my business goals.
Raw bench:
135 x 10 x 2 sets
225 x 10
225 x 1; 275 x 1 x 2 sets; 315 x 1
Shirt Bench
365 x 2 to a 3 board
405 x 1 to a 2 board
455 x 1 to a 1 board
495 x fail
495 x 1 to a 1 board
495 x 1 to a half board
495 x 1
All in all it wasn't my best day, but I didn't gas it all out either. That work took me over 2 hours when you take in to account the large crew we had benching yesterday down at Apollon Gym in Edison. I have been putting the shirt on early on my shirt days to allow it to warm up, and get set right. I do not need a shirt for 365 or 405. 520 was my single ply PR at the SSA Imperium Meet 4/30/2011 at Iron Asylum Gym. The first 495 fail was largely due to a wardrobe malfunction in the form of the shirt just not being set right. Went back and took the same weight 3 times with decreasing boards without incident.
Above is the video of my 520 from that meet. Apologies for the shaky camera in the beginning and the bad music. Before the attempt Dave Kirschen smacked me in the back and my son screamed and grabbed the camera. I made the lift, and that was what mattered.
Took to the park today and hit my 3 mile walk around 1 pm. It was nice and warm but not too terrible today and I finished my 3 miles in 38 minutes, which is a sub 13 minute mile average.
This morning I wandered in to a business meeting, where the guy in the fancy shirt was telling the employees the expectations. I listened for a little bit to his we are at 10% and we need to be at 14%, or the there is no reason we cant get to 20% on these. All of a sudden the light that went on reading the early parts of Dave Tate's Under The Bar kicked in. I realized this guy was telling his unmotivated employees (these guys didn't look like go-getters to me) where they are, and where they need to be. What was missing was the action plan, how do we go from 10% to 14%, how do we achieve that 20%. I used to love that when I worked in business and we'd have meetings, and have numbers and expectations thrown at us without guidance and a course of action. No wonder so many people fail in business they lack the vision that will get them to their goals.
And Dave Tate is living the dream at Elite FTS. Why? Simple, he used the lessons he learned under the bar. I now realize I can too. Powerlifting is applied mathematics to strength training. How do we measure progress in powerlifting? Through numbers, and personal records, as well as meet totals. If I can say I'm going for 1850 at my next meet, but I want to be at 2035, but I fail to prepare for either number I can't be surprised when I do not achieve either metric. If I can game plan for power lifting success, it is reasonable that I can be successful in life by simply applying the same preparation to other aspects of my life and my business goals.
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Sunday's Dynamic Effort Squats and Assistance Training
Hard Box Squats (Warm Up)
Buffalo Bar
50 x 5 reps x 2 sets
Hard Foam Box Squats
Buffalo Bar
50 x 3 reps
Added Blue (strong) Bands
50 x 2 reps
Added Purple (light) Bands
50 x 2; 140 x 2; 190 x 2; 230 x 2
280 x 2 reps x 3 sets
320 x 2 reps x 2 sets
Banded Good Mornings
4 sets x Blue (strong) Band x 15 reps
super-set with
Banded Stability Ball Sit Ups
4 sets x Purple (light) Band x 15 reps
Seated Calf Raises
4 sets x 70 x 25 reps
Bucket Rows
4 sets x 25's x 10 reps
Standing Close Grip Lat Pulldowns
1 set x 50 x 15 reps
Today was a real solid training day. My technique has really improved since October, as has my confidence, and of course my strength. That was evident today, although it was just a deload type speed day, I felt fast and strong on all my reps. I was able to get down pretty well, and come up strong and fast. The weights all felt so light on my back even with the bands on. We skipped speed pulls this week and focused on accessory work since next week is our heavy Max free squat, and our heavy week of the Coan-Phillipi deadlift program. I will definitely plan my week of training differently due to our big Sunday next week. I hit some hamstrings and ab work, then finished with my prehab work in the form of seated calf raises and bucket rows. Since adding the prehab, all pain and issues in my right ankle are now gone, and the pain in my left shoulder is minimal.
This weeks training plan:
Monday- Shirt work
Tuesday- Walking and Calisthenics
Wednesday- Light Hamstrings and Abs (probably similar to last Wednesday)
Thursday- Bench Assistance, Upper Back, and Triceps
Friday- Rest Day
Saturday- Possible light Lat Work and some Biceps
Buffalo Bar
50 x 5 reps x 2 sets
Hard Foam Box Squats
Buffalo Bar
50 x 3 reps
Added Blue (strong) Bands
50 x 2 reps
Added Purple (light) Bands
50 x 2; 140 x 2; 190 x 2; 230 x 2
280 x 2 reps x 3 sets
320 x 2 reps x 2 sets
Banded Good Mornings
4 sets x Blue (strong) Band x 15 reps
super-set with
Banded Stability Ball Sit Ups
4 sets x Purple (light) Band x 15 reps
Seated Calf Raises
4 sets x 70 x 25 reps
Bucket Rows
4 sets x 25's x 10 reps
Standing Close Grip Lat Pulldowns
1 set x 50 x 15 reps
Today was a real solid training day. My technique has really improved since October, as has my confidence, and of course my strength. That was evident today, although it was just a deload type speed day, I felt fast and strong on all my reps. I was able to get down pretty well, and come up strong and fast. The weights all felt so light on my back even with the bands on. We skipped speed pulls this week and focused on accessory work since next week is our heavy Max free squat, and our heavy week of the Coan-Phillipi deadlift program. I will definitely plan my week of training differently due to our big Sunday next week. I hit some hamstrings and ab work, then finished with my prehab work in the form of seated calf raises and bucket rows. Since adding the prehab, all pain and issues in my right ankle are now gone, and the pain in my left shoulder is minimal.
This weeks training plan:
Monday- Shirt work
Tuesday- Walking and Calisthenics
Wednesday- Light Hamstrings and Abs (probably similar to last Wednesday)
Thursday- Bench Assistance, Upper Back, and Triceps
Friday- Rest Day
Saturday- Possible light Lat Work and some Biceps
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Saturday's Assistance Training and Under The Bar (part 1)
Yesterday I hit my 3 miles right around noon, right after work at Columbia Park in Dunellen. It was hot, well over 100 at that time. Didn't run or jog any of it, but managed to walk 3 miles in 39 miles, a 13 minute mile pace. Not too shabby. It was hard cardio with the heat.
Today's training looked like this:
Close Grip Lat Pulldowns
250 x 8 reps x 4 sets
Neutral Grip Stiff Arm Pulldowns
70 x 12 reps x 3 sets
Decline Situps
12 reps x 3 sets
Barbell Curls
135 x 5 sets x 5 reps
Seated Machine Preacher Curls
120 x 20 reps x 5 sets
Hit the Jersey Shore this morning, it was so hot that the water felt freezing. This is good as I am a firm believer that the Ocean is very therapeutic. I'm known to swim in to November. I love the way all my muscle pain seems to be alleviated after a good soak in the lovely Jersey Shore.
Read the first 2 chapters of Dave Tate's Under The Bar on the beach this morning. The first 2 chapters addressed AIM, VISION, and ATTITUDE. I took the time to define my goals for powerlifting, later I will take the time to re-read those chapters and start to look for my vision for my life in general. My aim for powerlifting is to achieve my elite total. How? Where I want to be: I will need an 800 squat, 600 bench, and a 650 deadlift to achieve this. Where am I now: My goals for my next meet are a 700 squat, a 550 bench, and a 600 deadlift. That would give me an 1850 total, where my desired total will be no less than 1810. An 1810 total would give me a 300 pound improvement over my first meet just 2 years ago. I equate my elite total to the question: how do we eat an elephant? Of course the answer is in small bites. These small bites come in the form of 2 meets a year, where of course improvement is the goal in every meet. How do I ensure improvement? Through flawless execution, attention to detail, enforcement of proper technique, and proper training, proper training partners and education. I also must define goals for my assistance movements to help me to reach these goals. Some small assistance goals of mine are a strict 405 lb bent over row, a strict 315 lb standing overhead press, a 440-470 raw bench press, and to continue to improve my lung capacity and shape through conditioning. And of course it is imperative that I train smart and listen to my body to ensure that I stay injury free.
I've been fortunate to be training with a very solid crew since October, where I have learned so much already, and have corrected my form issues. I have always been strong, but now I have learned how to train my weaknesses, how to properly program through conjugated periodization, and so many other useful things that will help me to attain my goal of an elite total.
Today's training looked like this:
Close Grip Lat Pulldowns
250 x 8 reps x 4 sets
Neutral Grip Stiff Arm Pulldowns
70 x 12 reps x 3 sets
Decline Situps
12 reps x 3 sets
Barbell Curls
135 x 5 sets x 5 reps
Seated Machine Preacher Curls
120 x 20 reps x 5 sets
Hit the Jersey Shore this morning, it was so hot that the water felt freezing. This is good as I am a firm believer that the Ocean is very therapeutic. I'm known to swim in to November. I love the way all my muscle pain seems to be alleviated after a good soak in the lovely Jersey Shore.
