Wednesday, May 30, 2012

training 5.30.2012

Wife's birthday today -- going to keep this quick.

Started with the usual plus had a cup of coffee around 3:30.  Fair amount of caffeine in me going in.

Went straight to bar work for warm up.

DL x2@8 + -5%: same weight as last time, but got 4 fatigue sets
Bench + chains x2@8 + -5%: 80% of most recent 1RM + 3 fatigue sets
Lunges x4@9 + -5%: bunch of weight and one fatigue set -- I was cooked

The DLs seemed pretty easy, and the bench was popping too.  Not sure why, though maybe just hyper-caffeinated.  Who knows?

Gorgeous, warm day here.  Hope everyone is having a good short week.

More later.

Monday, May 28, 2012

training 5.28.2012

Warm holiday day.  Gorgeous day here.

Started with the usual elixir.  Did no dynamic work and not a whole lot of bar work to warm up, and I'd pay for it.

Squat x2@8 + -5% fatigue: 5% under last 1RM.  Felt good. 1 fatigue set.


2ct bench +chains x2@8.5 + -5%: 30% under 1RM; left elbow barking badly.  1 fatigue set.


DB extensions x5@9 + -5%: Way under capacity due to the left elbow.  Bagged it early.

Left elbow aches, but feels like old man disease -- nothing really hurt or structural.  Probably needed better warmup.  Stupid -- know better.

I will come back and do the triceps work tomorrow, along with my ATG squat experiment.

Thanks for checking in.  Have a great holiday day.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

training 5.26.2012

Rained yesterday, which is something in SD.  That just means it sprinkled for about 30 minutes.  Cool day today, which is about as unusual as the 90s everyone else is getting.  Come see me.

Started with the B-Ala/creatine mix, and hungry.  Used simple water during.  Started with dynamic shoulder work to warm up and the requisite bar work.

Pin press -5cm x2x8 + -5%: 80% of most recent 1RM, one fatigue set
Pin press -0 x2@8 + -5%: about the same
Incline x6@9 + -5%: reached 165kg and shoulders were barking badly, so backed off
Did a bunch of flat DB with my fat DBs (2"), felt my anterior deltoids and fried my triceps.

DL x4@8.5 + -5%: reached 93% of 1RM, stopped at 1 fatigue set when I likely had another
SSB squat x2@8 + -5%: backed off weight and went ATG with a narrow stance; brutal, lots of sets

Lunges x4@9 + -5%: cramp city, sucking wind.  I will do some of these on an assistance day.

Used the Free-spotter fat DBs for the DB work and loved them.  Going to move them out of the rack and hang them from a beam in the rumpus room, as there's just too much going on in the rack.  Running into crap with a ton of weight shouldered is not okay -- too weak-minded to ignore it, I guess.

Hips and legs are doing great, shoulders are unhappy but okay.  I'll rehab the shoulders a bit now that baseball is on brief hiatus, and they will be fine.

Putting on the Jack briefs the other day made a couple of things very clear: the biggest obstacle is getting them over the hips (as in the bulk is still around my knees while I'm trying to get the opening at the legs around my hips), and my legs are much, much larger up around the hips, glutes, and adductors than down around the knees.  Freakishly different. 

So I did the ATG squats today (and will continue to outside the protocol) to try to grow my quads a bit.  I won't sacrifice what I have and will continue to do whatever Big Mike tells me to do.  But I'm going to add some ATG squats and maybe hacks to try to grow the teardrops.  Part of me wonders if this imbalance (?) didn't contribute to my quad tear nearly two years ago.  Once I start to wonder, I must either address the issue or answer the question or risk trouble.

Net/net is that I'm utterly blasted.  My quads are toast and I think I'll go vomit.

I will take pictures of the Free-spotter DBs once I rehang them.  Well worth the dosh, in my opinion, and Sherm is great to work with.

The boy took a big tumble in big surf yesterday.  Upshot was that he took a bunch of skin off his face right next to his right eye (decent raspberry) and the leash wrapped around his neck and burned him pretty well.  Looks like he escaped a noose.  No real damage, but it unnerved him badly.  Of course today he's fine -- no big deal.  Wish I were so resilient.

Enough blathering for now.  Thanks. 

Everyone have a great, safe Memorial Day weekend.  Special thanks to all we remember.

Later.

Thursday, May 24, 2012

training 5.24.2012

Supposed to rain tomorrow, which is fine with me. 

Very warm and brutally hungry going in.  A little dynamic work and a lot of bar work to warm up.  I really can't let myself get that hungry -- it's counterproductive to the gaining/maintenance I've been working so hard on.

