[quote]Edit: Yes I am aware my ass is coming wayyy of the ground and this is a big issue. One thing hurting me on this lift is the lack of leg drive I have recently found on flat bench. I may go to a legs flat on the floor next week to avoid this?
Monopoly[/quote]
Legs flat out would be best.
12/3? back and bi’s
hammer strength low row; 6 sets of 10 to 15 reps lower weight
1 arm pulldowns; 5 sets of 10-15. lower weight, just really working on getting a contraction
t bar rows; 3 sets of 10 @ 2 plates
standing ez bar curls; 95x10, 115x9, 115x8
supersetted with drag curls, brutal. bodybuilding shit!
threw in some one arm snatch as some other guys from the crew were just getting started as we finished up. Hit 60kg pretty easy and had no pain.
Had another Matrix Repatterning treatement today as well and I am impressed so far. At nearly $200 per session it had better work.
12/4 d/e bench
barx20, some mini band pull aparts, 100x8
175x3x9. Very happy with that today, bar moved well and I think form was good. Time to hit a heavy single…
285x1, crushed it. It moved so fast, I decided to do another one. Bad move on my part, and really the first time I have devaited from this program for 5 weeks.
315x1, UGLY. Weight was not an issue. This shit is in my head and my form went to shit. I have very low confidence right now taking higher weights to the chest.
Bar speed slowed way down on decent, I could go on and on. The good news is that in spite of this I did make the lift. Although not a PR, the only other times I have hit this (twice) I was 10-15lbs heavier and on far more anabolics so I’ll take it as a positive.
close grip bp; 225x6, 225x6, 255x3, 255x3. good sets
one arm db overhead ext; 30x10, 30x10, 35x10
plate raises; 45x10x3
All in all a good day. Elbows and delts are a little beat up, looking forward to a couple days off from upper body. One of my partners jumped on this program last week and god I hate him.
He barely missed a 405 floor press on Monday, and killed 355 today, I’d say it was 80% of his max. I was hopefull that I would make up some ground on him with this program, but as of now that’s not the case.
Monopoly
12/6 lower body
some reverse hyper, foam roll for warm ups
squats; 135x10, 135x10, 185x10, 225x10, 225x10, 225x10
good morning off pins; 100x10x3
sled drags; 3 runs of 200ft
good day I guess, all pain free which was good
12/8 m/e bench
floor press; barx20, 135x8, 135x8, 225x3, 245x3, 275x1, 295x1, 315x1, 335x1-smoke show, very fast lift, 355xmiss. made the decision to jump to 355, probably a bad idea but I knew I was getting tired and thought what the hell. still very happy, switched to legs flat this week and it seemed to help.
jm press; 135x8x4
incline db; 85x10x2
seated db cleans; 50x8x4
leg raises; 4 sets of 15
great day today, we had 5 guys all doing the same program and there was some good energy flowing. Beau came back from last weeks miss and smashed 405. I think we got videos of a bunch of lifts, once I have them I’ll post up the links if anyone cares 
Monopoly
12/10 back/biceps
seated low hammer strength row; 5 sets of lower weight, focus on pulling and contraction of back
unilateral pull downs; 4 or 5 sets, some light, some heavy
1 arm t-bar rows with axel; this was kinda cool. we straddled and axel, and just rowed the bar 1 arm at a time. good for grip and back, 4 sets here I think?
standing barbell curls; 100x10, 135x8, 135x8
seated preacher curls (very close grip); 45x10, 75x10, 75x7, 45x12
No real pump, but I was beat down. Inspired to do the heavy curls after watching the underground strength video at elite. Looking forward to tomorrow.