Read the first 2 chapters of Dave Tate's Under The Bar on the beach this morning. The first 2 chapters addressed AIM, VISION, and ATTITUDE. I took the time to define my goals for powerlifting, later I will take the time to re-read those chapters and start to look for my vision for my life in general. My aim for powerlifting is to achieve my elite total. How? Where I want to be: I will need an 800 squat, 600 bench, and a 650 deadlift to achieve this. Where am I now: My goals for my next meet are a 700 squat, a 550 bench, and a 600 deadlift. That would give me an 1850 total, where my desired total will be no less than 1810. An 1810 total would give me a 300 pound improvement over my first meet just 2 years ago. I equate my elite total to the question: how do we eat an elephant? Of course the answer is in small bites. These small bites come in the form of 2 meets a year, where of course improvement is the goal in every meet. How do I ensure improvement? Through flawless execution, attention to detail, enforcement of proper technique, and proper training, proper training partners and education. I also must define goals for my assistance movements to help me to reach these goals. Some small assistance goals of mine are a strict 405 lb bent over row, a strict 315 lb standing overhead press, a 440-470 raw bench press, and to continue to improve my lung capacity and shape through conditioning. And of course it is imperative that I train smart and listen to my body to ensure that I stay injury free.
I've been fortunate to be training with a very solid crew since October, where I have learned so much already, and have corrected my form issues. I have always been strong, but now I have learned how to train my weaknesses, how to properly program through conjugated periodization, and so many other useful things that will help me to attain my goal of an elite total.
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Thursday's volume day and random notes
Today's training looked like this:
Dynamic effort bench press vs doubled mini bands
45 x 3 reps x 3 sets
135 x 3 reps x 2 sets
185 x 3 reps x 2 sets
Lat Pulldowns
290 x 3 reps x 6 sets
Bent over rows (strict)
135 x 5; 185 x 5; 235 x 5; 285 x 5; 335 x 2
Bucket rows
25's x 12 reps x 3 sets
Ab pulldowns
120 x 12 reps x 4 sets
Decline sit ups
3 sets x 12 reps
Lying floor DB extensions
50's x 3; 55's x 3; 60's x 3; 65's x 3
Cable pressdowns
235 x 10 reps x 4 sets
As I sit here listening to Grover Washington and drinking my Gatorade, I reflect on today's training session. Solid day, was quite pleased with the 335 double with the bent over rows. Next week I will do 300 lb lat pulldowns for 6 sets of 3, then move up to 6 sets of 4 with 280, then 290, then 300 as the weeks progress. My upper back and triceps have gotten very strong. The cable stack for triceps pressdowns does nothing for me today so we added a quarter to the 210 lb stack. I was able to hit 4 easy sets of ten and keep form.
Steve and FC had a good session today. Today was FC's 22nd birthday so we brought him a copy of Dave Tate's epic novel Under The Bar. To my amazement he is literate, and kept trying to read the book while training. I myself have a copy, and plan on reading it, so we can now discuss our notes on Tate's literature. It looks like a solid read thus far. The World Gym crew (Steve and FC) did 8 sets of 3 with their work weight, and did other accessory work. The 235 on the pressdowns proved to be a bit much for FC, and he backed off on the last 2 sets. On the last set I told him to put 120 on the stack and go to failure, he responded by banging out 60 reps. 60 reps! That's damn proud!
As of next Thursday we should have Kevin Mosley joining us at the World Gym. If it works out I see it as a solid addition. Kevin has competed USAPL, and APA and is a passionate lifter.
Back to Mr. Tate, what the hell happened to the band pack on the elite store? I checked and all they had were long mini and monster mini bands. I checked jump stretch and they had the same availability. What the hell happened to the lights, averages, and strong bands? Did the manufacturers go to Kazakhstan for the Summer?
Dynamic effort bench press vs doubled mini bands
45 x 3 reps x 3 sets
135 x 3 reps x 2 sets
185 x 3 reps x 2 sets
Lat Pulldowns
290 x 3 reps x 6 sets
Bent over rows (strict)
135 x 5; 185 x 5; 235 x 5; 285 x 5; 335 x 2
Bucket rows
25's x 12 reps x 3 sets
Ab pulldowns
120 x 12 reps x 4 sets
Decline sit ups
3 sets x 12 reps
Lying floor DB extensions
50's x 3; 55's x 3; 60's x 3; 65's x 3
Cable pressdowns
235 x 10 reps x 4 sets
As I sit here listening to Grover Washington and drinking my Gatorade, I reflect on today's training session. Solid day, was quite pleased with the 335 double with the bent over rows. Next week I will do 300 lb lat pulldowns for 6 sets of 3, then move up to 6 sets of 4 with 280, then 290, then 300 as the weeks progress. My upper back and triceps have gotten very strong. The cable stack for triceps pressdowns does nothing for me today so we added a quarter to the 210 lb stack. I was able to hit 4 easy sets of ten and keep form.
Steve and FC had a good session today. Today was FC's 22nd birthday so we brought him a copy of Dave Tate's epic novel Under The Bar. To my amazement he is literate, and kept trying to read the book while training. I myself have a copy, and plan on reading it, so we can now discuss our notes on Tate's literature. It looks like a solid read thus far. The World Gym crew (Steve and FC) did 8 sets of 3 with their work weight, and did other accessory work. The 235 on the pressdowns proved to be a bit much for FC, and he backed off on the last 2 sets. On the last set I told him to put 120 on the stack and go to failure, he responded by banging out 60 reps. 60 reps! That's damn proud!
As of next Thursday we should have Kevin Mosley joining us at the World Gym. If it works out I see it as a solid addition. Kevin has competed USAPL, and APA and is a passionate lifter.
Back to Mr. Tate, what the hell happened to the band pack on the elite store? I checked and all they had were long mini and monster mini bands. I checked jump stretch and they had the same availability. What the hell happened to the lights, averages, and strong bands? Did the manufacturers go to Kazakhstan for the Summer?
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Wednesday's Assistance Training and CNS Fatigue
Yesterday:
Walked 3 miles after work in the 95 plus degree heat and hit another mile in the evening.
Today's Training looked like this:
Banded Good Mornings
4 sets x blue (strong) band x 15 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 12 reps
Banded Leg Raises
3 sets x doubled mini band x 12 reps
Decline sit ups
3 sets x 12 reps
banded side bends
2 sets x doubled (light) purple band x 10 reps each side
neck machine
2 sets x 10 reps x 45 lbs to the front, 2 sets to the back, and 2 sets to each side
I'm just trying to take it easy. I think I got the most out of Sunday's circa max work and it had been affecting my CNS. I focused mostly on core work and avoided the hamstrings as I was feeling them all day. I guess between the bands and the heat, I have been affected some. Nonetheless the show must go on. Got in some solid core training today. Steve pulled speed, and FC did speed squats to a box. His form is really coming along.
Tomorrow is upper back and triceps, walking friday, some biceps and light movements Saturday after the beach, speed work Sunday, and Shirt work Monday.
Walked 3 miles after work in the 95 plus degree heat and hit another mile in the evening.
Today's Training looked like this:
Banded Good Mornings
4 sets x blue (strong) band x 15 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 12 reps
Banded Leg Raises
3 sets x doubled mini band x 12 reps
Decline sit ups
3 sets x 12 reps
banded side bends
2 sets x doubled (light) purple band x 10 reps each side
neck machine
2 sets x 10 reps x 45 lbs to the front, 2 sets to the back, and 2 sets to each side
I'm just trying to take it easy. I think I got the most out of Sunday's circa max work and it had been affecting my CNS. I focused mostly on core work and avoided the hamstrings as I was feeling them all day. I guess between the bands and the heat, I have been affected some. Nonetheless the show must go on. Got in some solid core training today. Steve pulled speed, and FC did speed squats to a box. His form is really coming along.
Tomorrow is upper back and triceps, walking friday, some biceps and light movements Saturday after the beach, speed work Sunday, and Shirt work Monday.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Special Exercise and Bench Assistance
My motivation for today's special exercise above.
Overhead Press
45 x 5 x 2 sets
135 x 3; 165 x 1; 195 x 1; 225 x 1
185 x 1 x 2 sets
135 x 15
DB Bench Press
60's x 15; 70's x 15; 80's x 15; 90's x 15
Incline DB Press
75's x 12 reps x 3 sets
Front DB Raises
25's x 12 reps x 3 sets
Incline DB Tate Press
45's x 6; 50's x 6; 55's x 6; 60's x 6
Cable Pressdowns
210 x 10 reps x 4 sets
Today was really a humility day, but a useful day as well for my bench training. These are all exercises I never do with the exception of the triceps work. If you ask me how often I do any overhead press I'd say 4-6 times per year (although I have pressed 315 seated front press), dumbbell bench press 0-2 times per year, and incline dumbbell press 4-6 times per year. The idea was that these exercises will help me develop my low end of the bench. My top end is solid as I am very strong in the triceps and upper back. I've watched Big Steve blast through his lower end simply by doing DB bench as accessory work. I was also reading an old Elite FTS pamphlet on the can where it talked about low end work, so I focused on movements prescribed by Tate. Thanks to my buddy the Masked Bencher for sending along this video at the top, which was my motivation to attack the overhead press today. I feel I had more room to go up after the 225, but for my first time doing the overhead press in years I was satisfied with the 225, and went to back off sets from there. I also trained alone today as Big Enis was running late today, so that influenced my decision to back off after 225 as well.
