Doin' Work in the Steel City

[quote]CircaThursday wrote:
why do you do lateral raises with such a short ROM?[/quote]

It takes the traps out of the movement completely. That’s a John Meadows thing. Also Thibs did this in his training lab video with Prof X. Really crushes the medial delt.

9/2/11 - Back

Meadows Rows - 110x3x10 - I really try to get a good peak contraction on these.
DB Dead Stop Rows - 100x3x12
Lat Stretch, hanging from pullup bar - 2x60s
Stretchers - 100x12,10
Pulldown - 190x2x10
Lat Stretch - 2x60s
Wide Grip Magnum Row (chest supported row like Hammer Strength Iso Row) - 230x3x10
Face Pull/DB Shrug Superset - 65x2x20 / 145x2x15

Hot and humid as all hell in the gym today.

9/3/11 - Arms (alternate sets of bicep and tricep exercises)

Hammer Curl - 50x3x10
Rope Pressdown - 57.5x3x12
DB Preacher Curl - 30x3x10
Dip - BWx20, 20x15, 40x13
BB Curl w/3 sec negative - 85x2x10
Inc Skullcrusher w/3 sec negative - 75x15,11

Hot and humid again. I also slept in this morning and had to rush to get this in.

BW is up to an average of 230 in the mornings now. Ab definition is still there for the most part, except I’m not as tan now so that hides a little. Diet-wise, I’ve been transitioning to more and more quality foods, like grass fed beef and dairy, cage free chicken and eggs, wild salmon, virgin coconut oil, ezekiel bread, etc. Calories are now slightly upwards of 3000/day, with most of that coming in the hour before and the few hours after my training sessions. Calories are split fairly evenly between protein, carbs, and fat.

Dude, that 350 flew up. You’re a beast.

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
9/2/11 - Back

Meadows Rows - 110x3x10 - I really try to get a good peak contraction on these.
DB Dead Stop Rows - 100x3x12
Lat Stretch, hanging from pullup bar - 2x60s
Stretchers - 100x12,10
Pulldown - 190x2x10
Lat Stretch - 2x60s
Wide Grip Magnum Row (chest supported row like Hammer Strength Iso Row) - 230x3x10
Face Pull/DB Shrug Superset - 65x2x20 / 145x2x15

Hot and humid as all hell in the gym today.

9/3/11 - Arms (alternate sets of bicep and tricep exercises)

Hammer Curl - 50x3x10
Rope Pressdown - 57.5x3x12
DB Preacher Curl - 30x3x10
Dip - BWx20, 20x15, 40x13
BB Curl w/3 sec negative - 85x2x10
Inc Skullcrusher w/3 sec negative - 75x15,11

Hot and humid again. I also slept in this morning and had to rush to get this in.

BW is up to an average of 230 in the mornings now. Ab definition is still there for the most part, except I’m not as tan now so that hides a little. Diet-wise, I’ve been transitioning to more and more quality foods, like grass fed beef and dairy, cage free chicken and eggs, wild salmon, virgin coconut oil, ezekiel bread, etc. Calories are now slightly upwards of 3000/day, with most of that coming in the hour before and the few hours after my training sessions. Calories are split fairly evenly between protein, carbs, and fat.[/quote]
nice arm routine. dips help a lot.

[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
Good work. You’re one thick mofo. Half sleeve looks good too. I’m sure you’ll be pressing 4 plates in no time.[/quote]

Thanks dude. Half sleeve will be getting finished October 14. I’ll post some pics when it’s done.

I’ve been chasing the 4 plate bench for a long time. The time I was probably closest to it, when I did 501 in a single ply shirt 2 years ago, I never actually tried it. That was the same time I hit 315x10. Then shit happened and I missed lots of good training time recovering from surgeries and injuries. I still trained, but the intensity was dialed back a ton. The past 3 months is the first time I’ve been really healthy and able to push limits since November 09.

So naturally I want it all at once, the 600 dead AND the 405 bench AND to be lean and jacked, LOL. I talked to my kinda/sorta mentor at the gym Friday and he said I should just focus on the deadlift for now, worry about the bench later. I tend to listen to what he says, since the dude is a world class 198 powerlifter (1700 raw total, 2000 in single ply).

Soooo, end result from that convo is that I’m going to wait to push the bench numbers until at least November. Going to focus more on reps for now.