Monopoly
12/12 D/E bench;
band warmups, shoulder distraction work
flat bb bench; barx20, 135x6, 185x3x9 (very fast all sets. I moved the weight up according with my last max of 315) I was also supposed to hit a heavy double today. 275x2-smashed it, very easy and fast.
close grip bp; 225x6, 225x6, 245x3, 245x3 - starting to get tired, and my shoulder bothered me for the first time in since this cycle started
1 arm overhead db ext; 30x10, 35x10, 35x10
plate raises; 45x10x3
12/13 strongman stuff; made the decision to go up and train with Shaw and his crew, in my head I was thinking I’d just hit a couple of events and stay light, didn’t work out that way.
axle clean and press; 140x5, 140x2, 190x3, 250x4 - very happy with this, pretty easy clean and easy presses. Hopefully all this bench work I have been doing is going to transfer to my overhead stuff!
axle deadlift; 135x10, 225x5, 315x3, 375x3, 405x3-felt light as it should have, no pain which was a plus. everyone had to talk me out of going heavier, thankfully they did.
yoke; worked up to 560 for a very fast 70ft. pickup and carry felt light
sandbag; one run of 70ft with a 280 sandbag, again, easy
stones; 245 to 60", 245 to 60", 245 miss to 80", 245x1 to 72", 285 to 60", 315 to 60". started to get in the groove, this was already far too much so I stopped.
Shaw did some sick stuff as usual. He hit a double overhand axle dead, 465x3, and then 495x1! Also, he did a clean and press with a HUB grip on a 45lb plate with right and left hands!
I’m excited to say it was a good weekend all the way around! Started off on Friday with a good bench session, nice date and dinner. Saturday was very relaxed with another good training session, some mid-day loving and more good food. Sunday I had a huge buffet breakfast and got some recovery stuff in. If I was busy at work right now I’d be a happy camper!
Monopoly
12/15/08 m/e bench
some band work and shoulder stretching, not much
ball dumbbell press; 30x20, 30x10, 75x20, 75x19, 60x20 - this was a bitch! my chest was blown up after this, along with delts and tris
seated dumbbell military press; 50x10x5 - again, wow, this was tougher than expected. I think I may have been gassed due to pressing Friday, Saturday, and then again on Monday?
incline swiss bar tricep ext; 75x6, 115x5, 95x6, 95x6, 95x6
face pulls; 75x15x5
Huge pump for this workout, was a nice change of pace. Didn’t feel like much of a deload!
Monopoly
12/17 back/bi accessory shit
4 supersets of back/biceps. 4 sets in each superset, all sets over 15 reps. Pretty boring really, wasn’t into it today.
gms; barx10, 65x10, 95x10, 95x10, 135x6 - last set was a bit much, back still tender from last Saturday.
hanging leg raises; 5 sets of 10
grip shit
plate pinch; 2 - 25lb plates, 3 sets of 25 second holds with left and right hands
gripper shit; COC #1, 10 reps with left and right hands, COC #2, 10 reps right hand, 6 reps left hand, ouch, one attempt at the COC #3, it dominated me. one more set of the #2, can’t remember the reps. Hopefully Friday is better…
Monopoly
It was the best of days, it was the worst of days…
12/19 d/e bench
Band warm-ups, shoulder stretching
Flat barbell; barx20, 135x10, 185x3x9-vary between wide, narrow and comp grips. Bar path and speed was shitty today, I was all over the place. After this I worked up to a heavy double. 245x1, 275x1, 295x2, 305x2. The 305 was a good set, had more without a doubt and had decent technique. I really felt the leg drive, which is good for me.
One arm db overhead triceps ext; 35x6x4
Reverse grip tricep pushdowns; 75x15x3
Front/side/rear delt raise combo; 20 reps per head (60 total reps) for 2 sets. Used 10lbs and it about killed me
Pulldown abs; 5 sets of 15
12/20 strongman/lower body stuff
Wanted to squat today, so that’s what I did. Bad Idea…
barx20, 135x10, 185x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 335x1-fuck. Lower back is now fucked again, I guess this is what I get for jumping back in after only one month “away”. I felt it right at the bottom of the lift, and it was immediate. Very disappointing, the 315x3 felt GREAT, good form, super fast and light. I have no idea what happened.
Didn’t do much after this, did some light RDL’s, reverse hyper, leg press, and lots of foam rolling stretching. It’s tight right now, will be interesting to see how the next couple of days go.
Monopoly
Back has been very slow to come around after this last tweak. Have not been able to do much of anything, I have been trying to bench, but the arch and leg drive I had been working on so hard is pretty much out the door right now. Have just been working on staying tight and some other little things. Really trying to get an MRI right now as I feel I’ve tried about everything else.