I looked around at the cast of characters today at the World Gym and I realized that next to these guys I really look like a silverback gorilla, or maybe a grizzly bear who ate a refrigerator. King Kong ain't got nothing on me!
Overhead Press
45 x 5 x 2 sets
135 x 3; 165 x 1; 195 x 1; 225 x 1
185 x 1 x 2 sets
135 x 15
DB Bench Press
60's x 15; 70's x 15; 80's x 15; 90's x 15
Incline DB Press
75's x 12 reps x 3 sets
Front DB Raises
25's x 12 reps x 3 sets
Incline DB Tate Press
45's x 6; 50's x 6; 55's x 6; 60's x 6
Cable Pressdowns
210 x 10 reps x 4 sets
Today was really a humility day, but a useful day as well for my bench training. These are all exercises I never do with the exception of the triceps work. If you ask me how often I do any overhead press I'd say 4-6 times per year (although I have pressed 315 seated front press), dumbbell bench press 0-2 times per year, and incline dumbbell press 4-6 times per year. The idea was that these exercises will help me develop my low end of the bench. My top end is solid as I am very strong in the triceps and upper back. I've watched Big Steve blast through his lower end simply by doing DB bench as accessory work. I was also reading an old Elite FTS pamphlet on the can where it talked about low end work, so I focused on movements prescribed by Tate. Thanks to my buddy the Masked Bencher for sending along this video at the top, which was my motivation to attack the overhead press today. I feel I had more room to go up after the 225, but for my first time doing the overhead press in years I was satisfied with the 225, and went to back off sets from there. I also trained alone today as Big Enis was running late today, so that influenced my decision to back off after 225 as well.
I looked around at the cast of characters today at the World Gym and I realized that next to these guys I really look like a silverback gorilla, or maybe a grizzly bear who ate a refrigerator. King Kong ain't got nothing on me!
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Accomodating Resistance Squats and Coan Phillipi Deads
Buffalo Bar Box Squats
50 x 5 x 3 sets
Added Blue (strong) bands
50 x 3
Added Green (average bands)
50 x 2
Added Purple (light bands)
50 x 1
140 x 1 high (added belt and single ply bottoms here)
190 x 1; 230 x 1; 260 x 1; 290 x 1; 320 x 1; 350 x 1; 380 x 1
Coan Phillipi Deadlift Program Week 5
135 x 2; 225 x 1; 315 x 1; 405 x 1; 455 x 1
Work weight: 495 x 2 (reset double)
Back off sets: 395 x 3 sets x 3 reps on 2 mats
Romanian Deadlifts
225 x 3 sets x 8 reps
Today was my first time squatting against blues, greens, and purple bands. It was a lot of band tension. For my height we estimated it to be at least 450 pounds of extra tension at the top. I found the sets easier once we started putting the plates on. All in all this was a good training day and the 380 vs the bands to the box was strong.
A few notes on box squats:
1) When Box squatting we set the box to proper depth
2) When Box squatting we pause on the box, relaxing our hips and keeping our upper body tight
3) When Box Squatting we wait for an up command to come off the box
4) When Box Squatting descend in a controlled manner and do not crash on the box
I've found the proper depth box squats with the pauses on the box to be very beneficial as I feel they really develop the hip power for the free squats. They also teach to keep the upper body tight throughout the motion. In my early days of box squats I used the box as a depth gauge, I'd go down touch the box, and shoot right back up. The pausing on the box, while it is a tad more humbling, is more beneficial for the development of squatting power.
50 x 5 x 3 sets
Added Blue (strong) bands
50 x 3
Added Green (average bands)
50 x 2
Added Purple (light bands)
50 x 1
140 x 1 high (added belt and single ply bottoms here)
190 x 1; 230 x 1; 260 x 1; 290 x 1; 320 x 1; 350 x 1; 380 x 1
Coan Phillipi Deadlift Program Week 5
135 x 2; 225 x 1; 315 x 1; 405 x 1; 455 x 1
Work weight: 495 x 2 (reset double)
Back off sets: 395 x 3 sets x 3 reps on 2 mats
Romanian Deadlifts
225 x 3 sets x 8 reps
Today was my first time squatting against blues, greens, and purple bands. It was a lot of band tension. For my height we estimated it to be at least 450 pounds of extra tension at the top. I found the sets easier once we started putting the plates on. All in all this was a good training day and the 380 vs the bands to the box was strong.
A few notes on box squats:
1) When Box squatting we set the box to proper depth
2) When Box squatting we pause on the box, relaxing our hips and keeping our upper body tight
3) When Box Squatting we wait for an up command to come off the box
4) When Box Squatting descend in a controlled manner and do not crash on the box
I've found the proper depth box squats with the pauses on the box to be very beneficial as I feel they really develop the hip power for the free squats. They also teach to keep the upper body tight throughout the motion. In my early days of box squats I used the box as a depth gauge, I'd go down touch the box, and shoot right back up. The pausing on the box, while it is a tad more humbling, is more beneficial for the development of squatting power.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Saturday training and my plea to the screamer
Today's Training looked like this:
Lat Pulldowns
4 sets x 220 x 8 reps
Neutral Grip Stiff Arm Pulldowns
4 sets x 70 x 15 reps
Trap Bar Bucket Rows
45 x 15; 65 x 15; 85 x 15 x 2 sets
Cambered Preacher Curls
4 sets x 80 x 15 reps
Machine Preacher Curls
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Just an extra day of training where I decided to hit upper back accessory and some biceps work. Nothing crazy. Keeping it simple cause tomorrow is Accommodating Resistance against Blue and Green Bands followed by week 5 of the Coan Phillipi deadlift program. Serious work ahead tomorrow.
My plea to the screamer
I get it. You are hardcore! You are the man! Everyone should take notice of you cause you are screaming while you are training! The truth of the matter is you are an ass clown. ASS CLOWN! You are screaming like you did when you got raped in Northern State Prison. You are not hardcore, the hardcore don't scream while doing cable crossovers. The hardcore do not even do cable crossover, or pec machine flyes, or any of your other favorite exercises. This clown today looked straight out of Northern State with gardener gloves on. Gardening gloves! I was gonna ask him if he screamed like this when he prunes bushes. I figured he liked screaming like this when the lights went down at night during his prison stay. It is not hardcore. There were 7 people in the gym today. 5 of them were stronger than you. No one else was screaming. Take notice, stop screaming, focus on training, and please shut the fuck up.
If for no other reason than this stop screaming! You can not control your air to the best of your ability while training when you are screaming!
Lat Pulldowns
4 sets x 220 x 8 reps
Neutral Grip Stiff Arm Pulldowns
4 sets x 70 x 15 reps
Trap Bar Bucket Rows
45 x 15; 65 x 15; 85 x 15 x 2 sets
Cambered Preacher Curls
4 sets x 80 x 15 reps
Machine Preacher Curls
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Just an extra day of training where I decided to hit upper back accessory and some biceps work. Nothing crazy. Keeping it simple cause tomorrow is Accommodating Resistance against Blue and Green Bands followed by week 5 of the Coan Phillipi deadlift program. Serious work ahead tomorrow.
My plea to the screamer
I get it. You are hardcore! You are the man! Everyone should take notice of you cause you are screaming while you are training! The truth of the matter is you are an ass clown. ASS CLOWN! You are screaming like you did when you got raped in Northern State Prison. You are not hardcore, the hardcore don't scream while doing cable crossovers. The hardcore do not even do cable crossover, or pec machine flyes, or any of your other favorite exercises. This clown today looked straight out of Northern State with gardener gloves on. Gardening gloves! I was gonna ask him if he screamed like this when he prunes bushes. I figured he liked screaming like this when the lights went down at night during his prison stay. It is not hardcore. There were 7 people in the gym today. 5 of them were stronger than you. No one else was screaming. Take notice, stop screaming, focus on training, and please shut the fuck up.
If for no other reason than this stop screaming! You can not control your air to the best of your ability while training when you are screaming!
Friday, July 15, 2011
Band setup made easy
The video is above, for the description read on.
First the video was shot one take, no editing, no script, all improv. That said I think we did a good job getting the video up. Thanks to Big Steve on assisting me here, and thanks to Dan at the World Gym Dunellen for his camera work.
I have been doing straight weight speed bench for the past several months and I have grown tired of it. I wanted to incorporate bands to my speed bench. When it came time to do this it was harder than I imagined. Our first power rack is an old very shallow power rack, and it doesn't give you adequate room to move plates with a full range of motion without hitting the posts. Our second power rack would be ideal, except for the fact that it isn't bolted down. (For those of you who don't know if you choke bands from the bottom of a power rack that isn't bolted, when the weight moves up so does the power rack. I learned this at Skiba's Gym in Carteret doing rack pulls vs average bands. I did not know at the time the rack wasn't bolted down. I soon learned.)
