Deadlift

Today I wanted to do some heavy sets of dead, but didn't feel my form was good enough so I went lighter and tried to focus on form.

Deadlifts: 6 x 276, 3 x 315, 9 x 225, 10 x 135
Seated Cable Pulls: 8 x 170, 3 x 8 x 200
Front Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 120, 8 x 160, 2 x 8 x 170

Here is a sample of today's workout.

Played Table Tennis afterwards for a few minutes. Played pretty well.

Fairly good table tennis day at lunch

This morning I got up at 4:40 am so I didn't plan on lifting cause last Tuesday when I got up early and then tried to lift it wasn't great. I plan on lifting at the very least MWF but preferrably MWTHF. Today I played table tennis. I lost twice to Gyan(@6W/2L) and three times to Bala(3W/3L). My problem with the majority of shots that I missed was that I hit too early. Same mistake that Austin often makes. Need to wait for the ball to come to me. If the ball is too high, I need to scoot back and hit it at the lower end of the arch and where it's closer to my natural swing. Looking forward to this Friday.

Tomorrow Deads and Back.

Shoulders

Today I had good motivation so I had a good workout:

Lateral Raises: 8 x 40, 6 x 45, 4 x 50, 4 x 55, 2 x 60
Crunches: 10 x 25
Overhead Presses: 4 x 8 x 135
Upright Rows: 10 x 95, 8 x 115, 8 x 125, 6 x 135
Pull Ups: 2 x 3 x bw
Stretching: 2 minutes
Jason Paris' Overhead One-arm Press: 2 x 8 x 45

The Overhead Presses (not the correct name) are done by alternating between in front and behind the neck for each repetition and you lift up enough to clear the head. I saw these on Kris' Behind the Bar blog (which is down now). I was researching what the proper name of that exercise is when I found this interesting article. No wonder I had that shoulder injury a long time ago when I was doing bench press. I should have read this article a while ago! He makes several good points about how to aboid injuries by doing these exercises right!

I was relieved to see the correct description of Lateral Raises. When I do them in the mirror, I'm afraid I'm not doing them right when I bend my elbows, but that appears to be the correct way. I must admit though that I did too much weight today as I cheated quite a bit and used momentum on a few sets.

Today was a great workout considering the lack of motivation and strength lately. Goal is to do Deads/Back on Wednesday.

Bench

Bench: 4 x 8 x 225
Bench with Chains: 2 x 8 x 255 (w @ 30 pounds of chains)
Crunches: 2 x 25
4 count Flutter Kicks: 2 x 25

I had planned on much more, but I started on some Stump Hanging Presses and the weight (@295) was way too heavy and I wasn't feeling very motivated so I stopped. Got up this morning at 4:50 and didn't have much energy at all. Need to have Tuesdays as an off day if I continue to get up on Tuesdays this early.

Deadlift Week 2

Fashioned after Jon's Deadlift Week 2 workout:

Deadlifts: 5 x 10 x 225
Bent over Rows: 5 x 5 x 160
Hammer Grip Rope Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 60, 8 x 70, 8 x 80
DB Lateral Raises: 8 x 40, 6 x 45, 6 x 50
Captain's Chairs: 5 x 10
Crunches: 5 x 50

Was getting light headed after each of the Deadlift sets. I was making sure to breathe each rep, maybe I was breathing too much and hyperventilating. Wasn't fun getting dizzy. Ab work felt good - burn. Didn't plan on Lateral Raises, but was feeling good at the end.

Week 1 Legs

Light Squats: 8 x 135, 155, 185
Cable Leg Press: 20 x 140, 2 x 8 x 220

I knew this would be all it would take to make me sore so I quit there. Legs have been grossly neglected. Hoping to change that.

Mirroring Jon's Bench 1 w/ near beheading

Today I tried to do everything Jon did in his Bench 1 workout:

Bench: 5 x 5 x 265
4 Board: 5 x 275 (nearly lost my head here), 5 x 295 (only have 2,4,6 boards)
Incline: 4 x 215, 2 x 8 x 175
DB Press: 6 x 65, 2 x 8 x 65 (+ 25 DB hanging)
Abs: 7 x 25 crunches

The fives of 265 were tough. My Rhomboid's are sore (had to look that up) from yesterday's pulling.

What happened though today that has never happened to me before which completely freaked me out is that I nearly took my head off with a careless attitude with the weight. On the first set of 4 boards the five @ 275 was easy (thanks to the four boards) and when I went to rack the weight I hooked the left side and didn't on the right and the right side started to come down on me. The bar was above my board so it was coming down fast and would have missed the boards. My adrenaline kicked in like lightning I think and I was able to stop the weight and then take it back up. It only came down about halfway. Scared the crud out of me. I've got to be more respectful of the weight and take the racking seriously! Al qaeda could have posted a link to my blog had I taken video of my own beheading!

I totally respect Jon for his Inclines. I wasn't able to get the 215's. I moved the weight down to 175 and did 8 instead. I also do not have 85# DB in the Tomax gym so I strapped the 65 and the 25 DB's together with some old knee wraps which made it so that at full extension on the press the 25 barely came off the ground.

Good workout today.

First day back

I've noticed that my "self-image" has suffered as a result of not lifting the past few weeks. I thought that transitioning my priorities to table tennis would be a good move. It has helped my game I think to play more, but my confidence on the other hand has dropped as I haven't lifted at all. While I do enjoy table tennis, I think I need to keep lifting at the top of my extracurricular activities.

Today was my first day back and I knew it would be tough so I started out easy:

Deadlifts: 5 x 8 x 225
Captains Chairs: 5 x 10
Close Grip Cable Rows: 3 x 10 x 180
Crunches: 3 x 50

Motivation wasn't great today. My hands have definitely grown soft in the past three weeks. My hands took a beating today. Went and saw the Dr. last week and my suspected nasal infection turns out to be just hayfever. Congestion really is affecting my sleep when I can't breathe at all through my nose. I hope the Allegra prescription does the job!

Got kicked around for the first time in a LONG time

Today at lunch I played coworker Gyanendra Hyoju. He played very well today and smart. He won more matches than I did today. His placement of the ball today was very well selected and forced alot of errors as well as made very aggressive shots himself that were difficult to return. If he plays like this everyday, then I should improve much faster than I have been.

I haven't been schooled like that since Bala used to play. Hoping that it continues. I don't mind losing as long as it isn't due to crappy shots I make, but rather from smart and aggressive play from the opponent. Which was the case today.

First Place at Chinese New Year Table Tennis Tournament

On Saturday, Feb 17th I took the family up to Evanston Wyoming for the 2007 Chinese New Year Table Tennis Tournament. I forgot how long it takes to get through the tournament. Cathi was exceptionally patient. We started out with Austin and I as a doubles team. Jacob found a partner, Braxton who was very patient and a good sport.

Austin and I played Paul and Javza. Paul is from Rock Springs, WY, and Javza a BYU student. Austin and I played quite well together and I think we shocked the two of them. We barely lost 2 - 3 with many of the games very close and the last game being a deuce game. The next game we played Aaron and Mike Pratt. We lost 0 - 3 and not so happy about those games. Aaron likes slow play with lots of spin and that messed with Austin a bit. And my friend and nemesis Mike Pratt played his typical game. So the doubles went quick for us. Jacob had a quick double loss too.

After that I played a guy in the qualifying round and lost 2-3 and then won another guy which put me in the B division. There were four divisions (C, B, A and Open)

In the B Division I played 4 people (8 people total in the bracket). The games of note were when I played Varghese Pallathu. I've seen him at the club many times and noticed his game. He is a good player, and I knew it would be tough to beat him. I lost the first two to him. I didn't enjoy the pace we were playing so I picked it up. I would set him up with a chop and come back with a forehand smash. This strategy worked fantastic with him and I was able to win the next three games for the match. Many of those points were "tickers" or net shots which are quite frustrating for the opponent. I've been in that situation and knew how frustrating it can be to be so close to victory and missing it. In that situation it is hard to not get violent.

I then played Justin and lost to him 0 - 3. That was puzzling because in the last tournament in SLC I beat him in the qualifying rounds 3-0. He has really improved. The next game I had to play Varghese again since he lost to somebody and we were both in the losers bracket. This time I played the same way I did the last few sets with him and won 3-0. That win put me at #2 in the division.

I had to play Justin again. This time if I beat him two matches in a row I could win the division. Worst case scenario is I take second. So the pressure was off a litle. I played hard and found that when Cathi watched, or Ryan Gubler watched our match I played better. I won the first match 3-0 and I heard Justin say "Times have changed!". So I had to simply beat him one more time for first place. The second match I won 3-1. Ended at @8:00 and it was a long day, but I felt very good about today's tournament and got a 1st place plaque.

I am grateful for the family being patient staying so long. I promised them we would go swimming but I forgot the pool closed at 4:30 so we missed the chance. I was especially impressed with the facility's staff. They were patient with the kids running everywhere and shared the tournament food with them. The tournament director's we well organized and kept things moving. Overall a fun experience and a great day although it was quite long.

Pictures (Sorry about the quality, the flash wasn't very energetic):

Bad luck

I was looking forward to a great day today with the virtual meet. I bought a newspaper, made sure I had new batteries, proper lifting attire etc...

