Friday, May 31, 2013

training 5.31.2013

Cube week 2, day 3 -- max squat

Wore loose briefs and knee sleeves.  B-Ala/creatine mix to start, lots of dynamic and bar work to warm up.

Squat:
 1x2 @80%
 1x2 @85%
 1x1 @90%
 1x1 @92.5%
 1x4@80%

These were tough, but too easy to call 92.5% of max.  I'm glad, because I take from it that I'm making progress back to where I was a few months ago.  I'll get there.  In the meantime, this was a humbling little bit of weight compared to my last 1RM of 700-something.

GM, 3x8, heavy
Step-ups with weight, 3x20
Lunges, 3x12/leg
Back raises

My knees weren't happy with the step-ups and lunges.  Also, I was very hungry during the whole thing, so I went in for a couple of Snickers bars with PB on them.  Between the two bars and about 8T of PB, that might have been 800 calories.  I did feel better afterward.

Still hungry, so I'm off to get clean and eat (in that order).  I hope everyone has a nice weekend.

Wednesday, May 29, 2013

training 5.29.2013

Cube day 2, week 2 -- bench for reps

Beautiful day again today.  Tomorrow is my wife's birthday, too.

B-Ala/creatine and a Monster.  The Ultra really is tasty.  Lots of dynamic and bar work to warm up.

Incline bench, 5x3, heavy: no problems
Incline DB, 3x30 with fat DBs
JM Presses, barbell+, 3x12 -- felt good, though triceps are starting to hurt by this point
Triceps press with chains, 3x20, wow
Posterior shoulder work with DBs

Tough day today, but I'm glad I worked it in.  Final regular season baseball game tonight at 7:00; I have to admit, I'm ready for this to be done.  Still have playoffs and all stars, though.

Still jobless, though things are perking along.

Hope you are all well.  Thanks for checking in.

Tuesday, May 28, 2013

training 5.28.2013

General lifting day

Gorgeous day again, and a bit warm.  Nice, light breeze made for a good sweat in the rumpus room.

B-Ala/creatine  mix and some bar work to warm up.  No support.

GHR, 3x8, just because.  I suspect I'll do a few sets of GHR work every time for a while.  Would kill me to do shoulder work every time too.

Meadows rows, heavy, 3x10
DB rows, dead-stop at the bottom, heavy, fat DBs, 3x8
Inverted rows, bodyweight, 3x12 -- tough by this point

Might do some shoulder work later, but have to run a baseball practice at 4:00.

Starving -- off to eat.  Have a great day, all.

Monday, May 27, 2013

training 5.27.2013

Cube week 2, day 1 -- DL for speed

Gorgeous holiday day today.  No breeze, though.

B-Ala/creatine mix + Monster Ultra, just because.  Lots of dynamic work and a fair amount of bar work.  Need to do foam rolling and lacrosse ball on DL days, but didn't today.

DL, 10x1, 65% of max: came up quick
DL 4" block, 1x20, 45% of max: still quick, though back started barking around #14
Squat narrow, 3x8, bunch of weight on the bar: concentrated on deep, heels on the floor, knees out
DB shrugs, 3x15 with a lot of weight on fat DBs
Hyperextensions, x50
Wide pull-ups, 7 sets of 8, really concentrated on pulling down with the elbows

All in all, a good day.  DL weight is still low, but it'll come back.

Be safe.

Friday, May 24, 2013

training 5.24.2013

Cube week 1, day 3 -- speed squats

B-Ala/creatine mix + Monster Zero Ultra (nod to Milda), a bunch of foam rolling and dynamic work, knee sleeves, belt, loose briefs.

Gorgeous day today.  Eager to get going.

GHR, 3x8: last few reps were tough, need to add more weight or a band next time
Squats x6, worked up to 240kg; tough, but felt good
Squats x6 -10%: added a little weight and light bands
Lunges with chains -- just a ton of chains bandoleer style; this is really tough and leaves me seriously sucking wind
Glute bridges with barbell loaded

All in all, a great session.  Strength is coming back, bodyweight is up a few pounds; got a long, long way to go, though.  My legs are sticks.


I'm brutally hungry.  Off to eat.  Have a safe weekend, everyone.

Wednesday, May 22, 2013

training 5.22.2013

Cube week 1, day 2 -- bench max

Gorgeous day here.  Wonderful.

B-Ala/creatine mix + extra creatine and a Monster Zero Ultra a few hours before.  Dynamic work and a little weight work to warm up.  Still sore from back work two days ago, which is good.

This was essentially the same work I did on 5/16.

Floor max, same weight as a week ago, felt pretty doggone good today -- no shoulder pain at all

Bench, comp setup, 2x15 @60% or so: better today

Chins, supine grip, shoulder width, no added weight: 3x12 with pause at bottom and top

Triceps rollouts, 3x12 with fat DBs with a lot of weight on them

DB shrugs again, 3x15

Rainbow press with some weight on the bar -- by this point, these were tough

Felt great, and progress is being made.  Still hunting a job and keeping my chin up.

Have a great day.

Monday, May 20, 2013

training 5.20.2013

Sort of a bastardized Cube DL day -- back development, week 1, day 1

B-Ala/creatine mix, lots of dynamic work, weight work, no support gear.

GHR, 3x8 with weight
Meadows rows with a lot on the bar, 3x8 after a couple of warm-up sets
Fat DB rows with a lot of weight, 3x8
Pull-ups, wide grip, 3xAMRAP; first was about 25, second about 15, third about 8
Long fascia stretch, 60s hangs, for lats

Reverse rows with bodyweight, 3x12, very tough at this point
Fat DB shrugs with a ton of weight, 3x12 with a 3s pause and hold at the top
Hyperextensions drop sets with weight; 30 reps, drop half the weight and 20 reps, drop half and AMRAP

Tough session and did it all in about 70 minutes -- very little rest between sets.