12/22 M/E bench
flat dumbell; 30x15, 40x15, 75x20x3
seated db overhead press; 55x10x5
incline skulls with swiss bar; 65x6, 116x6, 105x6x3
seated face pulls; 95x15x3
12/27 D/E bench
flat barbell with chains (25lbs per side)
135x3x6, jumped 20lbs, 155x3x4
one arm db extension; 35x6, 40x6x3
reverse grip pushdowns; 75x15x3
delt raise combo, 20 reps on front, side and rear delts, 60 total reps per set. 2 sets @ 12lbs. ouch
grip stuff; 25lb plate pinch x 15 seconds per hand, then 5 reps per hand with coc#1, 3 sets of this
tried a 35lb pinch and it owned me, not really into it today
12/29 PR DAY!
I was excited and also worried about this day. As stated, my back is still fucked up so I was not expecting much. I think it went okay? Still undecided.
band warmups, lots
flat bench; barx20, 135x10, 135x8, 185x2, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1 (all time PR here from when I was heavier and running a fair amount of gear. it moved really fast) 330xmiss, shitty form, 325x1 crushed it, 330xmiss
I was really tired now. The first attempt at 330 I breathed out at the bottom, the second attempt was SO close, I had it about 3/4 of the way up and it stalled just hovering there, I really thought it was going up.
military pin press (bar set at eye level); 185x3, 185x3, 225x1, 205x4-this was a max
Done, we did some other stuff but I can’t remember.
Overall, very happy with how this 9 weeks went. I had fun and was pain free, my upper body feels very good. I should have done a 1rm test at the start of this, but I would guess it added a true 35-40lbs on my existing bench. We are going to start another 9 week cycle today, this time with bands and chains. I will also be using the shirt more to try and work that aspect as well.
Hope everyone had a good holiday season.
Monopoly
Have not been doing much recently. Lost my logbook but just found it today! Here is what I remember…
1/2 d/e bench
some band and shoulder work
flat bench; barx20, add mini bands, bar with minisx10, 135x3x8 with varying grips. wow, that was tough. very tired after using the bands.
bench in the rack off pins; 225x5, 315x3, add shirt, 375x3, 405x1. next idea was dumb, I wanted to take a heavy negative just to feel the weight. we put 365 on and I got it about 2/3 of the way down when I felt my pec and shoulder really straining, thankfully had a partner to grab it.
Did some tricep and rear delt stuff. Later in the night my pec got REALLY tight.
1/3 strongman stuff
axle cleans; 135x5, 205x5x3
ssb bar squats to a HIGH box; 125x10x5, 185x5x2
was not fun watching everyone else do stuff all day
1/5 m/e bench
lots of warmups today, trying to get pec and shoulder loose
reverse band bench with mini’s
barx20, 135x10, 135x3, add bands, 225x5, 275x3, add foam roller, 315x3, 365x3, add shirt, 405x3, 425x2, 445x2 (had to have “5lbs” of help from spotter, 405x5
I really liked this setup, will use again for sure. I have always loved using the foam roller. The minis gave a nice boost of the bottom but virtually nil at the top. very happy with the 425x2 and 405x5.
very high incline close grip bench; 135x5, 185x3, 185x3, stop, felt pec/shoulder
tricep pushdowns superset with high row. 4 sets of 15 reps each station
1/7 lower body, accessory stuff
high box squat; 135x8x6, 185x5x2
reverse hyper; worked up to 5 plates for 8 reps, felt great
pulldown abs; 4 sets of lower weight
low row superset with standing bicep cable curls; 4 sets of 12 each station
one arm snatch, 1 set left/right arm at 115, 2 sets left/right arm at 135
some gripper work
not motivated right now!