I even bought a new HP Photosmart M425 a couple weeks ago knowing that I needed a digital video camera for the meet (since misplacing the one we had). I used the 1 GB SD card from my old mp3 player. I formated the card first and then used the camera the past couple of weeks to get used to it. Everything was falling into place and working great.

I started out videoing the newspaper, then the weights, then the first two Squat attempts. I reviewed both attempts immediately afterwards and they both looked good (275, 315). I went upstairs to fetch Cameron and Justin to spot me on my last squat attempt of 345. They had to help about halfway up on it. I was disappointed, but knew it would be extremely difficult to get considering I haven't worked legs at all in the past 3 months or so.

I reviewed the last attempt to see where the lift broke down. It started to play back on the camera. About 10 seconds into the video the screen went bright red and said something like "CARD HAS WRONG FORMAT Press OK to format card". I tried not to panic, but didn't feel good about that message. I ran upstairs and tried to see if I could recover what was on the SD card.

I kept getting: "The disk in Drive E is not formatted: Do you want to format it now?"

I hit NO and tried looking at the properties on the drive - nothing worked. I figured, OK well I'll just DQ my Squat and do the other lifts. I tried formatting the SD card and that wouldn't even work. I got "There is no disk in Drive E. Insert a disk, and then try again.". I tried phsyically tweaking the card to get any life out of it, but no go. The card is simply lifeless. So I was completely out of luck with this meet. The internal memory in the camera wouldn't even come close to being sufficient.

I figured I'd do the other lifts just for fun to see what I could do without the video and ended up with 345 on the bench and 315 on the DL (365 DL attempt failed).

I am very disappointed. I was hoping to at least submit something, but the only thing that could have made the day crappier I guess is that I could have seriously injured myself which I didn't do so I should count my blessings. Sorry fellow lifters. I hope your hardware works better than mine and that you have successful lifts. I'll be there next time with a new SD card and better prepared physically as well.

Taking it easy

Just playing table tennis this week to allow my body to prepare for the virtual meet this Friday. Kris has really outdone himself on it and it looks great. If you haven't already checked it out, please do so at http://www.virtualmeet.net. This weekend I have had some major stiffness in my neck/upper shoulders on the right side. Still not 100% but hoping that the rest will do some good for it. I'm actually feeling extremely guilty taking the time this week off.

My attempts for the meet will be (unless I don't make a lift in which I'll change it of course):

Squat: 285, 315, 345
Bench: 350, 360, 370
Deadlift: 365, 375, 385

Total: 1000 (455 kg), 1050 (477 kg), 1100 (500 kg)

I will be totally surprised if I get the 1100, but will be happy with the 1050.

Deads and core

Deadlifts: 15 x 5 x 225
supersetted with:
Crunches: 15 x 25 = 375 total

Frustrating morning at work. Looking forward to the weekend.

Short Shoulders Workout

Midrack Pulls: 8 x 135, 225, 315, 5 x 405, 480 W/Chains @ 495
Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 150, 170, 190, 200, 4 x Pullups x bw
DB Military Press: 8 x 50, 2 x 6 x 60

Didn't have a whole lot of time. Did this in 40 minutes. Better than nothing I guess.

Lats are sore

Yesterday's workout was great for my upper lats. I don't recall my lats being this sore before. I guess it was those inclines that got me. Fantastic.

Today for lunch instead of lifting I played table tennis. I went in with an attitude of giving it my all and it paid off. Played very well. Looking forward to the Evanston Chinese New Year Tournament that I have attended every year for the past 8 years or so.

Good Chest workout

Flat Bench (Bottom half only): 4 x 8 x 225
Floor Presses: 3 x 6 x 275
Heavy 1 rep Bench: 3 x 1 x 315

Incline Press: 3 x 12 x 135, 3 x 6 x 185, 3 x 10 x 65 DB's
Flys: 4 x 6 x 45 (Slow and controlled)

The Floor Presses, 1 rep bench and 185 Inclines were the toughest. I remember back when I could do 5 of 315. I don't think I could do that now. I wonder why really. I have once done 365 without a shirt before and I would be surprised if I could do that now. I'm worried that I've lost some strength recently, but hoping that it is just one of those weeks. Pressing forward....

Biceps and Shoulders

Alternating DB Curls: 4 x 5 x 55
supersetted with Military DB Press: 4 x 5 x 65

Preacher Curls: 4 x 5 x 115
supersetted with DB Shrugs: 4 x 5 x 65

DB Concentration Curls: 4 x 5 x 45
supersetted with DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 5 x 45

Good workout. Hands are fried. Exceeded the prescribed plan.

Deadlift and core

Deadlift: 15 x 5 x 225
supersetted with....
Captain's Chair: 5 x 10
Crunches: 5 x 20
Seated CG Rows: 5 x 8 x 200

Good workout. Kept to the prescribed plan and that makes all the difference!

No go on new PR

Today I was hoping to get a new PR on Bench press. Last week I didn't lift at all to give the tricep tendon some rest. I was hoping the rest would also allow me to get a new PR today. Apparently I took too much rest.

Shirted Bench Press: 1 x 225, 1 x 315, 1 x 365, 0 x 385
Bench Press 5's: 5 x 5 x 275
15's (Lower end 5, top end 5, full: 3 x 15 x 185
5 second Pause Bench with speed press: 5 x 5 x 135

I was very surprised how heavy the 315 and 365 was. I didn't have a spotter, but had a rack setup as a back up in case I couldn't get something up. I was surprised it was the 385 that was the failing point. Ouch. Need to get serious again.

Shoulders

Shrugs: 8 x 135, 6 x 225, 4 x 315, 6 x 225, 8 x 135
Military Press: 5 x 8 x 135
Lateral Raises: 5 x 6 x 45

At this point I wasn't feeling much like lifting as I heard lots of table tennis going on in the next room so I played a few games. Wish Bala could play. His style is the kind I like to play best. Need to do arms tomorrow.

Deadlift work

Deadlift: 30 x 185 (50%) rested 5-20 seconds between reps
Close Grip Pulldowns: 4 x 8 x 170
Wide Grip Pullups: 4 x 0 x bw

On the deadlifts I tried using the mirror to see how far down my hips go and watch that my legs are doing the initial part of the lift. Hard to tell. Before I went down I did a google search for "perfect deadlift form video" and got this link as the second hit. The thing I got out of that thread is that there are many different opinions on what is "perfect" form. Personally I would agree that you need to avoid rounding the back. I would also agree that I need to use my legs more. So I focused on that more today.

The pullups were pretty wide grip so I probably barely got half way up before I couldn't do it. Glad the gym I use is private. I'd be pretty embarrassed with how wimpy my pull ups are. Didn't have shoes/socks today and it felt weird to be in the gym in bare feet so I didn't do a full workout and I didn't really have a plan either. Not a great day in the gym.

Chest and Abs

Warm Up: 50 Pushups fast, 20 x 135 flat bench
Stump Presses: 2 x 8 x 135 + 50 lb DB hanging on each side and 30 lb chains (@265)
4 Blocks: 8 x 285, 6 x 295, 4 x 315, 2 x 335, 1 x 365
DB Presses (Speed): 4 x 10 x 65
DB Flys: 4 x 4 x 55
Four-count Flutter Kicks: 8 x 25 (200 total)
supersetted with Slow Crunches: 8 x 10 (80 total)

Was surprised that 50 pushups was as hard as it was. My all time best is 90 pushups, back when I was training for the physical test at Security. I'd love to do 100 in one sitting. I'll start doing these as a warm up and build up on them. I think my endurance has gone down.

Also surprised at how difficult the stump presses were. Those really make you keep control of the weight. The 365 four board was tough too. I'm wondering if I'm gonna be able to put up 365 at the virtual meet (which is raw). 365 raw is my PR right now, and I definitely want to at least match it. Overall it was a good workout and I started real early as yesterday I had to bag it.

Shoulders

Midrack Pulls: 8 x 135, 8 x 225, 6 x 315, 5 x 405, 0 x 480

The Rack was lower than normal. Two inches lower than normal. Couldn't bend my knees and keep my back straight. My back had to bend a little just to reach the weight. Thus the zero on the 480. I'll take it back up next time.

Close Grip Standing Rows: 12 x 95, 8 x 115, 8 x 125, 8 x 135
Lateral DB Raises: 3 x 8 x 40
Pullups: 2 x 4 x bw
Military Press 1 rep max: 1 x 185, 0 x 195

Felt good about this workout. Chest still sore from Wednesday, so I won't be lifting with Stump even though Cathi gave me the go ahead this afternoon. On Saturday's Stump, Moosie, Mike, and several others lift at the Gold's Gym in West Jordan.

That is usually their heavy day and since I'm still sore, I'm definitely not going. Cathi changed plans on me last minute or I would have held off on going heavy this week. Maybe next time.

Going to the club tonight with Austin and Jacob. Looking forward to playing hard and improving my game. The 989 rating makes me hungry.

Arms and Abs

Standing EZ bar curls (Speed): 5 x 8 x 75
superset with
Crunches (Slow): 4 x 25

Alt DB Curls: 5 x 6 x 55
superset with
4 count flutterkicks: 4 x 25

Concentration Curls: 8 x 35, 8 x 40, 2 x 8 x 45, 6 x 50
superset with
Knee Up Captains Chair: 4 x 25

Those captain chairs were tough. I was feeling a burn inside my inner hips not in my abs. Good workout.