We proceeded to the benches, where none of the benches had anything we could use to set up the bands. (I know this is a problem at a lot of Commercial Gyms, improper benches. Don't get me wrong the bench at World Gym is adequate to bench in, but inadequate for band set up. The guys at Apollon used to have this issue before Irina got them a Metal Militia bench. They used to do all of their benching in the power rack.) I knew there had to be a solution, I thought for about 5 minutes and came up with what you see in the above video. We have found it to work really well, the band tension is even on both sides, the plates do not move during the bench workout. So far this has been a huge success for us, and we wanted to share it with everyone else who has the same issues.
For those of you who have never seen a legitimate bench I wanted to include a picture above. This is the Heavy duty bench available from Elite fts. If you notice on the bottom there are pegs coming out from the legs. The purpose of those pegs is to incorporate bands. If your bench does not look like the one above, then the method in our video is for you.
WARNING: Make sure that the bench you choose to do this set up from has a solid lip on the uprights so that the bands don't propel the bar off of the uprights. Only safety issue we have found thus far.
As far as training goes, I already foam rolled after work today, and did some foam roller sit ups. When my son gets up from his nap we have a 3 plus mile walk ahead of us.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
Thursday Bench, Hot Pink, and Meathead's Wet Dream
Today's Training looked like this:
Dynamic Effort Bench Press vs Doubled Mini Bands
45 x 3 reps x 3 sets
135 x 3 reps x 2 sets
185 x 3 reps x 3 sets
Lat Pulldowns
280 x 6 sets x 3 reps
Seated Cable Rows
285 x 5 sets x 5 reps
Ab Pulldowns
120 x 4 sets x 12 reps
Lying Floor DB Triceps Extensions
45s x 6; 50's x 6; 55's x 6; 60's x 6
Cable Pressdowns
210 x 4 sets x 10 reps
Hot Pink:
So Steve and FC were benching max effort raw today. Big Steve had a mighty strong effort crushing a 385, which matched his PR from the APA NJ Summer Bash last summer. Now to FC, who has been showing major progress, but was once in atleast remedial classes. FC hit his 245 raw bench easily. 255 is his PR but he has potential for much more. He took 265 on the next set and missed. So before he took the weight again, a weight we knew he could smoke we told him if he misses he has to put McTarnahan's Hot Pink lotion on his balls. Or he can take a big handful and go rub it on homeless guy's head. We figured he'd smoke the 265. He didn't. He proceeded to take the hot pink put it on both hands and stick both hands down his pants!!!!!!!!!! WTF?! As funny as this was I was kinda concerned about the kid, never expected him to do it, and was shocked. I could tell it was kicking in fast and I told him to go to the bathroom and wash. He ran! About a minute later one of the Mexicans came running out of the bathroom. About 5 minutes went by and we decided we had to check on FC. We headed to the bathroom, me being the homophobe I am, I let Steve go in first. Steve entered to see a naked FC fanning his sack. Luckily FC was ok, and a lesson was learned by all. FC learned not to apply liniments to his scrotum, and we learned to be careful what we ask the mentally challenged to do.
Meathead's Wet Dream
So after training I took my son to Columbia Park in Dunellen so he can tire himself out so I can go to sleep nice and early. Upon following him around we passed by the tennis courts where there were two 45 pound plates sitting there on the ground! I canvased the area to see if I could see anyone who looked like they may have lost plates. Now to me, finding plates is like most people finding a lost dog. I decided I must do what I am expected to do as a brother of the iron, I played DYFS to these plates and found them a new home, with me! Score one of the big guy! God is good all the time, now if I find a mastodon bar in a bush tomorrow, I am going to church twice Sunday.
Tomorrow's blog post:
Tomorrow I will finally reveal to the World how this procrastinator came up with a way for lifters to incorporate bands into their bench training even when the benches don't allow for bands, or if they have a situation like in our case where the power rack isn't bolted down. I will show how I came up with a solution to this problem. And yes, this is how I have been doing my dynamic effort work vs bands.
Dynamic Effort Bench Press vs Doubled Mini Bands
45 x 3 reps x 3 sets
135 x 3 reps x 2 sets
185 x 3 reps x 3 sets
Lat Pulldowns
280 x 6 sets x 3 reps
Seated Cable Rows
285 x 5 sets x 5 reps
Ab Pulldowns
120 x 4 sets x 12 reps
Lying Floor DB Triceps Extensions
45s x 6; 50's x 6; 55's x 6; 60's x 6
Cable Pressdowns
210 x 4 sets x 10 reps
Hot Pink:
So Steve and FC were benching max effort raw today. Big Steve had a mighty strong effort crushing a 385, which matched his PR from the APA NJ Summer Bash last summer. Now to FC, who has been showing major progress, but was once in atleast remedial classes. FC hit his 245 raw bench easily. 255 is his PR but he has potential for much more. He took 265 on the next set and missed. So before he took the weight again, a weight we knew he could smoke we told him if he misses he has to put McTarnahan's Hot Pink lotion on his balls. Or he can take a big handful and go rub it on homeless guy's head. We figured he'd smoke the 265. He didn't. He proceeded to take the hot pink put it on both hands and stick both hands down his pants!!!!!!!!!! WTF?! As funny as this was I was kinda concerned about the kid, never expected him to do it, and was shocked. I could tell it was kicking in fast and I told him to go to the bathroom and wash. He ran! About a minute later one of the Mexicans came running out of the bathroom. About 5 minutes went by and we decided we had to check on FC. We headed to the bathroom, me being the homophobe I am, I let Steve go in first. Steve entered to see a naked FC fanning his sack. Luckily FC was ok, and a lesson was learned by all. FC learned not to apply liniments to his scrotum, and we learned to be careful what we ask the mentally challenged to do.
Meathead's Wet Dream
So after training I took my son to Columbia Park in Dunellen so he can tire himself out so I can go to sleep nice and early. Upon following him around we passed by the tennis courts where there were two 45 pound plates sitting there on the ground! I canvased the area to see if I could see anyone who looked like they may have lost plates. Now to me, finding plates is like most people finding a lost dog. I decided I must do what I am expected to do as a brother of the iron, I played DYFS to these plates and found them a new home, with me! Score one of the big guy! God is good all the time, now if I find a mastodon bar in a bush tomorrow, I am going to church twice Sunday.
Tomorrow's blog post:
Tomorrow I will finally reveal to the World how this procrastinator came up with a way for lifters to incorporate bands into their bench training even when the benches don't allow for bands, or if they have a situation like in our case where the power rack isn't bolted down. I will show how I came up with a solution to this problem. And yes, this is how I have been doing my dynamic effort work vs bands.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Wednesday's Posterior Chain Assistance Day
Today's training looked like this:
Monster walk
2 sets up and back 5 times each set
Arch back good mornings
45 x 15; 135 x 12; 185 x 10; 225 x 8
Banded good mornings
4 sets x Strong (blue) band x 15 reps
Pull throughs
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Ab pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Today we shot the video of the band set up, most likely you can expect that up tomorrow. Im also planning on doing some dynamic effort bench press with the mini bands tomorrow again.
Today's session was real good. FC took a box squat, and finished with reverse bands to 485. Solid day from FC. Steve pulled big as well.
Monster walk
2 sets up and back 5 times each set
Arch back good mornings
45 x 15; 135 x 12; 185 x 10; 225 x 8
Banded good mornings
4 sets x Strong (blue) band x 15 reps
Pull throughs
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Ab pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Today we shot the video of the band set up, most likely you can expect that up tomorrow. Im also planning on doing some dynamic effort bench press with the mini bands tomorrow again.
Today's session was real good. FC took a box squat, and finished with reverse bands to 485. Solid day from FC. Steve pulled big as well.
Monday, July 11, 2011
Monday Bench Training
Today's Training looked like this:
Bench Press (warm up)
45 x 8 reps x 4 sets; 135 x 8 reps; 185 x 8 reps
Raw Close Grip Rack Lockouts (pin 22)
135 x 3; 225 x 3; 315 x 1; 365 x 1; 405 x 1; 455 x 1; 495 x 1
545 x 1
575 x 1
590 x 1 (5 pound personal record)
600 x Fail
535 x 1 x 2 sets
Close Grip Bench Press
135 x 8; 185 x 3; 225 x 3; 275 x11
Bench Press
275 x 12
Triceps Press downs with Thick V-Handle
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Notes:
Took it to Apollon Gym once again today to get in some bench work. My main movement today was the rack lockouts, 590 was a 5 pound personal record. I missed locking out 600. Followed this up with some repetition work. Today was a triceps heavy focus day, so I am going to focus more on upper back on Thursday after my speed bench vs mini bands. All in all a good day.