I have a feeling I'll be sore tomorrow.

Saturday, May 18, 2013

training 5.18.2013

Cube day 2, week 1 -- squats for speed

Lots of dynamic work and a scoop of Craze.  Should have rolled, but my brain just isn't there today.  Should have done GHR first, too, but didn't.  Next time.

Wore loose briefs and loose knee sleeves.

Squat, 3x3 @75%: worked up to about 65% of my most recent work weight (back in February, before the last kidney stone).  This was difficult.

Squat, reverse band, 1x2 @85%: I have no idea what the percentage was; I just added 110# and did the set.  It was very tough, probably an RPE of 9.

Olympic squats, 5x5: got them done, need to go up on the weight next time

Lunge with lots of chains, all around the yard and back x3

Reverse hyper, 3x12: back was in spasm by this point, so I didn't add any weight.  Yeah, I know.

DB swings, 3x15 with a heavy DB.  This was polish by this point.

Still sore from two days ago, which I like.  Hope I'm sore from today, but I suspect I won't be.

Hope you guys are doing well.

Thursday, May 16, 2013

training 5.16.2013

Gorgeous day.  This not working stuff leaves good time for training.  Love that.

Out of B-Ala/creatine mix, so went with a scoop and a half of Craze.  Boom. 

Floor press max, pinky on the ring, whole bunch of weight -- well over 400# -- but my right shoulder wasn't happy.  Not sure why floor presses do that to me, but they do.  I suspect it has to do with stability of the bar (I have a tendency to run the bar up toward my chin when I floor press), but I'm not sure.  Film might help, huh?  I won't be buying a camera until I get a new job.

Bench, competition setup, 2x15 with 60%: after the floor press, these were brutal

Lat pulldown with average bands, x50, lots, tough

Triceps rollouts, 45# fat DBs, 3x12: brutal

DB shrugs, 3x12 with a lot of weight

Rainbow press until I died

Felt good.  Got lots to do, so no chat.  Have a great day.


Tuesday, May 14, 2013

training 5.14.2013

Gorgeous day today.  Yesterday was hot for around a beach community this time of year -- up in the 80s.

B-Ala/creatine mix, dynamic shoulder work, other stuff.

I did shoulders and arms today.  About 20 sets, pretty much to exhaustion.  Don't think what I did matters that much, but I'll list it if anyone wants to see it.

Job search is coming along.  Got a few leads, shared some woes with Strongman Bob (his are bigger), set up 2# of grassfed flank steak in a teriyaki sauce for a stir-fry later.  All the time is in slicing the beef paper-thin, which I obsessively do.  I sharpen my own knives and use Japanese chef's knives almost exclusively, as it makes a huge, huge difference.  I used to work as a chef and am classically trained, and I've used $1000 knives.  A Shun Classic santoku that you keep super sharp is just about all you need.

Anyway, off to eat a big lunch and then coach baseball practice.  Hope everyone has a great day.

Monday, May 13, 2013

training 5.12.2013

It has gotten quite warm for SD.  I love that.

Started with B-Ala/creatine mix, foam rolling, dynamic work, and used a belt.  No other support gear.

GHR +weight, 3x8: These are starting to come more easily, thankfully.

Squat, x6, worked up to the same weight as last time, concentrated on depth, dealt with back spasms.  I suspect I was doing a modified good morning, given the spasms, and will have to record my next effort for form analysis.

Squat, x6, -10% of previous weight.  Still not a particularly impressive weight.

Cossack squats to heels with chains, 3x10 -- I find these easier to deal with than lunges for some odd reason.

Glute bridges, barball with a bunch of weight.

The back spasms passed quickly, so I suspect form.  Everything is starting to feel better.

The job ended, so I'm looking and at the same time shooting for a consulting gig.  Will report.

Monday, May 6, 2013

training 5.6.2013

DL Day

B-Ala/creatine mix to start, lots of water, Spud DL belt only.  I did use straps for some of the rows.

Meadows row, 3x10 very heavy with strict form
1-arm Barbell rows, 3x8, very heavy
DB row with dead-stop at the bottom, 3x8 -- no warm-up sets, as I was already warm to work weight
DB Pullovers with a heavy DB, 3x8
Romanian DL with dummy snatch grip (wide as I could), 3x10 with 220 on the bar

I made a superset of the last two.  The DB pullovers were slow, and next time I may add chain.  I'm just really paranoid about my shoulders.

The job as I know it comes to an end this Friday.  I have a couple of contract gigs that seem to be shaping up close on its heels, which would be comforting.  Besides, my consulting rate is fairly obscene, so I can be whole quickly.

Hope all are well.  Check out Strongman Bob's article in this month's Power magazine, available here: http://www.thepowermagazine.com/

Thanks for checking in, both of you.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

training 5.4.2013

Leg day

Started with B-Ala/creatine mix, foam rolling, dynamic work, wall squats, and other various warm-up tasks.

No support except a Spud DL belt; otherwise raw.

GHR, 3x8 with weight
Squats, sets of 6 to a work weight (RPE=9) that was a bit of a grind, did two sets of 6 at this weight
Cossack squats with lots of chains
Glute bridges using a bar with a lot of weight on it.  I need a pad of some sort, as these are admittedly hard on my hips.

Body weight has stabilized but is still low.  Need to pack on some mass, and expect to fairly quickly.

Current job is finished this Friday, so I'll have time.

Hold fast, all.

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

update

I'm not dead and I have been training.  Just not posting.

I will return to my program and reporting on it very soon.

Thanks to all who expressed concern.  I'm fine.  Just busy.