Used B-Ala/creatine before and two doses of MGPM during.

Squat x4@8.5 + -5%: 95% of most recent 1RM (!), one fatigue set; was every bit of a 9, maybe 9.something

2ct pause DL x2@8 + -5%: 93% of 1RM, one fatigue set

Pendlay rows x6@9 + -5%: bunch of weight, still mostly about wind and not muscles

I got some new Jack briefs and tried them on before training.  Getting them fully on, checking the fit, and taking them off was exhausting before any lifting.  What a wimp.

Got my new fat Free-spotter DBs from Sherm.  I'll post pics once I get them installed.  I'm thrilled.

Regular season baseball is over; now to all-stars.  It will be nice to have a few days to myself and my wife, not to mention training at regular intervals.  I'm sure Mike doesn't care, but I do.

Thanks for checking in.  Miller, if you're still reading, glad to see you're back at it.  Hang tough, brother; it'll come back.

Later.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

training 5.22.2012

Gorgeous day, but I'm dragging from a late business dinner last night.  Was out late making things happen and had a couple of drinks on top of it.  Probably didn't eat as much as usual either, so several strikes against me.

Started with the B-Ala/creatine stuff.  Wore elbow sleeves -- breaking in a new pair, which was a little uncomfortable.  Switched back to the old ones for the chains and floor.

Only warmed with the bar and weight.  No dynamic work.

Comp raw bench x4@8.5 + -5%: got 220kg + 2 sets of 200

Bench +chain x4@8.5 + -5%: about the same as last time; never feel the chains release, so probably need to work on hang depth; one set to fatigue


Floor press x6@9 + -5%: got to same weight as last time and felt a sharp twinge in my left shoulder unracking the weight -- no residual pain, but a bad angle.  Need to work on my rack layout to improve this, or just do them inside the rack with the Free-Spotter.

All in all, a good day.

My diet has taken a beating lately, mostly due to laziness.  That and being frighteningly hungry in the morning recently.  If I do better at night, I'm better in the mornings.  Duh.  I will get back on track.

Hope everyone is well.  Hey, Bob, keep plugging.

Saturday, May 19, 2012

training 5.19.2012

Logging two days' work.  Been busy.



Pin press -5cm x4@8.5 + -5%
Pin press full ROM x4@8.5 + -5%
Incline x12@9 + -5%  (love incline)
DL x2@8 + -5%
SSB squat x4@8.5 + -5%
Lunges x6@9 + -5% (love/hate with lunges)

Right shoulder barked a bit on the incline presses.  I do love them, though.  Wish I did more decline pressing.


Everything has been going well.  Intensity is high even though very busy outside training.  Threw in some box squatting on an off-day just because I love it.  Nailed some big numbers.  Need to add in more rowing.

Feeling pretty tight -- looking big, feeling a little fat, getting good feedback.  Shoulders are okay, hips are great.  Just need more size.

Thanks for checking in.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

training 5.17.2012

Started with the usual mix, used MGPM throughout and Dark Matter after.  Still very hungry -- not enough cals today.

Did some dynamic work and bar work to warm up.  Wore knee sleeves.

Squat x2@8 + -5% fatigue: ended 40kg short of my 1rm; felt more like @9
2ct pause DL x4@8.5 + -5%: ended at 90% of 1rm, also felt like @9
Pendlay rows x12@9 + -5%: used a bunch of weight; seemed that limiting factor was cardio, not muscular

Pretty much sucked wind through the Pendlays.  Date night with my wife, so not writing much today.

Got an email from Sherm of my new fat DB Free-Spotters, and they look fantastic.  Can't wait to get to it.

Thanks for checking in.  Sorry I can't be more entertaining at the moment.

Monday, May 14, 2012

training 5.14.2012

Gorgeous day today.   Cock the hammer, it's time for action (shameless early 90s musical reference).

Started with B-Ala/creatine mix.  Wore elbow sleeves and wrist support, used bar work to warm up.

Comp bench x2@8 + -5% fatigue: got to 40# under my recent 1rm and got one fatigue set.  Happy with it.

Bench +chains x2@8 + -5%: hit 180kg (plus a ton of chains) and one fatigue set; felt my right shoulder on this one, primarily anterior deltoid.

Floor press x12@9 + -5%: hit 200kg and one fatigue set; pretty gassed by this point

Floor press was a clear improvement over last time I did them.  Feel good about this.