Tomorrow: Walking
Wednesday: Posterior Chain Assistance
Thursday: Speed Bench, Upper Back, Triceps
Friday: Walking
Bench Press (warm up)
45 x 8 reps x 4 sets; 135 x 8 reps; 185 x 8 reps
Raw Close Grip Rack Lockouts (pin 22)
135 x 3; 225 x 3; 315 x 1; 365 x 1; 405 x 1; 455 x 1; 495 x 1
545 x 1
575 x 1
590 x 1 (5 pound personal record)
600 x Fail
535 x 1 x 2 sets
Close Grip Bench Press
135 x 8; 185 x 3; 225 x 3; 275 x11
Bench Press
275 x 12
Triceps Press downs with Thick V-Handle
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
Notes:
Took it to Apollon Gym once again today to get in some bench work. My main movement today was the rack lockouts, 590 was a 5 pound personal record. I missed locking out 600. Followed this up with some repetition work. Today was a triceps heavy focus day, so I am going to focus more on upper back on Thursday after my speed bench vs mini bands. All in all a good day.
Tomorrow: Walking
Wednesday: Posterior Chain Assistance
Thursday: Speed Bench, Upper Back, Triceps
Friday: Walking
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Sunday De-load session and boxing commentary
Today's de-load training looked like this:
Box Squat:
55 x 3 reps x 2 sets
145 x 3 reps x 2 sets
235 x 2 reps
285 x 2 reps
325 x 2 reps x 2 sets
355 x 2 reps x 3 sets
385 x 2 reps x 3 sets
415 x 2 reps
Speed Pulls (speed deadlifts)
135 x 1; 225 x 1; 275 x 1; 315 x 1
365 x 1 rep x 3 sets
405 x 1 rep x 3 sets
Pull Throughs
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
45 degree Back Extensions
4 sets x 10 reps
Reverse Hyper-extensions
3 sets x 70 x 8 reps
Notes:
We took the show on the road this morning and we squatted at Apollon Gym in Edison NJ. We squatted on the monolift. This has only been the third time I have used a monolift since I joined Eastside Barbell in October. Although I used the monolift for the year and a half prior while training at Skiba's Barbell Club, it takes some readjustment when using the monolift. In a strange side note, I had absolutely no issues with the monolift at Iron Asylum Gym when I competed there in April. Nonetheless, it wasn't terrible because it was a de-load day, and by the end I had my issues straightened out, and managed some good reps at 385 and 415. It also goes to show me I have gotten really comfortable working out of the rack we use on Sundays, and getting in a monolift a little more often will only benefit me when my next meet comes.
It was a good day, 3 of us went down and got our session in. We were followed up by the Apollon crew, who was squatting on a Sunday because Apollon hosted an APA Powerlifting meet yesterday. Congratulations go out to Aaron Landy who brought home a best lifter award yesterday for the deadlift, and set a state record as well!
After training I took my son and his little blue truck to Colombia Park in Dunellen and knocked out 2 quick miles. I followed the walk up with some swimming. I have really grown to like the extra bit of conditioning I have been doing. I also think I have been sleeping better since adding the conditioning work.
Unrelated topic:
Completely unrelated to powerlifting, but last night I watched the Paul Williams - Erislandy Lara boxing fight on HBO. This was a junior middleweight fight. The bout was held in Atlantic City, and was sanctioned by the New Jersey Athletic Commission. I prefaced this by saying that Paul Williams is one of my favorite fighters, and I usually watch his fights through slightly biased eyes. Paul Williams improved to 40-2 with a majority decision last night. However, I watched all 12 rounds and I feel the judges could not have done a more terrible job. Erislandy Lara clearly won the fight last night, I saw it, HBO's commentary team saw it, Harold Lederman saw it, and the fans who booed afterwords saw it as well. In fact Williams own corner saw it as well, as later in the fight they began to tell him he would need a knockout to win the fight. I think it is a travesty, that a young fighter like Lara had to take a blemish on his record (now 15-1-1) in what should have been thus far the defining fight on his career resume. Williams will go on and look for a rubber match with Sergio Martinez (who I have ranked as the no 2 pound 4 pound fighter in the World today). I wish both of these fighters the best moving forward, and I hope that the New Jersey Athletic Commission will re-evaluate the judges who scored the fight last night.
Box Squat:
55 x 3 reps x 2 sets
145 x 3 reps x 2 sets
235 x 2 reps
285 x 2 reps
325 x 2 reps x 2 sets
355 x 2 reps x 3 sets
385 x 2 reps x 3 sets
415 x 2 reps
Speed Pulls (speed deadlifts)
135 x 1; 225 x 1; 275 x 1; 315 x 1
365 x 1 rep x 3 sets
405 x 1 rep x 3 sets
Pull Throughs
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
45 degree Back Extensions
4 sets x 10 reps
Reverse Hyper-extensions
3 sets x 70 x 8 reps
Notes:
We took the show on the road this morning and we squatted at Apollon Gym in Edison NJ. We squatted on the monolift. This has only been the third time I have used a monolift since I joined Eastside Barbell in October. Although I used the monolift for the year and a half prior while training at Skiba's Barbell Club, it takes some readjustment when using the monolift. In a strange side note, I had absolutely no issues with the monolift at Iron Asylum Gym when I competed there in April. Nonetheless, it wasn't terrible because it was a de-load day, and by the end I had my issues straightened out, and managed some good reps at 385 and 415. It also goes to show me I have gotten really comfortable working out of the rack we use on Sundays, and getting in a monolift a little more often will only benefit me when my next meet comes.
It was a good day, 3 of us went down and got our session in. We were followed up by the Apollon crew, who was squatting on a Sunday because Apollon hosted an APA Powerlifting meet yesterday. Congratulations go out to Aaron Landy who brought home a best lifter award yesterday for the deadlift, and set a state record as well!
After training I took my son and his little blue truck to Colombia Park in Dunellen and knocked out 2 quick miles. I followed the walk up with some swimming. I have really grown to like the extra bit of conditioning I have been doing. I also think I have been sleeping better since adding the conditioning work.
Unrelated topic:
Completely unrelated to powerlifting, but last night I watched the Paul Williams - Erislandy Lara boxing fight on HBO. This was a junior middleweight fight. The bout was held in Atlantic City, and was sanctioned by the New Jersey Athletic Commission. I prefaced this by saying that Paul Williams is one of my favorite fighters, and I usually watch his fights through slightly biased eyes. Paul Williams improved to 40-2 with a majority decision last night. However, I watched all 12 rounds and I feel the judges could not have done a more terrible job. Erislandy Lara clearly won the fight last night, I saw it, HBO's commentary team saw it, Harold Lederman saw it, and the fans who booed afterwords saw it as well. In fact Williams own corner saw it as well, as later in the fight they began to tell him he would need a knockout to win the fight. I think it is a travesty, that a young fighter like Lara had to take a blemish on his record (now 15-1-1) in what should have been thus far the defining fight on his career resume. Williams will go on and look for a rubber match with Sergio Martinez (who I have ranked as the no 2 pound 4 pound fighter in the World today). I wish both of these fighters the best moving forward, and I hope that the New Jersey Athletic Commission will re-evaluate the judges who scored the fight last night.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Friday off and Saturday biceps training
Friday:
Scheduled day off training, took it to Columbia Park in Dunellen once again and hit 3 miles. The goal was 3-5 miles, but due to the heat and having my son with me I called it after 3 miles. Followed up with foam rolling and stretching. I'm starting to notice an improvement in my lung capacity already from a couple weeks of extra walking.
Saturday:
Hit the Jersey Shore bright and early. Took 2 walks barefoot along the water, and mostly in the water of roughly 1 mile each time. I found walking along the beach barefoot by the water to be great ankle stability work after I came back from my broken ankle a couple of years back. Today I did it for the cardio as I wasn't planning on training at all today.
Change of plans, I hit the World Gym in the afternoon and decided to hit some biceps. Years back I used to train legendary biceps and arms sessions, but I have really pulled back on the biceps training as they are merely a show muscle, and truly do not serve a purpose for powerlifting. If you want to push it you can always say that you are training biceps so that your bench shirt fits tighter on your arms giving you more pop.
I am know around the Plainfield area as the dude with the big ass arms, so I decided to give biceps their own day today. It looked like this:
Barbell Curls
45 x 15; 135 x 5; 155 x 3; 175 x 2; 200 x1
Preacher Cambered Bar Curls
4 sets x 95 x 10 reps
Cambered Bar Reverse Curls
45 x 15; 75 x 15; 95 x 15; 105 x 15
Machine Preacher Curls
5 sets x 100 x 20 reps
Tomorrow:
Deload Squat session, speed pulls and assistance
Scheduled day off training, took it to Columbia Park in Dunellen once again and hit 3 miles. The goal was 3-5 miles, but due to the heat and having my son with me I called it after 3 miles. Followed up with foam rolling and stretching. I'm starting to notice an improvement in my lung capacity already from a couple weeks of extra walking.
Saturday:
Hit the Jersey Shore bright and early. Took 2 walks barefoot along the water, and mostly in the water of roughly 1 mile each time. I found walking along the beach barefoot by the water to be great ankle stability work after I came back from my broken ankle a couple of years back. Today I did it for the cardio as I wasn't planning on training at all today.