Found out yesterday how bad the Las Vegas Tournament really was. I am rated 989 ( I was hoping for mid 1200 before I got sick).

Austin is rated 699 which is a little higher than I thought he would get. Looking forward to better that rating.

Inspiring Deadlift videos

Fellow blogger at Old School Strongman included the following videos in his blog. I am also including links. Very cool.

link 1
link 2
link 3

My chest and neck are sore from yesterday. I think my neck is mostly sore from the day before. That's great. Love being sore. Workout for today to follow....

New 225 Bench PR

I've wondered where my 225 rep is at. My best at 225 is 20 reps. Today I was going for 25. I ended up doing 24 and failing on the 25th. So my new PR for 225 is 24 reps. I'll probably do them again in another year to see where I'm at.

Flat Bench: 24 x 225
Decline Bench: 8 x 225, 6 x 275, 4 x 295, 2 x 315, 4 x 295, 8 x 225 (Speed)
Incline DB Press: 5 x 8 x 65
DB Flys: 3 x 8 x 50

Deadlift PR and setting goals for 2007

Deadlift:
4 x 275
2 x 315
1 x 365
12 x 225

Here is the video of the lifts.

The form on these looks more like SLDL. If anyone can give me pointers on how to make the lift easier that would be great.

The goals I have for 2007 are:

1) Get my Deadlift PR to match or exceed my Bench PR
2) By year end 2007 I would like to get my Bench PR up to 435 (which also means my Deadlift PR is at least 435)
3) Lift no less than three times per week, unless recovering from an injury or tapering.

Giving the joints a vacation

Today I went in and did 4 x 275 DL. The right elbow-tricep tendon was complaining and afterwards the right knee. I had planned on going for a new PR today in the DL, but due to the joint pain decided to go play table tennis with Gyan and Rajiv.

I think I will give lifting an entire week off. Hopefully my joints will appreciate this gesture and come back the next week with some new enthusiasm. So until next year..... Happy Holidays!

Upper Back

Midrack Pulls: 8 x 135, 8 x 225, 6 x 405, 6 x 480
Pullups: 3 x 4 x bw
DB Shrugs: 3 x 8 x 65
DB Overhead Press: 3 x 8 x 65
Close Grip Pulldowns: 3 x 8 x 170
DB Lateral Raises: 3 x 10 x 35

Today's workout was good. I could feel that sensitive tricep tendons going into my elbow during the DB Overhead Press a little.

Biceps

Seated Preacher Curls: 12 x 75 slow! 4 x 10 x 75 w/chains, 4 x 75 w/chains + 15# DB hanging on each side
Standing Armblaster Curls: 8 x 75, 8 x 85, 8 x 95, 8 x 105, 8 x 115
Alternating DB Curls: 2 x 65, 4 x 60, 6 x 55, 8 x 50, 10 x 45, 12 x 40, 14 x 35
Cable Curls: 10 x 40, 10 x 50, 8 x 60, 8 x 70, 6 x 80 (fail)

It felt good today to start out with light weight. My joints lately, especially my tricep/elbow joints have been hurting lately. It felt good to isolate the biceps today instead of share tricep work with them. I'm going to give triceps a break for a couple weeks. Today's workout was good and I didn't slack.

Heavy Chest workout

I read today in this article that its probably best to do your hardest/heaviest lifts first so you aren't tired by the time you get to them so I started today with Incline Press.

Incline Bench: 3 x 4 x 225
Flat Bench: 5 x 4 x 295
DB Flys: 6 x 50, 3 x 4 x 55
Pushups: 50

For the first time in my life lifting alone, the weight came back down on me when I didn't have a spotter. I was on my first set of Incline Press. I finished my fourth rep and got one side back on the rack, but couldn't get my left one up on the rack. The rack was too high beyond my lockout and I couldn't arch my back enough to get it up and over the edge. I started to panic just a little and unracked the other side so I could bring it back down. I knew that because it was incline I could weasle it down my front and muscle it off my lap. I was at about 45 degree angle. I was so glad it wasn't more than 225. Scared me though cause I've never had a situation like that before.
I fixed the situation by using the small posts for the weight and then the long posts for a backup system which was just an inch below my chest so I could use that if I ever have that problem again.

I set up the rack similarly for the flat bench too since I've never worked with 295 as the main weight before. The 295 sets felt very heavy and several times the little wimpy voice in my head said to give up as the first rep was coming down, but I didn't heed. In fact I ended up doing the optional 5th set that I wrote down instead of the mandatory 4. I also made pushups optional which I did. 50 pushups isn't too bad after a heavy workout. The only thing is my gut hits the floor instead of my chest and I seem to not go as far down as a result. I haven't gained a whole lot of weight lately, but I remember when I was all gung ho over pushups when I was working security and didn't have half the gut that I do now.

After Cathi has the baby we have some serious goals to lose weight together. At that point I'm going to have to do some cardio and stick with it.

Late Afternoon Back Work

Good Mornings: 4 x 6 x 115
SLDL: 3 x 4 x 295
Crunches: 4 x 25 slow and deliberate

The Good Mornings were too easy and the SLDL were pushing it especially on the last set. Didn't take much of a lunch break today and I really wanted to lift since I took the vacation off (due to being sick). Ankle is not improving much. Still at about 85-90%.

Table Tennis Tournament Results

http://www.gordongridley.us/2006/12/results-of-my-table-tennis-tournament.html

New Raw DL PR

DL: 2 x 245, 1 x 315, 1 x 355 (PR), 4 x 275
100 crunches (Slow and deliberate)
Cable Good Mornings: 4 x 10 x 200

Felt some pretty strange twitches going on in my mid back on the 275's so I stopped at 4 and stopped the other set I had planned. Didn't want to risk an injury. I didn't vid the 355, but I know it wasn't the smoothest DL I've ever done. Wouldn't mind hooking up with Dave Edgell for some DL pointers. Will have to do that after I get back from Vegas. I'm heading down there tomorrow morning and will be there participating in the National Table Tennis Tournament. I'm taking Austin and we are going to have a blast.

Hoping that the Stratosphere has a decent weight room since I don't think I'll be playing table tennis a whole lot. Just when competing. My ankle is at about 90% when walking, but jumping off/onto is alot worse. I hope I'm not completely disappointed with my performance as a result of it. Austin though is at the top of his game so far and I have high hopes for that boy.

Repeat of PR

This morning I slept in and man did that feel great! I was half heartedly planning on lifting with Brandon and Wayne at 5:15, and planned on doing another 405.

So at lunchtime I was able to snag Duane Ralphs to spot me for 395 and a 405 bench. I was able to get both. The 405 started to shift a little to the left near the top of the press, but corrected it and got it straight up.

Next time I'll start at 405 and go for 415 since this is the second time I've gotton 405 and probably the 4th time for 395.

Here is what I did:

Bench: 1 x 225, 1 x 315
Shirted Bench: 1 x 365, 1 x 395, 1 x 405

Given that I lifted chest on Friday and also have a tournament later this week I decided not to push it and do more than this so I went to have lunch. Tomorrow I'd like to get a new PR on Deadlift. My ankle is doing great. I would say I'm at 80% now, hoping to get more improvement by Friday.

Second Bench workout for the week

4 Block Flat Bench: 8 x 275, 8 x 315, 3 x 365
No Block Flat Bench: 3 x 315, 10 x 225
LowerHalf Only Flat Bench: 6 x 10 x 225 w/chains
Speed Bench: 5 x 225, 5 x 135

Felt good about the amount of effort put into these. Ankle feeling better. Played TT last night with Austin. Should be ready for the National Tournament next week. I ordered new Mark V rubber for two Mark V blades and replaced them and reglued my WonderBlade. Awesome.

Back

SLDL: 4 x 4 x 275
Upright Rows: 4 x 4 x 145
Bent Over Rows: 4 x 135, 4 x 160, 2 x 4 x 185
Cable Crossovers: 4 x 4 x 30
Crunches (Slow and hold at top): 4 x 25

The ankle is still very tender, but it did not give me any problems with these lifts so that's good.

Arms

Dips: 12 x bw, 2 x 8 x bw + 45
Preacher Curls: 3 x 12 x 95
French Press: 3 x 8 x 95
One Handed Cable Curls: 12 x 20, 10 x 30, 8 x 40
Tate Press: 3 x 8 x 40

I think I need to take two Glucosamine tabs per night rather than one. The tendon that connects my Triceps to the back of my elbow gets really tender when doing heavy Tricep work. Need to strengthen that joint. Felt OK about this workout. Still taking my time with the sore ankle.

I skipped my Dr. Appointment today as I'm 100% sure it isn't broken. I can put weight on it without support and can walk on it with a limp. I put on three sock on the right side today to give extra support until I get my ankle brace which I got a couple days ago per Ryan Gubler's recommendation. I'm feeling very confident that I should be close to 100% (especially with the ankle brace) by this time next week. I'm getting better everyday.

Shoulders

Seated Military Press: 4 x 8 x 95 (Alternating between in-front and behind head)
Seated CG Cable Rows: 2 x 8 x stack (@200), 2 x 8 x stack + 2 sets of chains (@230)
DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 8 x 40
Widegrip Pulldowns: 2 x 6 x stack (@200), 2 x 6 x 190

Was hoping to do 135 on the Military press, but those were way too heavy. I've done that much weight before standing, but seated I guess forces better form and I must have cheated pretty bad when I did that much before. 95 was plenty easy, probably too easy. Should have gone for 105.