Had a fluke failure of a component of my Free-Spotter last week and contacted Sherm.  I can't tell you how quickly he responded, and how totally he took care of the problem.  Outstanding customer service.  Can't say enough about how he stands by his products.  Add to that that he's going to make me a fat-bar dumbbell free-spotter set, and I am happy as a clam.  Pics will follow its installation; ETA undetermined.

Wifey has a comp around June 9th, so it will be time to start thinking when my next will be at that point.

Still not eating enough calories.  Not sure what to do short of ice cream.

If you haven't seen The Avengers yet, go.  Any former (or current) comic nerd (wasn't every American kid?) will love it.  Hulk steals the whole thing, absolutely -- turns out Ruffalo was a fantastic choice.  And the line of Hulk's that you will miss because everyone will be laughing (loudly) is, "Puny god", which is (of course) a play on the 'puny human' line he used in practically every Hulk comic.


Thanks for checking in.

Friday, May 11, 2012

training 5.11.2012

I have not posted the last two sessions -- if you really want to know, I posted a summary here.

Started with B-Ala and half-Spiked.  Wore elbow sleeves and Spud wrist stuff.  Did a little dynamic work to warm up and got to it.

Pin squat +chains x4@8.5 + -3%: 265kg + a ton of chain, got one set of same for fatigue; wasn't the quads that crapped out, interestingly enough

Pin bench +chains x4@8.5 + -3%: 150kg + same chains, one set of same for fatigue; I was supposed to do 2ct pause, but did pin bench Anderson style -- started on the pins and pressed from there; felt great

Good morning x8@9 + -3%: got a bunch -- more than I thought I would and did a couple of sets; expected to crap out earlier than I did.  I've come to love GMs

Learned a lot this week that should help going forward.  Now to suck less at DL.  Feel good right now, though, which I didn't expect.  Wish I could bottle it.  Lot of headaches, though, which bodes ill.  Probably too much caffeine.

My diet this week has sucked.  Several days I let myself get ravenous, which is just plain stupid.  Not nearly enough calories (hello headache), poor timing, lack of carb discipline, etc.  Bad week for the food front.  I feel fat, the scale is immobile, etc.  Time to fix that.

Thanks for checking in.  I will do better this weekend and next week, I promise, and try to get you some more interesting content.

Everyone have a great weekend, and happy Mother's Day this Sunday to the women.

Sunday, May 6, 2012

update

Tired and a little sore.  Hope everyone has a great day.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

training 5.5.2012

1RM day.

Started with a lot of dynamic work and worked up through the bar work quickly.  Wore loose briefs (more a mental thing than anything), knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, and Spud velcro wrist wraps.  Used belts when heavy.
Downed the B-Ala/creatine mix before and Spiked.

Squat: hit 365kg, failed under 370 -- this was a mental failure, because I had pitched forward and bailed on my first attempt and was thinking about it.  Coming out of the hole under 365, I was fast.  I can get 820.
Comp raw ben: hit 250kg, failed under 255.  Shoulder was barking a little, but that's not the reason.  All the way down I knew it wasn't going back up.
DL: hit 290kg, failed to pull 300.  My DL sucks.

Totaled elite in my gym (wouldn't count as entirely raw, squatting in those briefs), almost entirely because my squat is freakish.  That and a dollar will buy you a cup of coffee.  Will post video.

Very hungry.  Got a day wine tasting in Temecula today, which isn't the best wine but will be a lot of fun.  I like spending time with my wife.

Now to recover.

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

training 5.2.2012

Started with a little dynamic work and the usual bar work to warm up.  Used the B-Ala/creatine mix and downed about 10g whey + L-Leu before starting.  Wore elbow sleeves, knee sleeves, and Spud velcro wrist wraps.

Hot in the rumpus room today.  Ran the fan hard.

Used PeptoPro + a little whey + leucine during the workout.  Wow, does that taste bad.  Even my dogs would hate my breath right now.  De-bittered my ass.  I imagine my ass tastes better than the casein.  Ugh.

Bench + 120# chain x3@8.5 + -3%: hit 170kg plus the chains and got one fatigue set
SSB Squat x5@9 + -3%: got to 300kg and crapped out; got one fatigue set
JM Press x6@9 + -3%: only got to 280# and my left elbow started barking loudly, so I stopped.  I will film my next JM session and review for form, because I should be able to get more

Not worried about it today.  Next is a 1rm day, which is a lot more important.

Things are working pretty well so far.  I'm hoping to see progress in the bench and dead soon. 

My wife has been making me salads for my mid-morning meals, and I throw some shredded chicken or ground bison on them.  She puts mint in them along with cilantro and the lettuces/spinach.  I highly recommend adding mint.

Thanks.