Monopoly
1/10 I really have no idea what Saturdays are any longer, they suck at this point in time. I missed my d/e bench on Friday, so I started with that.
bench with minis; 135x3x8, vary grip 3 positions
pin presses; worked up to 465x3. Not much movement here, less than a 6" press
bent over laterals; 3x10 at 30lbs
Partners showed up so I stopped bench and moved to lower body stuff
sumo deads; worked up to 315x2, felt great
box squat; worked up to 225x3 on a HIGH box, felt fine, no pain
axle cleans; up to 205x3, playing with different grips and hand positions
standing leg curls; punked myself on higher reps
1/12 m/e bench
Reverse band bench (minis) off foam roller; 135x10, 135x5, add bands, 225x5, 275x3, add foam, 315x3, 365x2, 385x1-missed the 2nd, shitty form. Add shirt, 425x1, take foam away, 405x1 to chest. This went up really well, fast! I think I could hit this in the shirt right now no problems.
One thing I noticed. I added an under armor shirt last week to help get the shirt on. This week, I could really feel the shirt moving around on top of the under armor. Anyone else ever try this or have input? I hate to stop using it as it makes it SO easy to get shirt on.
JM press; 100x8, 135x6, 135x13, 135x12. Discovered today that lighter weight and higher reps on this movement seems to work better for me. Not as much elbow pain and lots of work on lower triceps
Nautilis tricep machine; 2 sets of 15 reps
Seated row to chest/face; 3 sets of 15 reps
Ab wheel, 3 sets, so tired.
I think my current short term goal is 355 raw and 455 in the shirt. Goal for the end of 09 is 405 raw and 500 shirted. I would really like to get a new katana that fits properly but right now I’m going to keep working with the fury. I still really have no clue with the whole shirt thing, trying to learn.
Monopoly
It’s so weird that after all this time, most of us know stupid shit before we do it, yet sometimes we still do. It amazes me…
1/15 bodybuilder shit
back; smith machine rows (these were actually great), chin up assist machine, close grip pulldowns
back; 12 sets of seated preacher curls, all reps 8-12 range
Result, totallly fucked. This was so much volume I knew it was going to suck
1/16 d/e bench
Lots of warmups. Also, took a niacan tab before the workout. On my way to the gym I thought, good God it’s hot in here, face and ass were sweating massivly. Then I realized it was the niacan. Also, put on blue heat and then neoprene’s, another bad idea with niacan…
flat barbell with bands; barx20, 100x8, 100x5, add bands, 145x8x3, 185x5-ouch. Bar weight too heavy today, going back to 135
pin presses; worked off slightly lower pins this week, 225x3, 315x3, 375x3, 405x3, 425x3-3rd was a max, 405x3-3rd was a max
standing tricep pushdowns with standing 1 arm db press, 3 sets of ten supersets
1/17/09 strongman stuff
I did not want to go the gym today. Two days of hard training and I felt it. I still went thankfully.
axle cleans; 135x3, 135x3, 205x3, 255x1-now working on continental clean, 270ishx1, 305x1-ties pr. Now, I got pretty worked up for the 305. Strangly, these are not bothering my back and the longer we went, the better I felt. My other two partners both hit this lift and it was starting to get competitive. Partner #3 calls for 328, he misses. I knew I had to hit a big weight to knock out partner #2, so I called for 352. This would be a 50lb pr. Pulled out all the stops getting ready, got it easy to my belt and then really fought it to the shoulders, but I got it. I was VERY pumped, the rest of the gym was pretty stunned and thought I was crazy. Partner #2 starts his routine nails it, he probably had another 20lbs on that lift. We called it there, great times. That is what this shit is all about for me! Felt so good to move some actual weight.
high box squats; 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 315x3. Felt very light, worked on both faster sets and slower decents onto the box, had a hard time staying arched today
one arm db snatch; 70x5 each hand, 100x2 each hand, done, back now starting to feel it
Then I worked some hypers and stretching. Overall a great day. It has been since March of 08 since I did a heavy axle cleans so pretty happy with this. Shoulder is feeling pretty banged up however so not sure how todays session will go. I may use the shirt all workout to try and protect it.
Monopoly
1/19/09 m/e bench
reverse band (minis) off foam roller; barx120, 135x10, add bands, 225x5, add foam, 273x3, 315x5, 365x3, 385x2, 405x1-YES! Take foam away, 315x5 to chest, ouch.