Took my time on this workout. It took about an hour to do, but with the slow moving leg it takes more time to load up and I generally feel disabled having to move slow and stuff. Felt OK about the effort and weight involved, not psyched though.

Today I went without the aircast as I felt like I was part robot. Ever see those machines in Alien 2 at the end that Sygourney climbs into to fight the Alien, or the Machine those guys in Matrix 3 use to fight with that have Gatling Guns for hands? With that air cast my leg was huge and bulky and made a huge thump when I walked. So I went without it today as I could walk on it very carefully. I'm reluctantly going to keep my appointment with the Orthopedic doctor tomorrow, but I would be floored if he said it needed a hard cast due to a break.

Floor Presses

Floor Press: 8 x 225, 6 x 275, 4 x 295, 2 x 315, 1 x 335
Static Press: 405 x 15 sec, 455 x 10 sec, 480 x 5 sec (New PR - All the weight Tomax has)
DB Floor Flys: 4 x 8 x 50
Crunches: 10 x 50

On the static holds the hardest part was AFTER the weight came down and rested. My joints in my wrists and elbows were like "What the heck was that!". My grip was also starting to slide outwards just a tad. Need to use chalk when I do that much weight again.

Felt good to work out even though I'm basically a cripple. Hobbling around like an old fart. Gotta keep the upper body up while the ankle heals.

Slip up

No point in duplicating this post. But I did have a slip up this weekend which will affect my deadlifting for the next little bit. Here are the details.

Biceps

I had to run an errand during lunch so I didn't get to do much lifting, but I did get a little:

Alternating DB Curls: 4 x 8 x 50
Synchronous DB Armblaster Curls: 4 x 8 x 50

Don't usually do 50's for curls for that number of reps. Guess I'm getting a little stronger. My upper back muscles are a little sore, not bad sore, just a little and it should affect my game tonight at the TT club.

New PR on Raw Deadlift

The last couple days I had a muscle in my neck that was really troubling me. I took yesterday off so I could rest it completely. Its totally fine now and no hint of problems anymore thank goodness.

Today I was way past due in doing some Deadlift work.

Deadlifts: 8 x 245, 6 x 275, 4 x 295, 2 x 315, 2 x 335
SLDL: 4 x 8 x 245
100 crunches slow and steady

New raw 1 rep PR for deadlifts and I did two! Should set me up nicely for doing a 1 rep next week of 345. I did one and paused at the top for about 5 seconds and on the way down figured I could go back up so I went for it, and made it up fairly easy as well. Very happy with that! The only problem is that I take so much rest between sets that I don't get to do as much lifting as I would like. Its nice to have weights in the basement at work, but 1 hour just isn't as much time as I'd like. Wish I could take 2 hours.

From now on I won't be doing SLDL on the same day as deadlifts. I'll seperate them by a few days in the week. I can't expect to have much stamina for SLDL when I max on the Deadlifts.

High Rep Chest

Flat Bench: 18 x 215, 16 x 215, 10 x 215, 4 x 15 x 155
Incline Smith Press: 4 x 15 x 135
DB Flys: 4 x 15 x 40

Good burns today. Early morning workout (5:15 am), still bad commute (over 45 minutes from Syracuse to Salt Lake). Expected to be worse coming home and tomorrow morning due to bad snow storm.

Two workouts today

With this week being Thanksgiving, I figured I really should push it the first part of the week as I won't be lifting Thursday - Sunday. So at lunch I did the following:

Deadlifts: 8 x 235, 6 x 265, 4 x 285, 2 x 305, 1 x 325 (New raw PR)
Cable Good Mornings: 4 x 8 x stack (@ 200 + @15 pounds of chains)
Seated Close Grip Cable Pulls: 4 x 8 x stack (@ 200 + @15 pounds of chains)
SLDL: 4 x 8 x 235
100 crunches (Slow and deliberate)

I almost gave up after the first set of SLDL. The second set and fourth set were great. Third one I had to regrip after the sixth rep. I did the SLDLs with a double overhand grip as well as the Deadlifts, until I got to 305, then switched to alternating grip.

Tough workout. Hoping each week I can increase 10 pounds on the deadlifts. Anxious to get a new PR on the deadlift. The 360 PR I currently have is with wrist wraps and knee wraps. I'm not going to use those again, just a belt and chalk. Hoping to beat the 360 PR at the virtual meet without wraps.

Chest

Flat Bench:
12 x 245
8 x 275
6 x 295
6 x 295
6 x 275
7 x 245 (Hold 2 sec on bottom, then press)
8 x 185 (Hold 2 sec on bottom, then press)

Incline Press:
12 x 185
2 x 8 x 205
8 x 135 (hold at bottom and speed press up)

DB Flys: 4 x 20 x 40

Decline DB Press: 20 x 40, 2 x 25 x 40, 30 x 40

Fairly good workout. 295 felt heavy and didn't feel very strong with it so I went back down and focused on form. Wayne's form was very good and I thought I should do better myself.

Custom Shoulder Lifts

Today I did:

Stump Presses (Add 50 pounds from two x 25 lb dumbells hanging with 10 pound chains): 8 x 95 (@145), 85(@135), 75(@125), 10 x 65(@115), 12 x 55(@105)
Jason Paris' One Arm Presses: 4 x 8 x 45
Gords' lateral DB Rows: 4 x 8 x 40
Arnold Presses :4 x 8 x 40
Upright Rows (Ok this isn't custom, just frosting for the workout): 10 x 95, 8 x 115, 8 x 125, 8 x 135

Felt good about this workout. Was really hungry for a good workout. Did this right after getting a flu shot.

Upper Back

I didn't prescribe a workout today so I played it by ear which is usually a bad idea as I don't usually push myself as much but I ended up doing fairly well I think:

DB Incline Rows: 10 x 50, 2 x 8 x 55
Lat Pulldowns: 10 x 150, 2 x 8 x 170
Midrack Pulls: 8 x 135, 225, 315, 6 x 405, 4 x 480 (All the weight we have)

Next time I need to make sure to set the rack at 18 instead of 17 on the midrack pulls. Had a pretty good knot in my upper back to begin the workout right underneath my right shoulder blade. The workout seemed to help it just a little, but not much. It's still there and I wish I had the time and money to get Kristyn to work it out.

5-10-20 Arms

Today I wanted to really mix things up so I decided to do three sets of exercises, with the first set 5 reps, second set 10 reps and third set being 20. This would require varying levels of strength. Stamina being most important for the last set.

Here is what I did:

Preacher Curls: 5 x 135, 10 x 115, 20 x 75
Dips: 5 x bw + 90, 10 x bw + 45, 20 x bw
Concentration Curls: 5 x 45, 10 x 35, 20 x 25
Skull Crushers: 5 x 115, 10 x 95, 20 x 75
Incline DB Curls (21s style): 15 x 45 (5 lower half, 5 upper half, 5 full), 30 x 30, 60 x 20

I had to take three small breaks (20 - 30 seconds) on the last set of Incline DB Curls to let the intense burn subside for a bit. I still held on to the weight, just put it in a static position. Stayed with the prescribed workout this time as well. Felt great. Hoping to have rubber arms for a couple days.

Mid-day Bench

Slept in again. Getting full night's sleep becoming more of a priority lately.

Prescribed the following:

Floor Presses: 8 x 225, 6 x 27, 4 x 295, 2 x 315, 1 x 335
DB Floor Flys: 4 x 8 x 50
Incline Press: 4 x 8 x 185
Pushups: 30, 20, 10 (clap), 20, 35

Almost talked myself out of doing the last two sets of pushups before I even started them. Ended up doing them (+5 extra on the last set as punishment for considering it)

Felt really good about this workout. The last set on Floor Press (335) I started to cramp up in my right hamstring. My legs kicked out and went flat on the floor and was able to muscle the weight up. Close one without a spotter.

Need to mention Alex before I forget his name again

Back in Fall of 1990 when I was attending Ricks College, there was a guy lived in Ensign Hall who influenced me to get into the gym and got me addicted to working out was a guy named Alex Olsen. He was from Boston Massachusetts. He was a nice guy and at times fanatical about his diet. I remember he convinced me that wheat bread was full of estrogen and to avoid it.

It took me half a day to remember his first name, and I tried Googling him, but couldn't find him. So Alex Olsen, if you ever google yourself and come across this let me know. I'd love to find out what you have been up to.

Deadlifts

Deadlifts: 8 x 225, 6 x 255, 4 x 275, 2 x 295, 1 x 315
Cable Good Mornings: 4 x 8 x stack (@ 200)
Seated Close Grip Cable Pulls: 4 x 8 x stack
SLDL: 4 x 8 x 225
100 crunches (Slow and deliberate)

Wanted to give up half way through the SLDL's but pushed through them. Kept to the prescribed routine and felt good. My right wrist was really sore this morning and I was extremely tired at 5 am so I slept past the alarm (skipping Brandon's chest workout) and slept in an extra hour planning on lifting today at lunch. I need to make deadlift the priority for Monday's that way I am guaranteed to get them every week. Will move Chest to Tuesday or Wednesday and do another Deadlift routine on Thursday or Friday.