Change of plans, I hit the World Gym in the afternoon and decided to hit some biceps. Years back I used to train legendary biceps and arms sessions, but I have really pulled back on the biceps training as they are merely a show muscle, and truly do not serve a purpose for powerlifting. If you want to push it you can always say that you are training biceps so that your bench shirt fits tighter on your arms giving you more pop.
I am know around the Plainfield area as the dude with the big ass arms, so I decided to give biceps their own day today. It looked like this:
Barbell Curls
45 x 15; 135 x 5; 155 x 3; 175 x 2; 200 x1
Preacher Cambered Bar Curls
4 sets x 95 x 10 reps
Cambered Bar Reverse Curls
45 x 15; 75 x 15; 95 x 15; 105 x 15
Machine Preacher Curls
5 sets x 100 x 20 reps
Tomorrow:
Deload Squat session, speed pulls and assistance
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Thursday's bench assistance training
Today's Training Looked Like This:
Speed Bench vs Doubled Mini Bands
3 sets x 45 x 3 reps
2 sets x 135 x 3 reps
3 sets x 185 x 3 reps
Bent Over Rows
135 x 5 reps
185 x 5 reps
235 x 5 reps
285 x 5 reps
Lat Pulldowns
5 sets x 280 x 5 reps
Ab Pulldowns
5 sets x 120 x 12 reps
Lying Floor DB Extensions (week 1 of 3)
35's x 8; 40's x 8; 45's x 8; 50's x 8
Cable Pressdowns
4 sets x 150 x 20 reps
Notes on Today's training:
It was a good session for everyone in our little group at the World Gym. We suffer from a problem many commercial gyms have, which is a lack of legit benches to chalk up the bands from. For example, if we had a Forza or a Metal Militia bench we would have places on the bottom of the bench specifically to hang bands from. The benches at World Gym Dunellen, do not. I came up with a very innovative way to incorporate bands to bench work, where the benches are not band friendly. Expect an instructional video and a pictures in the near future showing my solution.
The doubled mini bands added about 125 lbs to the top end of the bench. In my first week back to dynamic effort bench work I didn't want to go too crazy. I took 400 raw on Monday, and I am due to join the guys in Edison on Monday for more bench work. The speed bench felt great, and the shoulder was pain free during the entire session. Today was a speed / de-load day for Big Steve and Short Bus (fka FC). Big Steve took the speed triples with me. This was Short Busses first day against bands, and he handled 185 plus the doubled bands for strong singles.
By the way, Big Steve is now on twitter and you can follow him @ThirdShiftSteve.
Speed Bench vs Doubled Mini Bands
3 sets x 45 x 3 reps
2 sets x 135 x 3 reps
3 sets x 185 x 3 reps
Bent Over Rows
135 x 5 reps
185 x 5 reps
235 x 5 reps
285 x 5 reps
Lat Pulldowns
5 sets x 280 x 5 reps
Ab Pulldowns
5 sets x 120 x 12 reps
Lying Floor DB Extensions (week 1 of 3)
35's x 8; 40's x 8; 45's x 8; 50's x 8
Cable Pressdowns
4 sets x 150 x 20 reps
Notes on Today's training:
It was a good session for everyone in our little group at the World Gym. We suffer from a problem many commercial gyms have, which is a lack of legit benches to chalk up the bands from. For example, if we had a Forza or a Metal Militia bench we would have places on the bottom of the bench specifically to hang bands from. The benches at World Gym Dunellen, do not. I came up with a very innovative way to incorporate bands to bench work, where the benches are not band friendly. Expect an instructional video and a pictures in the near future showing my solution.
The doubled mini bands added about 125 lbs to the top end of the bench. In my first week back to dynamic effort bench work I didn't want to go too crazy. I took 400 raw on Monday, and I am due to join the guys in Edison on Monday for more bench work. The speed bench felt great, and the shoulder was pain free during the entire session. Today was a speed / de-load day for Big Steve and Short Bus (fka FC). Big Steve took the speed triples with me. This was Short Busses first day against bands, and he handled 185 plus the doubled bands for strong singles.
By the way, Big Steve is now on twitter and you can follow him @ThirdShiftSteve.
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Wednesday Posterior Chain Training
Today's Training looked like this:
Arch Back Good Mornings
45 x 15; 135 x 15; 185 x 12; 225 x 6
Banded Good Mornings
4 sets x Blue (strong) Band x 15 reps
Pull Throughs
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
45 degree Back Extensions
4 sets x Green (average) Band x 10 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Notes on today's training:
My hamstrings are still really feeling it from Sunday's max effort session plus the cardio sessions from Monday and Tuesday. But from all the posterior chain work my hamstrings are both getting stronger, and more muscular as well. Also from all the posterior chain work I have found lower back pain to be a thing of the past. Usually we hold a 45 pound plate for the back extensions but today we opted to choke an average band instead. We had to choke the band up around the bottom of the extension to keep tension throughout the entire movement. Before we did this there was too much deload on the band at the bottom.
As for the crew, today was a more lax day. Big Steve speed pulled 365, and FC deload free squatted 275, and speed pulled 365. Then assistance work was done by all. A note on squat position: while watching FC today I realized he was pitching forward more than usual. I looked at his footwear and he had skechers on. I had him remove the skechers and squat in his socks and his form really improved. He has made a lot of progress in a month and a half of squatting under my tutelage.
Back at it tomorrow with speed bench vs monster mini bands, upper back, and triceps assistance.
Arch Back Good Mornings
45 x 15; 135 x 15; 185 x 12; 225 x 6
Banded Good Mornings
4 sets x Blue (strong) Band x 15 reps
Pull Throughs
4 sets x 150 x 15 reps
45 degree Back Extensions
4 sets x Green (average) Band x 10 reps
Ab Pulldowns
4 sets x 120 x 15 reps
Notes on today's training:
My hamstrings are still really feeling it from Sunday's max effort session plus the cardio sessions from Monday and Tuesday. But from all the posterior chain work my hamstrings are both getting stronger, and more muscular as well. Also from all the posterior chain work I have found lower back pain to be a thing of the past. Usually we hold a 45 pound plate for the back extensions but today we opted to choke an average band instead. We had to choke the band up around the bottom of the extension to keep tension throughout the entire movement. Before we did this there was too much deload on the band at the bottom.
As for the crew, today was a more lax day. Big Steve speed pulled 365, and FC deload free squatted 275, and speed pulled 365. Then assistance work was done by all. A note on squat position: while watching FC today I realized he was pitching forward more than usual. I looked at his footwear and he had skechers on. I had him remove the skechers and squat in his socks and his form really improved. He has made a lot of progress in a month and a half of squatting under my tutelage.
Back at it tomorrow with speed bench vs monster mini bands, upper back, and triceps assistance.
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Tuesday's Day off training and general thoughts
Today as always is an off day from training. But in keeping with the general conditioning kick I have been on, I took it to Columbia Park in Dunellen and took a 3 mile walk around the track. Columbia Park has a real nice half mile loop that goes around the running track, football field, and 2 baseball fields. I walked the loop 6 times while pushing my son in his blue truck.
As for the conditioning, I'm trying to get enough conditioning that I can increase my general physical preparedness (GPP) while also increasing my lung capacity. I figure if I'm going to get after 800 pound squats in the near future, I have to have the lung capacity to hold my air through the lift without passing out. Here is where the conditioning comes in. I've even talked about this with my training partners who have been encouraging me to continue walking, and say there is nothing wrong with hitting 15 minutes of cardio as well once or twice a week.
I am amazed however at the general laziness of the average American. I have never been a guy who was afraid to walk. I will walk somewhere 2 miles or more away without thinking about it, even when I'm not on a GPP kick. The comments people make just reflect their attitudes, and the way Americans have become so reliant on automobiles, that the thought of walking is to them preposterous. You walked?!? Is your car broken?!? Why did you do that?!? And we wonder why America is battling an obesity epidemic like never before.
The other day I watched They Live with Rowdy Roddy Piper and it made me think of how advertising manipulates our thinking. People actually believe that Nutella is healthy and part of a balanced breakfast because the commercial said so. That is the job of marketing, to sell us on lies. As my man Flava Flav once said, Don't Believe The Hype. Thats part of the problem, people believe what they are told, and do not question things. I mean if people will believe Nutella is part of a balanced breakfast, then I want those people to holla at me, I got magic beans for sale.
"The unexamined life is not worth living."
-Socrates
In closing, I remember when I broke my right fibula prior to the start of football season a couple of years back, and I was laid up in bed and in a cast for 6 weeks. In the beginning all I thought about doing was playing ball, and lifting weights. Every night I would dream I was at Red Brick Gym in East Newark NJ putting it in. By the end of the 6 weeks I was dreaming every night about walking. Point is look at the things that we take for granted, things as basic as walking. So when people say to me you walked? I simply reply, I got legs that work.