Felt really strong on this today. I missed the second rep at 385 the previous 2 weeks, and just killed the 405. Good way to end this exercise.
axle press out of rack; 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 245x1, 275x1-Very fast lift. Felt heavy out of the rack and on my shoulders but moved well, better than 275 ever has. 300 is an all time PR here and it’s been a long time since I hit a heavy overhead. This is more confirmation all the bench training is transfering to my overhead lifts.
tricep press downs superset with ab pulldowns
done.
Went and had a HUGE dinner, good day overall.
Monopoly
1/21 lower body
Did some keg swings and keg cleans for warmups
3 sets of light hyper
sumo d/l; 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x3, 375x3-rounded lower back a bit on 3rd rep, 315x3, 315x5 These felt pretty good, 375 felt light as it should
pullthroughs; 5 sets of 12
hyperextensions; 4 sets of 10
kneeling cable abs; 4 sets of 12
Not a bad workout. Trying to get my girl back into so we did the same things today.
Monopoly
1/23 d/e bench
Lets just say this was a bad workout. When 195 feels heavy, you have a problem. I called it off halfway through to save something for Saturday
1/24 strongman
squat to high box; 135x10, 135x10, add 80lbs chain per side, 225x5, 275x3, 315x3. Very happy with this, no pain and it moved fast. Felt like I had tons left but I was already pushing my back.
overhead medly; Worked with axle, barbell and sandbag. Everyone else had the log in there as well, but that seems to piss the back off of as well so I skipped it. I worked up to 255 axle, 265 barbell and 220 sandbag. I missed the lockout on the below video with the bag, poor hand placement. Overall a really fun day. Will try to get more videos up.
Monopoly
Can’t get the vid to load, will try again.
Nice vid man, I can’t wait to get to my first strongman comp…
Thanks Adrenolin, I think we all enjoy watching other people’s videos.
1/28 mixed bag day
I really did not feel like going to the gym, but after missing Monday and Tuesday I had to go.
Started off with flat dumbell, did 5 sets working up to 100x8, shitty. I did not have any desire, but this is still really bad. I’m wondering if my DB strength has gone down as a result of all the barbell work?
Went to the platform after this, did some cleans and strict presses with 135, some back jerks, snatches, lot of different shit.
Also worked on the log a bit, did some rep work at 210, missed the press on 250 twice. I hate the log…
Monopoly
1/29 whatever
Decided to go in and train, don’t know why. Was a subpar back and bicep workout. Better than nothing I guess.
1/31 Strongman stuff
Frame pickups; 500x1x3
Frame carry; 500 for 100ftx2, 600 for 100ftx1 - finished this with 2 keg loads, roughly 200lb kegs.
Tire flip; 750lb tire x 3 flips, then 14 flips for 80ft. This was really hard, I cannot belive I did that.
Stone stuff; No tacky used, all dry. Stone shoulders, 115x2, 175x2, 200x2, 240xmiss. Stone loads to 50" box? 200x5, 240x3, 270x1.
Overall, a really good day. The frame felt really light once I got it up, I could have just kept on going. Tire went good as well. Had no intention of going the 80ft but once I started I figured I may as well try to finish.
I got some video of the stone work, will try to get up. Back feels good today considering the work I did. Finally had an MRI on Friday, go back this Friday for results.
Monopoly
This is turning into more of a strongman log than bench. 2 of my partners have a comp coming up and I have been doing what they are doing. I need to get back to the bench as I felt really good and was making progress.
2/2/09 M/E upper
Log clean/press; 170x2x3, 220x2x3, 265x2, 265x1. All of these were done with a single clean then presses. I was all over the place with the 265 but I’m happy with it. After the last press I did two sets of cleans and then I just held the log in the racked position for as long as I could. This seems to be my weakest point in the lift right now, the clean was a joke.
Seated db press; 45x12, 60x12, 75x10, 90x5 - wow, that was tough. This is what I get for not doing db work.
jm press in smith machine; 90x12, 140x12, 180x12, 140x10
Then I messed around with cable crossovers and hit the foam roller. My elbows are very sore today, otherwise I’m not too bad. Good day overall.
Monopoly