The weekend's Table Tennis Tournament was a little disappointing. Didn't do as well as I had hoped. One thing I like better about powerlifting is I feel that my only opponent is myself, whereas with table tennis its all about beating the other guy.

Shoulders

Seated Behind the Neck Military Smith Press: 15 x 105, 10 x 125, 2 x 8 x 155
DB Front Raises: 4 x 6 x 40
Shrugs: 3 x 10 x 185, 10 x 65
DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 10 x 40
DB Standing Military Presses: 4 x 12 x 40

Pushed it pretty good on this work out. The front raises were brutal. Taking the next couple days off to make sure I'm not sore for the Table Tennis Tournament. My new paddle came in and hit with it yesterday a couple times. It was worth it.

Arms

21s: 2 x 21, 18, 21 (Seated on Incline Bench, Curl bottom half for 7, top half for 7 then full curls)
Skullcrushers: 12 x 95, 3 x 8 x 125
Preacher Curls: 2 x 95, 2 x 115
Standing Cable Tricep Extensions: 12 x 85, 8 x 115, 2 x 8 x 135
Standing EZ bar Curls: 4 x 15 x 75

Got quite a good burn in the biceps. Very happy with today's effort, especially the 21's. I was going for 18 and got 21. Starting earlier to miss traffic a little. (5:15 am) Still had a little traffic to deal with, but not too bad. Took Cathi in to the car dealership to pick up the van. We were there before it opened so we had breakfast together which was nice.

Benching on Monday

DB Flys: 4 x 14 x 40
Decline Smith Press: 12 x 225, 2 x 275 x 10, 5 x 275
Flat Bench: 5 x 8 x 225, 8 x 215, 8 x 205

Did this at Brandon's. The Flat bench at the end sure makes it tougher to get the weight you want, but that's OK. I wanted to lift at lunch, but because of car swapping with Cathi and having to leave early for Anger Management Session I didn't have enough time to get my eight hours of work in so I scrapped lunch today. Need to make up a couple hours over the next few days.

Some back

Pull Ups: 2 x 4 x bw, 5 x bw, 4 x bw + 2 with help
Deadlifts: 12 x 135, 8 x 225, 4 x 275, 1 x 315
DB Rows: 4 x 12 x 40
Lat Pulldowns: 12 x 85, 8 x 140, 2 x 8 x 155

The form on the last deadlift was terrible. I'm just glad I didn't hurt anything.
Last time I'll do deads in Brandon's basement. Deads for me really bring out the gas, I also don't feel like I can be rough with the weight. The floor pads don't cover the whole room and don't want to mess up his carpet or the cement beneath it.

There is a table tennis tournament tonight, but for the age divisions which I didn't sign up for. I brought Austin with me to work today and he will be in the 17 and under division. We will be practicing at lunch time. I bought a new Nittaku paddle yesterday with some quality rubber which hopefully will take my game to a new level. The open division starts next Friday so I won't be lifting after this coming Wednesday to make sure I'm not sore for the tournament. Last Friday was awful as I was still sore from the deadlifts last week.

Heavy and Light Arms

EZ Bar Curls: (Cheat) 3 x 4 x 150, (Light) 3 x 20 x 75
Dips: 2 x 6 x bw + 45, 2 x 3 x bw + 90, 2 x 12 x bw
Alternating DB Curls: 2 x 4 x 55, 2 x 8 x 45, 2 x 12 x 35, 2 x 16 x 25
Cable Tricep Extensions: 2 x 6 x 100, 2 x 10 x 60
50 crunches between exercises (200 total)

This workout took just over an hour to do and it was good. I was able to follow this predefined workout to the T without any alterations and that is a good thing (unless it is to exceed it). Hoping to be sore tomorrow. My chest still is from Monday.

Moderate Benching

Flat Bench: 15 x 225, 4 x 8 x 275, 2 x 8 x 225
Incline Bench: 2 x 6 x 215, 6 x 195, 15 x 125
DB Flys: 4 x 13 x 40

Here is the Halloween Outfit I wore to work:

Yo! Duba Geez in da howss

Lower Back

Captain's Chair: 4 x 15
Deadlifts: 10 x 185, 8 x 225, 4 x 275, 2 x 315
Seated Cable Good Mornings: 4 x 10 x whole stack (@200)
SLDL: 5,6,7,8 x 225
Bicycle crunches: 4 x 10
Hypers: 8 x 45 (I planned three more, but I forgot how terribly improvised I have this one set up. My upper body is longer than the distance of the bench to the floor so I don't get the full range of motion that I would like, so I skipped the rest of these.

When I entered the room I saw Brett and two other guys in there lifting. I don't think there have been more than three people at one time in that room. Just a little crowded if everyone is doing their own thing. Wouldn't be that bad if we all worked together. After a couple of sets of deadlifts, they took off so it wasn't bad. Started to get a deep headache half way into the deadlifts, but I didn't give it much attention and it wore itself off.

Arms before going to Hawaii

No, I'm not going to Hawaii, but Brandon is. Here is what we did:

21s: 40 pounds, 4 sets of 18 (6 lower portion of incline seated curls, 6 upper portion, 6 full motion) Supposed to do 7 of each, but I had 40's and 4 sets of 18 was as much as I could do.
Nosebreakers: 4 x 6 x 125
Preacher Curls: 2 x 8 x 95, 2 x 6 x 115
Dips: 4 x 10 x bw (We rigged his machine up, and it was too close together to do dips comfortably)
Standing EZ Bar curls: 2 x 8 x 95, 2 x 6 x 115

Felt pretty good about this workout. Went home to get ready for work, and just before leaving, found my dog Sadie, had passed away. Very sad day. Here is her eulogy.

405 Bench - Finally!

I had it in my mind to do 405 today!

Here is what I did today (at Brandon Mattson's Basement):
Flat Bench: 1 x 245, 1 x 345, 1 x 395, 1 x 405, 8 x 275, 10 x 255
Incline Smith Press: 2 x 8 x 175, 6 x 225, 5 x 225
DB Flys: 4 x 12 x 40
After lunch did
Flat DB Presses: 4 x 15 x 65 (fast)

I was happy with both the 395 and 405 lift. The setup on both I felt happy with, except for a little on my left foot. I felt a sticking point halfway up on the 405, but pushed through it without much pause. I exagerrated my pause at the bottom on both, just to make sure I wasn't bouncing. Please let me know if you see something I should work on to make it cleaner. I've definitely seen cleaner, but this is a one rep max so its gonna be tough.

The weights on the 405 were setup "ugly", that's cause the guys in front of me were doing 185. The weights included were 45 - 25 - 45 - 35 - 25 - 5. There were also a couple of 45's and 25's that were from a "heavy" brand, so it was actually slightly heavier, but I'll just average it out to 405.

Again, click the image below for the movie of the 395 and 405 lifts. Thanks to Cathi for her encouragement and support. This is just one milestone I've been aiming for the past year. Need to keep going, this isn't the end, but just a milestone. 

Warning: Turn down your audio volume, when I made this video I didn't realize how loud the volume was!

Lats

Pullups: 5 (no help), 2 x 8 (3 with help), 7 (3 with help)
Bent over rows: 4 x 8 x 155
Lat Cable Pulldowns: 12 x 85, 8 x 140, 2 x 8 x 155

My hands sure took a beating today. I cut off a callous this week, and should have left it. This morning sure was tiring getting up early to lift. Have a scout camp this weekend which to be honest I'm not looking forward to. It isn't even with the scouts, it with leaders and it's to get some outdoor skills training which I don't think I'm lacking in anyways. I'm just glad I only have to do it this once.

Need to do some core work this weekend, haven't hit that at all in the last couple weeks.

Early morning shoulders

Smith Military press: 12 x 120, 10 x 145, 8 x 165, 6 x 195
Smith Shrugs: 4 x 12 x 145
Alternating DB Front Raises: 4 x 6 x 40
DB Military Press: 2 x 15 x 40, 2 x 18 x 40
DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 8 x 40

Today I was a few minutes late getting there, but Wayne wasn't there yet so I didn't miss anything. The front raises were tough as well as the lateral raises, but it was either 40 pound DB or 15 pounds. So I went heavy. Felt pretty good about these. Biceps were sore yesterday in lower section. I haven't had sore Biceps in ages! Playing Table Tennis at lunch lately, so it's either Brandon's or skip out on Ping Pong. With the tournament coming up in December I want to be well practiced, but at the same time I need to maintain a 4 workouts per week minimum.

Arms

21s: 2 x 15 (5 low, 5 high, 5 full), 2 x 18 (6 low, 6 high, 6 full)
Nosebreakers: 2 x 12 x 95, 2 x 8 x 115
Seated Preacher Curls: 4 x 8 x 95
French Presses: 2 x 12 x 115, 2 x 8 x 135
Standing Curls w/EZ bar: 4 x 15 x 75

Those curls at the end, althought the weight was light, was generating a real good burn. Got up too early. I was at Brandon's at 5:18 and realized they don't start till 5:30. Glad I went. Felt guilty for not lifting yesterday. Plus went to chuck a rama for dinner with the Low family for Bill's Birthday. The pictures from the cruise put me in a bad mood. To be honest I'm OK with a small belly, but the double chin look is really bringing me down. Need to get focused back on losing a little.