As for the conditioning, I'm trying to get enough conditioning that I can increase my general physical preparedness (GPP) while also increasing my lung capacity. I figure if I'm going to get after 800 pound squats in the near future, I have to have the lung capacity to hold my air through the lift without passing out. Here is where the conditioning comes in. I've even talked about this with my training partners who have been encouraging me to continue walking, and say there is nothing wrong with hitting 15 minutes of cardio as well once or twice a week.
I am amazed however at the general laziness of the average American. I have never been a guy who was afraid to walk. I will walk somewhere 2 miles or more away without thinking about it, even when I'm not on a GPP kick. The comments people make just reflect their attitudes, and the way Americans have become so reliant on automobiles, that the thought of walking is to them preposterous. You walked?!? Is your car broken?!? Why did you do that?!? And we wonder why America is battling an obesity epidemic like never before.
The other day I watched They Live with Rowdy Roddy Piper and it made me think of how advertising manipulates our thinking. People actually believe that Nutella is healthy and part of a balanced breakfast because the commercial said so. That is the job of marketing, to sell us on lies. As my man Flava Flav once said, Don't Believe The Hype. Thats part of the problem, people believe what they are told, and do not question things. I mean if people will believe Nutella is part of a balanced breakfast, then I want those people to holla at me, I got magic beans for sale.
"The unexamined life is not worth living."
-Socrates
In closing, I remember when I broke my right fibula prior to the start of football season a couple of years back, and I was laid up in bed and in a cast for 6 weeks. In the beginning all I thought about doing was playing ball, and lifting weights. Every night I would dream I was at Red Brick Gym in East Newark NJ putting it in. By the end of the 6 weeks I was dreaming every night about walking. Point is look at the things that we take for granted, things as basic as walking. So when people say to me you walked? I simply reply, I got legs that work.
Monday, July 4, 2011
Monday's Raw Bench Training
Raw Bench Press:
45 x 5; 135 x 5; 225 x 5; 275 x 3
Work sets:
315 x 2
365 x 1
400 x 1
Incline Bench Press
135 x 15 reps
225 x 8 reps x 2 sets
135 x 15 reps
Dumbbell Pullovers
4 sets x 95 x 8 reps
Hammer Strength Press
225 x 10 reps x 2 sets
135 x 15 reps
Incline Dumbbell Flyes
3 sets x 50's x 10 reps
Cable Pressdowns
210 x 15 reps x 2 sets
170 x 10 reps
180 x 10 reps
Cardio: I actually turned the elliptical machine on today, as I did 15 minutes on program 1 while watching Sports Center.
Notes: Hit the World Gym at 9am to get in my July 4th training. Before I headed to the gym I liberally applied Blue Heat to my left shoulder region, and my middle and lower back. My left shoulder had been getting better but I must've slept on it Saturday night, cause I woke up with it hurting on Sunday. As for my middle back, it is particularly sore from yesterdays big max effort training session.
The 400 raw bench went up well, and there may very well have been room for more. Considering it was my first raw 400 since before the SSA Imperium meet, and the left shoulder pain I have been having I decided to call it there and head in to assistance. As the assistance progressed, my left shoulder pain started to kick in more. All in all I'm happy to be back at the 400 pound raw mark, and the bench press which was the main exercise went well today.
The plan for the week is:
Tuesday: Walking possibly pushups as well
Wednesday: Posterior Chain assistance
Thursday: Possibly Speed Bench, then Upper Back and Triceps Assistance Heavy
Friday: Walking possibly pushups as well
Saturday: Upper Back, Biceps, and Jersey Shore
Sunday: De-load Squat and Speed Pulls
45 x 5; 135 x 5; 225 x 5; 275 x 3
Work sets:
315 x 2
365 x 1
400 x 1
Incline Bench Press
135 x 15 reps
225 x 8 reps x 2 sets
135 x 15 reps
Dumbbell Pullovers
4 sets x 95 x 8 reps
Hammer Strength Press
225 x 10 reps x 2 sets
135 x 15 reps
Incline Dumbbell Flyes
3 sets x 50's x 10 reps
Cable Pressdowns
210 x 15 reps x 2 sets
170 x 10 reps
180 x 10 reps
Cardio: I actually turned the elliptical machine on today, as I did 15 minutes on program 1 while watching Sports Center.
Notes: Hit the World Gym at 9am to get in my July 4th training. Before I headed to the gym I liberally applied Blue Heat to my left shoulder region, and my middle and lower back. My left shoulder had been getting better but I must've slept on it Saturday night, cause I woke up with it hurting on Sunday. As for my middle back, it is particularly sore from yesterdays big max effort training session.
The 400 raw bench went up well, and there may very well have been room for more. Considering it was my first raw 400 since before the SSA Imperium meet, and the left shoulder pain I have been having I decided to call it there and head in to assistance. As the assistance progressed, my left shoulder pain started to kick in more. All in all I'm happy to be back at the 400 pound raw mark, and the bench press which was the main exercise went well today.
The plan for the week is:
Tuesday: Walking possibly pushups as well
Wednesday: Posterior Chain assistance
Thursday: Possibly Speed Bench, then Upper Back and Triceps Assistance Heavy
Friday: Walking possibly pushups as well
Saturday: Upper Back, Biceps, and Jersey Shore
Sunday: De-load Squat and Speed Pulls
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Sunday's monster training session
Max effort free squats:
55 x 5 reps x 2 sets
145 x 3 reps x 2 sets
255 x 2 reps
Added suit bottoms and a belt
345 x 1; 395 x 1; 435 x 1; 485 x 1; 525 x 1
Put straps up
575 x 1
615 x 1
650 x 1 (Single Ply PR)
Added reverse bands (doubled monster mini's on the inside)
680 x 1
705 x 1
Coan - Phillipi Deadlift program week 4
135 x 1; 225 x 1; 315 x 1; 405 x 1; 495 x 1; 545 x 1
565 x fail (got too far out in front of myself here)
565 x 1
Back off sets on 2 mats:
430 x 3 reps
450 x 3 reps
465 x 3 reps
Ab Pulldowns: 4 sets x 90 x 15 reps
Notes on today's training session:
We started at ten am, and we went past 2:30 before we finished up our training today. I'm learning this single ply Titan Super centurion suit and it is going well. The 650 today was a 15 pound personal record over my 635 squat from the SSA Imperium meet (where I squatted 635 in a wrestling singlet and single ply Titan briefs). The straps up really increase the pressure to my head area, but from the extra conditioning I have been doing it was much easier to take and hold my air with the straps up as opposed to my last free squat.
After squatting I was spent, I brought along some G2 to help with some replenishment before we pulled. Someone brought along some danish, and I ate some of that too to get something in my system. Our squat session went over 3 hours today.
We tweaked the Coan - Phillipi program a little, and it went quite well. I let one of my singles at 565 get away from me, but I got it up on the next one. I've gotten better at the deficit pulls and I was able to make all 3 triples without a problem.
Tomorrow: Raw bench work and volume assistance at the World Gym
55 x 5 reps x 2 sets
145 x 3 reps x 2 sets
255 x 2 reps
Added suit bottoms and a belt
345 x 1; 395 x 1; 435 x 1; 485 x 1; 525 x 1
Put straps up
575 x 1
615 x 1
650 x 1 (Single Ply PR)
Added reverse bands (doubled monster mini's on the inside)
680 x 1
705 x 1
Coan - Phillipi Deadlift program week 4
135 x 1; 225 x 1; 315 x 1; 405 x 1; 495 x 1; 545 x 1
565 x fail (got too far out in front of myself here)
565 x 1
Back off sets on 2 mats:
430 x 3 reps
450 x 3 reps
465 x 3 reps
Ab Pulldowns: 4 sets x 90 x 15 reps
Notes on today's training session:
We started at ten am, and we went past 2:30 before we finished up our training today. I'm learning this single ply Titan Super centurion suit and it is going well. The 650 today was a 15 pound personal record over my 635 squat from the SSA Imperium meet (where I squatted 635 in a wrestling singlet and single ply Titan briefs). The straps up really increase the pressure to my head area, but from the extra conditioning I have been doing it was much easier to take and hold my air with the straps up as opposed to my last free squat.
After squatting I was spent, I brought along some G2 to help with some replenishment before we pulled. Someone brought along some danish, and I ate some of that too to get something in my system. Our squat session went over 3 hours today.
We tweaked the Coan - Phillipi program a little, and it went quite well. I let one of my singles at 565 get away from me, but I got it up on the next one. I've gotten better at the deficit pulls and I was able to make all 3 triples without a problem.
Tomorrow: Raw bench work and volume assistance at the World Gym
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Saturday training and observations
Took it easy today cause tomorrow is a big squat and pull session, but I still had to train. At the very least it got me out of the house some today.
Today's training looked like this:
Warm up:
Horizontal Shrugs on Lat Pulldown 2 sets x 100 x 15 reps
Started with the conditioning sets from last Saturday
Lat Pulldowns 4 setx x 180 lbs x 10 reps superset with 10 pushups superset with 10 hammer curls with 55 lb db's
Seated cable rows 4 sets x 150 x 10 reps superset with 10 pushups
Bucket rows 4 sets x 25 lb plates x 12 reps
Barbell curls 5 sets x 135 x 5 reps
Kept it simple to keep it strong for when it matter tomorrow. The level of clowns in the gym today was amazing to me.