Saturday - last lift on Carnival Pride

Chest
Machine Fly: 12 x 165, 3 x 8 x 225, 8 x 255
Machine Press: 12 x 210, 2 x 8 x 255, 2 x 10 x 255

Cathi was finished with her workout so I quit early so we could go do stuff.

Cabo San Lucas

Triceps

Dips: 5 x 8 x bs (240)
Tricep Extension Machine: 12 x 70, 3 x 8 x 100, 6 x 120
DB Tricep Extensions: 3 x (8 x 100 ( 2 x 50s), 8 x 60)
Nosebreakers: 5 x 12 x 70
Cross-face DB Extensions: 2 x 8 x 30, 3 x 6 x 35, 6 x 40
Standing Cable Tricep Extensions: 12 x 80, 4 x 8 x 95

Mazatlan

Felt way too sore to do anything this morning.
Went shopping with Cathi – no excursions today. Just shopping and relaxing.

Puerto Vallarta

Shoulders
Military Machine: 12 x 130, 3 x 8 x 160, 4 x 200
Seated Row Machine: 12 x 135, 3 x 8 x 180, 6 x 195
Rear Delt Machine: 12 x 135, 8 x 135, 2 x 8 x 120, 6 x 135
Upright Rows: 5 x 12 x 70
Lat Rows: 10 x 165, 3 x 8 x 180, 6 x 180
Seated DB Military Press: 5 x 8 x 55
Many hours later….
Incline Bench DB Rows: 5 x 8 x 50
Lateral Raises: 8 x 35, 4 x 8 x 40
DB Upright Rows: 5 x 8 x 50
Walked eight times around the deck briskly with Cathi. (Probably just over 2 miles)

Today Cathi and I spent about 45 minutes in a pool with dolphins. We pet them, rode them, fed them and swam with them. It was a blast.

2nd Day at Sea

Biceps
Machine Preacher Curls: 12 x 90, 8 x110, 2 x 8 x 100, 8 x 90 Quality was compromised so went down in weight
Alternating DB Curls: 5 x 8 x 40
Standing Barbell Curls: 5 x 12 x 70 (All they had for Barbells)
Concentration Curls: 5 x 8 x 35
Wrist Curls: 5 x 8 x 35 Superset with
Reverse Grip Forearm Curls: 5 x 8 x 30
21s (Incline seated): 5 x 21 x 30
Played Ping Pong with Tim for 10 games, He won 3. He did better this time.

First Day at Sea

Chest
DB Flat Bench – 3 x 12 x 50, 2 x 10 x 60, superset with
DB Flys: 5 x 10 x 50
DB Incline Bench: 12 x 50, 4 x 12 x 60
Bench Machine: 12 x 205, 4 x 10 x 255
Nose Breakers: 5 x 15 x 70
Push Ups: 5 x 25
6 minutes on bike
Met a guy from Park City who brought his own paddle as well. He was very good compared to others I played during the day. His name is Tim. He did very good considering he seemed a bit tipsy from his drink.(He won 3 games out of about 15).

Shoulders

50 Crunches
DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 12 x 35
50 Crunches
Military Press: 8 x 135
50 Crunches
Upright Rows: 8 x 115, 3 x 8 x 145
50 Crunches

Didn't have a whole lot of motivation for today. I went down hoping that someone would be playing ping pong, but nobody was.

Later this afternoon Doug told me about cruise ships. They don't have very good gyms and they are crowded in the morning. He asked me about my bench max and if I hit 405 yet. He said I would probably lose some strength after the cruise. Man I don't want that to happen! I realize its vacation, and the food is free, but I have the following goals:

1) Eat in moderation. Don't eat until I'm full every single meal. I plan on eating a heavy breakfast 2-3 servings (after working out (see goal #2), a moderate lunch (1.5 servings), and a light dinner (1 serving (with many veggies)). No deserts at all, which should be easy considering I'm not much for sweets anyway. It's meats that are tempting for me.
2) Workout for 2 hours a day. Preferably 1.5 hours in gym, .5 in aerobics of some kind.

If I meet those goals, then I won't feel I've slacked on the cruise.

Bench

Flat Bench: 15 x 225 (2 blocks), 6 x 315 (2 blocks), 4 x 325 (2 blocks), 2 x 3 x 335 (2 blocks), 6 x 275 (no blocks), 16 x 225 (no blocks)
Incline Smith Press: 8 x 185, 3 x 8 x 195
DB Flys: 4 x 12 x 40

Started at 5:30 am. Didn't leave for work until 8:00. Ouch. Need to start leaving earlier to avoid traffic.

Biceps before Ping Pong

Took lunch early to lift before any table tennis:

Armblaster EZ bar curls: 8 x 95, 8 x 105, 8 x 115, 8 x 125
Concentration Curls: 8 x 30, 8 x 35, 8 x 40, 6 x 45
One arm reverse grip cable curls: 4 x 8 x 20
supersetted with Reverse Grip Pull Ups: 4 x 3 x bw
Alternating DB Curls: 4 x 6 x 45

Brought in a mirror from home that wasn't being used. That made a huge difference in the workout. There wasn't a mirror at all in the Tomax gym and now it does. I'm not saying that I'm considering bodybuilding, but it sure is a boost to watch my lifts and critique my form in real time. Today's lift was great and I'm excited for future workouts using the mirror to help judge how things are going.

Ping Pong with Bala was OK. I was on the losing side of things (4 out of 10 games), but they were pretty even for the most part.

Wimpy Friday morning workout

Brandon agreed to work lats today instead of shoulders since that is what I did yesterday. Here's what we did:

Pull Ups: 5 x bw, 4 x bw (+4 with help), 3 x bw (+4 with help), 2 x bw (+4 with help)
Bent over rows: 12 x 95, 8 x 145, 2 x 8 x 165
Upright Rows: 8 x 95, 8 x 125, 6 x 125, 8 x 115

Considering I'm going to the club tonight, I wasn't going to argue with Brandon about only doing three exercises. The last couple days workouts have been fantastic. I've been sore.

I've been able to patch things up with Mrs. G which is a great. One week left before I go on an awesome vacation.

Shoulders

Brandon conveyed his cancellation of this morning's early workout, so I did this at lunch:

Standing Stump Presses - 4 x 6 x (bar + 2 x 45 DB hanging from chains) = total @165#
DB Lateral Raises: 12 x 35, 10 x 40, 8 x 45, 6 x 50
Upright Rows: 8 x 115, 2 x 6 x 135, 3 x 155 (Crappy form), 5 x 145 (better)
DB Shrugs: 4 x 8 x 65
DB Front Raises (To overhead): 4 x 8 x 30 supersetted with
Machine Military Press: 8 x 3 stack, 8 x 4 stack, 8 x 5 stack, 8 x 6 stack

Did 50 crunches between exercises (200 total)

Today had a fair bit of rage built up. Last night was not a good one for me. I wasn't behaving well and earned quite a bit of negative vibes from Cathi. She spilled her side of the story to her Mom and a couple of friends so I'm not very popular in the neighborhood I'm sure. I admit I was a jerk and have a problem controlling my anger at times. Here is more information on the problem.

Feeling pretty depressed about the whole thing, but turned that emotion into energy for the workout today, so it worked to my advantage. Now to slow down and be thoughtful tonight. Need to mend things at home for a while. Cathi - if you read this post - "pardon me", I'll do better.

Triceps

Cable Tricep Presses: 10 x 70, 8 x 80, 8 x 90, 8 x 100
Dips: 12 x bw (240), 12 x bw + 25, 12 x bw + 35, 12 x bw + 45
Nosebreakers: 3 x 8 x 95, 10 x 95
Tate Presses: 10 x 30, 10 x 35, 2 x 8 x 40
French Presses: 4 x 8 x 115
Crunches: 4 x 50

Came in early to work and did this at work. I didn't lift with Brandon as he is doing legs. Since I did this early in the morning I can still take my lunch break to play Table Tennis.

Back

Deadlifts: 8 x 225, 5 x 275, 4 x 285, 3 x 295, 2 x 305, 1 x 315
Crunches between deadlift sets: 5 x 50
Pull Ups: 4 x 4 x bw (240)
Bent Over CG Rows: 10 x 90, 3 x 8 x 135

Used chalk and belt on last three sets. Forgot my camera so I couldn't video, but I'm sure my form isn't all that great. I think my legs push up too fast forcing my lower back to do more work than it's supposed to. Took an hour to do this, so it involved alot of rest. Lifting at Brandon's tomorrow.

Light and fast Chest

5:45 @ Brandon's:

Flat Bench: 25 x 185, 5 x 215, 6 x 205, 8 x 195, 8 x 185, 8 x 165, 8 x 155
Incline Flys: 4 x 12 x 40
Decline Flys: 4 x 12 x 40

I went light weight, and went with speed pushing, but the number of reps was probably more than is suggested for DE work. I noticed a muscle in my upper back on the far right side twitching several times today. It feels weird.

For lunch I wanted to lift more to supplement the lack of working hard, but was convinced by Bala to play table tennis. I was 3 and 1 the first four games, but over the span of probably a dozen games it was pretty even. It was fun and I learned some techniques to use and not use(at least on him anyway). Tomorrow I'm not lifting at Brandon's so I'm going to have to demonstrate some real will power to not play table tennis at lunch and lift instead.

Lifting tired

This morning I got up and started lifting at 5:30 AM at Brandon's. We did Shoulders:

Military Press: 12 x 95, 12 x 125, 10 x 155, 6 x 175
DB Front Raises: 4 x 12 x 25
Shrugs: 8 x 135, 3 x 8 x 185
DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 8 x 40
DB Military Presses: 4 x 12 x 40

Probably went too easy today. Not really pushing it much, but did work up a sweat. Played ping pong for an hour today and it was a good day, like Monday. Yesterday, Bala had his way with me. Today though I was the king. Sent in my Tournament entry form for me and Austin to the National Tournament in Las Vegas on December 14 and 15th. It's going to be fun and I'm hoping to improve my skills between now and then.

Arms

Standing EZ Bar Curls: 10 x 95, 10 x 105, 10 x 115, 6 x 125
Preacher Curls: 8 x 95, 8 x 105, 8 x 115, 10 x 75
Lying EZ Bar Tricep Extensions: 10 x 95, 10 x 105, 10 x 115, 8 x 125
Lying DB Tricep Extnesions: 2 x 10 x 40
Tate Presses: 2 x 8 x 40
Alternating DB Curls: 4 x 10 x 40

Felt good about this morning's workout. Sweat a bunch and at the end of several sets was pushing it to get the last rep. Not difficult to get up this morning. Hoping that my body gets used to this amount of sleep. Traffic coming in was ugly again. Starting at 5:30 from now on. Hopefully leaving at 6:45 instead of 7:00 for work makes a difference.

Heavy Bench

Flat Bench with shirt: 3 x 225, 2 x 365, 5 x 1 x 375
Incline Bench: 12 x 175, 10 x 195, 8 x 215, 6 x 215
DB Flys: 10 x 40, 10 x 40 (with 10 bench reps), 12 x 40 (w 12 bench reps), 14 x 40
Pushups: 25, 20, 15, 10

These felt great. The 375's felt really good. One of them got help on just cause Brandon and Wayne were nervous for me, but I had it. Shirt arms are really tight.

I didn't go to lift with Stump cause of the stupid scout meeting that was all day Saturday. At least I'm official now and don't have to get nagged about getting trained anymore. I'll tell ya, If I'm ever in a position to tell people to spend an entire day in training, I'm not going to give them crap for not doing it. I didn't feel that it was all that productive.

Very busy week ahead of me. Hope to get everything accomplished. Will lift at Brandon's this week in order to keep my lunch short and get going on my other stuff.

Speed Shoulders

I read this morning in an old book I had on Fitness about speed work. I didn't learn anything new but it reemphasized the importance of working those fast twitch muscles. So I did the following exercises at a really light weight:

Cable Lateral Raises: 4 x 4 x 10

Close Grip Pulldowns: 4 x 4 x 100
supersetted with
PullUps: 4 x 2

Shrugs: 4 x 4 x 135
supersetted with
DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 5 x 30

Close Grip Upright Rows: 4 x 5 x 95
supersetted with
Seated Wide Grip Cable Rows: 4 x 5 x 100

Not much rest between sets and these were really easy. Seems counterintuitive to do such light weight so few times. Kept in mind that it was speed work and am hoping that it does something.

Triceps

Had a crappy morning at work. Didn't feel very motivated heading into the gym, but after the third exercise I started to get into it.

Close Grip Bench: 12 x 135, 2 x 10 x 185, 10 x 205
Dips: 12 x bw, 3 x 8 x bw (235) + 45
Standing Cable Tricep Extensions: 4 x 8 x 80
One Hand Standing Cable Tricep Extensions: 8 x 40, 3 x 10 x 30
Reverse Grip One Hand Standing Cable Tricep Extensions: 6 x 30, 3 x 8 x 20
Lying DB Behind Head Tricep Extensions: 4 x 8 x 65

Felt good about this workout. Movements were clean and deliberate. Yesterday worked through lunch and didn't lift. Back feeling much better, not ailing in any way.

Back and attempted DL PR

This morning I slept in, the alarm wasn't set to go off and I had a late night last night. My neck and upper back were really bad. I was considering getting an appointment for a massage today, but decided to work lower back and hope that might even things out a little.

Deadlift: 6 x 255, 4 x 275, 2 x 315, 0 x 365 (tried three times) ended up taking the quarters off and doing one more @ 315. I think my legs are longer than the average person of my same height. I got the 365 off the ground on the three attempts but my legs were way too bent I think. Next time, I'll post video for some pointers.

DB Chest Supported Rows: 3 x 10 x 45, 10 x 55
Midrack Pulls (notch 17): 8 x 135, 6 x 225, 4 x 315, 2 x 405, 1 x 485
Pull Ups: 2 x 4 @ bw

I also did 50 crunches between exercises (200 total).

Disappointed with the 365 attempt. That would have been a PR. I did 365 once before, but that was with wrist straps and knee wraps. I only had a belt this time (and some chalk). Will post vid next time. I need to research whether sumo style is for me.

Chest

Warm Up: 20 x 185

High Rep Flat Bench: 3 sets of 10 lower half fast, 10 upper half fast, 5 full fast (25 total) at 185 pounds, 2 more sets minus the 5 full reps at the end (20 total), last set 8 lower, 8 upper, 1 full rep.

Incline Press: 2 x 8 x 205, 2 x 8 x 175

Military Press: 15 x 95, 10 x 115, 2 x 8 x 125

Felt like I pulled something in my upper back on the left side that starts at the base of my neck on the left and extends to the top of my left shoulder blade. A tightness rather than a real pain. Same general area that was affected by last weeks intensive incline work.

150 reps of 950? Is this guy for real?

I was emailed an article by Critical Bench:

HIGH REP PARTIAL TRAINING
By Nick Nilsson

Gain strength and muscle mass! This training technique is one of the best kept secrets for sending strength and muscle mass through the roof quick! Learn why it works and exactly how to do it for best results.

The partial rep is one of the most effective training techniques for building strength quickly but how can you adapt partials for boosting muscle mass at the same time? The answer is simple: high rep partial training.

Partial training, in a nutshell, involves only moving the weight in a shortened range of motion. This can be anywhere in the range of motion of an exercise but for our purposes, we're going to use the strongest range of motion, e.g. the top few inches of the bench press. For a more detailed description of partial training,
please refer to the following article:

Partial Training For Full-Powered Results
http://hop.clickbank.net/? westy04 /betteru&l=1070

The reason conventional low-rep partial training is so effective for strength building is that you are using extremely heavy weight for low reps. This builds up excellent connective tissue and muscle strength.

Unfortunately for muscle gaining purposes, this type of training also results in a very short time under tension. Time under tension refers to the length of time a muscle is placed under continuous tension during an exercise. In order to stimulate muscle growth, your muscles need to be under tension for approximately 30 to 60 seconds (this is a rough estimate - it works out to about 6 to 12 reps in a
conventional, full-range set).

A typical partial rep may take only one or two seconds to complete. If you do 5 reps, your muscles have only been under tension for 5 or 10 seconds. This is not nearly enough time to stimulate muscle growth. Now imagine doing 30 reps instead. This puts you right in the middle of that optimal range. Not only will you be using extremely heavy weight (which is great for building muscle and strength), but you'll
be placing your muscles under tension for a long enough time to stimulate muscle growth. This is an extremely effective combination!

High rep partials can be used on their own or in combination with low-rep partials or even conventional full-range sets. I often use them after doing a few sets of extremely heavy low-rep partials. For example, I will do top range bench press partials with 600 or 700 pounds for low reps then remove a few plates and do a set of 50 or 60 reps with 315 pounds on the bar. I have also done sets of extremely high rep partial squats with extremely heavy weights (150 reps of 950 pounds). I've
found both of these techniques to be very effective for building both strength and muscle mass quickly.

Give high rep partial training a try in your next workout and don't be afraid to push yourself. You may be surprised at how many reps you can do with a weight you may not have even considered using before!

About the Author:

Nick Nilsson is Vice-President of the online personal training company BetterU, Inc. He has a degree in Physical Education and Psychology and has been inventing new training techniques for more than 16 years. Nick is the author of a number of bodybuilding eBooks including "Metabolic Surge - Rapid Fat Loss," "The Best
Exercises You've Never Heard Of," "Gluteus to the Maximus - Build a Bigger Butt NOW!" and "The Best Abdominal Exercises You've Never Heard Of" all available at :
(http://hop.clickbank.net/? westy04 /betteru).
He can be contacted at betteru@fitstep.com.

The theory sounds reasonable, but the claim that he can do 150 reps of 950 pounds has me now questioning the authors credability.

Man my lats are sore!