Smith Machine Squat Guy
We had smith machine squat guy. I watched the bio-mechanics of this absurd movement. Its a knee bend, where the shins will actually stay parallel because the straight up and down bar path forces you back as it also forces you to round your back. Also the closest this guy got to parallel was about 5 inches away. The shear on the knees from this must be awesome. I stick to my guns on this, I'd advise all gym owners to throw away their smith machines if they weren't so great for getting into a squat suit.
Partial Rep Guy
I watched this guy do partial reps on everything he did. He did flat bench presses where the range of motion off his chest was no more than 5 inches. He followed this up by doing incline bench presses where his descent from lockout was again no more than 5 inches. I figure this clown was working low end on the bench, and top end on the incline, or just the reality, this guy is a clown.
Prison Work Release Guy
This guy was great, straight out of Northern State Penitentiary. Came to the gym, the guy has no legs, and spends the whole time doing dips and pull ups, and half range of motion as well. I hear the guys in East Jersey State do full reps.
The Screamer
Seriously bro? Unracking 225 and screaming like Prison Work Release Guy is forcing himself in to your rectum? Screaming while setting up dumbbell presses. Screaming when doing incline cable flyes? Screaming on the pec deck machine? I have an urge to shove a bar up this guys ass. I wonder if he will scream then too?
Today's training looked like this:
Warm up:
Horizontal Shrugs on Lat Pulldown 2 sets x 100 x 15 reps
Started with the conditioning sets from last Saturday
Lat Pulldowns 4 setx x 180 lbs x 10 reps superset with 10 pushups superset with 10 hammer curls with 55 lb db's
Seated cable rows 4 sets x 150 x 10 reps superset with 10 pushups
Bucket rows 4 sets x 25 lb plates x 12 reps
Barbell curls 5 sets x 135 x 5 reps
Kept it simple to keep it strong for when it matter tomorrow. The level of clowns in the gym today was amazing to me.
Smith Machine Squat Guy
We had smith machine squat guy. I watched the bio-mechanics of this absurd movement. Its a knee bend, where the shins will actually stay parallel because the straight up and down bar path forces you back as it also forces you to round your back. Also the closest this guy got to parallel was about 5 inches away. The shear on the knees from this must be awesome. I stick to my guns on this, I'd advise all gym owners to throw away their smith machines if they weren't so great for getting into a squat suit.
Partial Rep Guy
I watched this guy do partial reps on everything he did. He did flat bench presses where the range of motion off his chest was no more than 5 inches. He followed this up by doing incline bench presses where his descent from lockout was again no more than 5 inches. I figure this clown was working low end on the bench, and top end on the incline, or just the reality, this guy is a clown.
Prison Work Release Guy
This guy was great, straight out of Northern State Penitentiary. Came to the gym, the guy has no legs, and spends the whole time doing dips and pull ups, and half range of motion as well. I hear the guys in East Jersey State do full reps.
The Screamer
Seriously bro? Unracking 225 and screaming like Prison Work Release Guy is forcing himself in to your rectum? Screaming while setting up dumbbell presses. Screaming when doing incline cable flyes? Screaming on the pec deck machine? I have an urge to shove a bar up this guys ass. I wonder if he will scream then too?
Friday, July 1, 2011
Gym Owners Read This
Took it easy today after work, didn't do any type of walking or anything as I am trying to be fresh for my max effort squat and the 4th week of the Coan - Phillipi deadlift program on Sunday. Jersey Shore in the morning, and bbq's Sunday after training and Monday! Free food!
I wanted to take some time to give some advice to local gym owners who want to be able to attract more true lifters to their gyms. Here are a few things you should consider adding to your gym. The first suggestion is a monolift, this is a little pricy and will only be used by Powerlifters. The other suggestions should be seriously considered.
Monolift
If you want to attract powerlifters to your gym, you need to buy one of these. Once you go Monolift you never go back. Power racks are nice and are necessary for some other work (like rack pulls). These are a bit pricy and are available from elitefts.com.
NJ Gyms With Monolifts:
Skiba's Barbell Club (Carteret)
Apollon Gym (Edison)
Strong and Shapely (East Rutherford) They have a mono, yet gym bags are highly discouraged?
Special Bars
Just a 45 lb bar doesn't always cut it. Every gym should have some Texas Power Bars. The Texas Power Bar has a 1500 lb test, so the chances of it getting waffled is much less than those cut rate bars. Texas Power Bar also has a special deadlift bar, and a 55 lb squat bar as well. All of these are available at elitefts.com, and the price range is very reasonable (325 for regular; 385 for deadlift; 485 for squat bar).
There are also some real good squat bars on the market as well. A good squat bar is thick so that it settles on your upper back, without relying on one of those stupid pads (throw those out). A thick squat bar doesn't have as much movement on the upper back, so it is less likely to cause biceps tendinitis from the bar rolling. 2 great bars are the Mastodon bar and I have also heard great things about the Blue Whale Squat Bar. These bars are quite pricy, but they will stand the test of time.
Safety Squat Bar is another bar every gym should have. There is so much you can do with this bar. I believe CJ Murphy of Total Performance Sports wrote an ebook an all the exercises you can do with this bar.
Other recommended bars: Okie Deadlift Bar, Trap Bar, Cambered Squat Bar, Bamboo Bar, Swiss Bar.
Bands
Bands have various uses, and can be used for everything from static stretching to adding tension to squats, benches, and deadlifts. A set of bands is cheap, it retails for 150 at elitefts.com.
Collars
I can't believe I have to put this item on here but we have found sub par collars at many gyms. An easy fix to this is we went to walmart and dropped 9 bucks each on a set of Golds Gym collars. There are much better collars available, but I think every gym should have many sets of decent spring collars at the very least.
A Proper Bench Press
A proper bench press is one which would be allowable in a powerlifting meet. It should have adjustable uprights, be of the proper height, and the pad should be the proper diameter. Most gyms I have seen have sub-par benches. All I'm suggesting is to go out and get atleast one decent bench. You can leave the crappy benches for everyone who doesn't know better. Contact someone over at elite and see what they offer, other ones are available from Metal Militia, and Forza.
These are just a few suggestions, get started shopping, and lifters will come to your gym.
I wanted to take some time to give some advice to local gym owners who want to be able to attract more true lifters to their gyms. Here are a few things you should consider adding to your gym. The first suggestion is a monolift, this is a little pricy and will only be used by Powerlifters. The other suggestions should be seriously considered.
Monolift
If you want to attract powerlifters to your gym, you need to buy one of these. Once you go Monolift you never go back. Power racks are nice and are necessary for some other work (like rack pulls). These are a bit pricy and are available from elitefts.com.
NJ Gyms With Monolifts:
Skiba's Barbell Club (Carteret)
Apollon Gym (Edison)
Strong and Shapely (East Rutherford) They have a mono, yet gym bags are highly discouraged?
Special Bars
Just a 45 lb bar doesn't always cut it. Every gym should have some Texas Power Bars. The Texas Power Bar has a 1500 lb test, so the chances of it getting waffled is much less than those cut rate bars. Texas Power Bar also has a special deadlift bar, and a 55 lb squat bar as well. All of these are available at elitefts.com, and the price range is very reasonable (325 for regular; 385 for deadlift; 485 for squat bar).
There are also some real good squat bars on the market as well. A good squat bar is thick so that it settles on your upper back, without relying on one of those stupid pads (throw those out). A thick squat bar doesn't have as much movement on the upper back, so it is less likely to cause biceps tendinitis from the bar rolling. 2 great bars are the Mastodon bar and I have also heard great things about the Blue Whale Squat Bar. These bars are quite pricy, but they will stand the test of time.
Safety Squat Bar is another bar every gym should have. There is so much you can do with this bar. I believe CJ Murphy of Total Performance Sports wrote an ebook an all the exercises you can do with this bar.
Other recommended bars: Okie Deadlift Bar, Trap Bar, Cambered Squat Bar, Bamboo Bar, Swiss Bar.
Bands
Bands have various uses, and can be used for everything from static stretching to adding tension to squats, benches, and deadlifts. A set of bands is cheap, it retails for 150 at elitefts.com.
Collars
I can't believe I have to put this item on here but we have found sub par collars at many gyms. An easy fix to this is we went to walmart and dropped 9 bucks each on a set of Golds Gym collars. There are much better collars available, but I think every gym should have many sets of decent spring collars at the very least.
A Proper Bench Press
A proper bench press is one which would be allowable in a powerlifting meet. It should have adjustable uprights, be of the proper height, and the pad should be the proper diameter. Most gyms I have seen have sub-par benches. All I'm suggesting is to go out and get atleast one decent bench. You can leave the crappy benches for everyone who doesn't know better. Contact someone over at elite and see what they offer, other ones are available from Metal Militia, and Forza.
These are just a few suggestions, get started shopping, and lifters will come to your gym.
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