Surprisingly my chest isn't sore in the slightest, but my lats are very sore and a little in my upper back. Great work yesterday. Today I did th elliptical trainer for 25 minutes and then did some biceps work:

Preacher Curls: 8 x 115, 6 x 135, 2 x 135, 4 x 8 x 115
DB Alternating Curls: 12 x 30

Already spent too much time off work today so I went back to it. Going out to a team lunch tomorrow, so tomorrow is off. Very slack this week. Hopefully when Brandon gets back I can get back into it again. Spent alot of time looking for new pants today. Does anyone else have problems getting pants? (If you as big or bigger than me)

Incline work

This morning I noticed that I could use some more strength in the upper pecs so I focused on Incline today:

Incline Bench (45 degrees): 8 x 135, 3 x 8 x 185, 7 x 195, 6 x 205, 5 x 215, 4 x 225
Incline DB Press: 4 x 12 x 65 (Need heavier DBs at Tomax)

I had to rush through this. Only had 45 minutes. Brandon isn't able to lift this week so I'm on my own. The long weekend was fun and yesterday worked through lunch, so I have some pretty hefty guilt I need to work off.

Short arms workout

This morning it was just Brandon and me. We had to cut it short as it's really a Friday with the long weekend and taking tomorrow off too.

Here is what I did:

Standing Preacher Curls: 12 x 75, 10 x 85, 8 x 95, 6 x 105
Nosebreakers: 12 x 95, 10 x 105, 8 x 115, 8 x 125
Preacher Curls: 12 x 95, 10 x 105, 8 x 115, 3 x 125
Lying DB Tricep Extensions: 4 x 8 x 80

Today the President of the United States came into town and traffic was again a nightmare. It took me an hour and a half to get into work today. That is more than double the normal time it takes. Can't wait for him to leave.

Light and fast - Chest

Flat Bench: 12 x 135, 6 x 6 x 225 (All focusing on elbows in, tight chest and explosive movement from lower portion with distinctive pause)
Incline Bench: 10 x 135, 3 x 6 x 185
Flat Bench DB Flys: 4 x 8 x 40 (pause at bottom then explode up)
Pushups: 40, 20, 10, 5

Met at 5:45 am at Brandon's so that Wayne and I can not get stuck at the worst part of traffic. Still took me an hour to get into work today. Arms tomorrow.

Back and Lats

Pullups: 6, 6, 5, (1 assisted) 6 (2 assisted help)
Bent Over Rows: 4 x 8 x 155
Lat Pulldowns: 12 x 85, 10 x 125, 6 x 185, 6 x 175

My left hand has a pretty decent callous just below my ring finger. I think my ring makes it worse. I've cut it off before, but it comes back and it appears to be more painful. Definitely not happy with the quantity of the morning's workout, so I'll be lifting at lunchtime.

Lunchtime lift:

Midrack pulls: 12 x 135, 12 x 225, 5 x 315, 5 x 405, 3 x 485
Upright rows: 8 x 95, 8 x 105, 8 x 115, 8 x 125
Seated Shoulder Wide Cable Rows: 12 x 180, 3 x 8 x 200
Good Mornings: 2 x 8 x 95
150 crunches

Dug out the wrist straps which really came in handy for the last couple sets. Felt much better about the day's lifting by including the lunchtime lift.

Shoulders

Seated Military Press: 12 x 135, 8 x 155, 6 x 175, 4 x 175
Shrugs: 4 x 10 x 175
DB Front Raises: 2 x 6 x 40 (alternating), 2 x 12 x 20 (synchronous)
Standing DB military Press: 4 x 12 x 40
Lateral Raises: 4 x 8 x 40

Brandon mentioned that his shoulder wasn't hurting. When I got home I noticed a little tenderness in the top of my left shoulder, but didn't last more than just a few minutes. By the time I left for work, it was fine.

Something's missing. Although I wasn't slacking, I didn't feel that great about the quality or quantity of today's workout. Doubtful that I'll be sore. Lats and back tomorrow, yeah!

New PR - 1 rep dip

Today I was curious what I could do for a 1 rep dip. I put two x 45's on a chain and wrapped it around my weight belt and did a few of them, then put one more 45 on the chain (135 pounds total) and did one rep nice and slow going down and strong back up. So that means that including my bodyweight (235) I can dip 370 pounds. Not an exercise you usually do a 1 rep max on, but there you go.

I then did a small workout:

French Presses: 4 x 8 x 115
Tate Presses: 4 x 8 x 40
Captains Chairs (legs straight): 5 x 8

I was getting ready to do cable tricep presses when Cameron came in and asked to play table tennis. I caved in since yesterday I used my old paddle and he beat me pretty bad. The paddle I'm used to isn't a whole lot better. He is just getting better. I used to slaughter him. Now they're pretty close games. Today's record was 3 wins 1 loss, which I was disappointed with.

Heavy Bench

Flat Bench:
20 x 135
6 x 315 (4 block)
6 x 365 (6 block)
6 x 365 (6 block)
6 x 315 (4 block)
6 x 245 no block
4 x 275 no block
7 x 225 no block

Focused on setup and keeping elbows in on the downward movement. Felt quite a strain on my lower triceps as the groove was much lower than I'm used to. Stopped early due to the strain. I'll do triceps tomorrow.

Going to Cabin & Bear lake this Weekend with my brothers and sisters and parents. Should be fun.

Scaping Shoulders out of the bottom

Not much motivation today either. I got in there and scraped together a workout from the bottom of my barrel.

Military Press: 2 x 8 x 135, 2 x 6 x 155
DB Shoulder Rotating Shrugs: 4 x 8 x 65
Upright Rows: 8 x 115, 8 x 125, 6 x 135, 3 x 165 (cheated and ugly), 8 x 115
DB Lateral Raises: 4 x 8 x 40
Wide Grip Cable Pulldowns: 8 x 150, x 6 x 170, 5 x 190, 4 x 200

The fourth upright row was way too heavy. I got one close to my chin, but it was ugly and the other two weren't even close, so I did one more set with lighter weight and went with form and quality.

Went over to Brandon's again to find a darkened house, so I went to work early. Work this morning sucked (couldn't get answers from people, and discovered code that isn't very well organized) so I believe that affected my attitude at lunchtime. I'll email Brandon right now to make sure I get a good chest workout tomorrow morning at his house.

Lost the drive after a couple exercises

This morning went to Brandon's where a note was left on the door saying that he stayed up all night with a sick child. I took advantage of the opportunity to go to work early.

At lunchtime I did:

SLDL: 8 x 225, 5 x 275, 3 x 285
Ham Curls: 2 x 12 x 45, 8 x 70

On SLDL: Had to do an alternating grip on the last one as my grip on the second started to wane and was lucky to get five without hurting myself. The last one was tough (mostly on the first one), but able to get all three.
Lost motivation when doing the ham curls. Very hungry and didn't have much emotional energy for lifting so I left to go have lunch and get back to work.

On Sunday I was asked to consider shaving my beard to maintain the respectable "missionary image" which goes along with a small influential position in my ward. For the longest time I had murmured when my dad told me about his workplace not allowing beards at his work and told him that I would rebel if asked to do so. The rebel in me is disappointed that I just turned over like a wet little dog. But at the same time glad that I didn't let my pride get in the way of obedience. That's all it really affected this time. It could have been worse.

No more hiding the double chin behind some facial hair. Now I have to lose more weight.

Early morning exercise

This morning Cathi's running partners backed out so she and I went on a nice 8 mile bike ride this morning along the new trail. It was a little cool (59 degrees) and was quite refreshing. I won't be lifting today at lunch.

Today is another evening of heated dueling at the table tennis club.

Heavy Back workout

Deadlift: 3 x 275, 2 x 295, 1 x 315
Pullups: 3 x 4 (Last set included 10 pound weight)
Rack Pulls: 3 x 225, 3 x 315, 0 x 405, 1 x 385
Good Mornings: 5 x 95, 3 x 115, 3 x 125
Seated Close Grip Cable Rows: 8 x 180, 2 x 3 x 200 (Whole stack) + 30pounds of chains

I left my wrist straps in the back of my car which would have been nice for the last set of rack pulls. I couldn't get the 405 because of the grip (All sets were double overhand grip), so I opted for alternating grip and went down to 385 which was much easier. The Good Mornings were also surprisingly enjoyable. Good workout.

2nd half of today's lift

Chest

DB Flys: 2 x 10 x 45 immediately followed by DB Presses (2 x 10 x 45)

Floor Press: 3 x 225, 3 x 3 x 275

Decline Press: 3 x 275, 3 x 285, 3 x 295, 3 x 305

Pushups (feet on bench): 4 x 25

Core: 4 x 50 crunches

Those decline presses were putting a strain on my shoulders. Not too bad, but I'm sure glad I didn't go heavier, or more sets/reps. It was perfect. The pushups also put a nice strain on my lower triceps. Will take two glucosamine/chondroitin tabs tonight rather than my normal one tablet.

Felt good about today's workouts.

Chest - first half of today's lift

Flat Bench with 2 boards: 12 x 225, 6 x 3 x 315, 3 x 335
Incline Bench: 8 x 215, 2 x 6 x 225, 5 x 235
DB Flys with DB Press: 2 x 10 x 40

Brandon's shoulder was really hurting so we quit there. We must have transitioned slow because it was already an hour into it and had two more sets of Flys and pushups to do. I'm going to lift at lunch today to compensate and to work the chest even more than a normal day. Happy with the 315's. I've never done a workout higher than 300 for the entire flat bench session (except warm up) before, so I was happy there.

Concentrating on the squeezed shoulders, elbows in, big breath, feet pushed into the mat all at the same time was difficult. I guess I'm a simpleton, but there were a few sets there were at least two of the reps were with all of the above techniques used at the same time. Still need to focus and keep all of those things in mind through the entire set.