[quote]CircaThursday wrote:

nice arm routine. dips help a lot.
[/quote]

Moving dips after rope pressdowns is a great idea too (not mine - Meadows again). I used to do them first and my shoulders just never learned to love them as much as I did. Now when the tris are pre-exhausted, I can’t handle as much weight, so my shoulders have no issues.

I’d imagine if you had elbow issues this would help also.

[quote]WhiteFlash wrote:
Dude, that 350 flew up. You’re a beast.[/quote]

Thanks man. I hit 360 two weeks ago and it wasn’t too bad either. 375 was NOT going anywhere that night though.

Labor Day Training - Heavy Squat and Speed Pulls

Squat - worked up to 445x1, then a back off with 365x8
Speed Deads - 315x5x3
Ab Pulldown - 4 sets of 10-15, added weight each set
Single Leg Calf Raise - 45x10,10,8,6,6 - no rest b/w legs or sets

Felt like total shit when I went out into the garage this morning. Zero energy, hip was sore as fuck because of the rain, and I just didn’t feel like training. It must have taken me 30 min just to warm up, and even then my first 3 sets of squats were just fucking awful.

It somehow turned into a hella good session though. I haven’t squatted that much weight in 2 years, and the last time I was over 450 I was squatting with a wider stance and using a low bar position.

I’m done with low bar though unless I decide to do a single ply meet. It beats up my shoulders, elbows, and hip way too much. With the high bar I can more or less sit straight down and stay more upright. Much less stress on the hip. Having the bar higher on my traps takes a lot of strain off of the shoulders and elbows too.

9/7/2011 - Chest/Shoulders

Bench Press - 265, 295, 325x1 all paused; then 275x10 locking out and resetting each rep (IE, not just pumping them out)

Inc Bench - 225x8, 245x7, 225x7 - LOL, haven’t done incline with a bar in a while; pathetically weak

Machine Bench - 205x14,13,10 RP - I need to take pics of this thing, some of you young guys have probably never even seen something so old and shitty

DB Lateral Swing Drop Sets - 65x35,30 35x20,15 20x10,10 (full range with 20s) - pretty much the same as last week, just bumped the weights up a little

Chest Supported Swing Drop Sets - 55x35,30 30x20,15 15x15,12

Machine Shoulder Press - 195x10,8 stretched shoulders after each set

Good session. I was late to the gym so I had to bench by myself. It actually worked out in my favor because I got done 30 min faster, at least, than I would have if I’d been with my usual group. Need to get used to higher reps on the bench. Hopefully I can take a run at 315x10 in the next few months.

BW is still climbing (235 this morning). I’m starting to think I need to add a control day or two, but I’m not losing any ab definition really, so it’s tough for me to make that call when I know it will cut into my gains.

I also haven’t done the Prowler in a week because of laziness and shitty weather. I’ll get back on the fucker tomorrow night.

Need to work out a bw circuit for after daylight savings time too. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to share. I’m thinking just fat man pullups, pushups, and squats. Keep it simple, do 5/10/15 of each every minute or so for 10-15 min. Just enough to get some sweat going. I just need something to keep me from turning into the abominable fat fuck over the winter.

Hey man, GREAT log in here. Seriously. Just saw it for the first time. If you want conditioning type stuff, I’d check out seal fit dot com

They have some great CrossFit type stuff. But yeah, just wanted to say you’re a BEAST.

PS the hardest conditioning I ever did was the 100 Burpee pull up challenge:
Do a burpee, but on the jump up, grab a pull up bar and keep doing that until you reach 100 reps or die, whatever comes first.

I got like 80 something in 10 minutes I believe and HAD to stop b/c I was too dizzy.

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:
9/7/2011 - Chest/Shoulders

Bench Press - 265, 295, 325x1 all paused; then 275x10 locking out and resetting each rep (IE, not just pumping them out)

Inc Bench - 225x8, 245x7, 225x7 - LOL, haven’t done incline with a bar in a while; pathetically weak

Machine Bench - 205x14,13,10 RP - I need to take pics of this thing, some of you young guys have probably never even seen something so old and shitty

DB Lateral Swing Drop Sets - 65x35,30 35x20,15 20x10,10 (full range with 20s) - pretty much the same as last week, just bumped the weights up a little

Chest Supported Swing Drop Sets - 55x35,30 30x20,15 15x15,12

Machine Shoulder Press - 195x10,8 stretched shoulders after each set

Good session. I was late to the gym so I had to bench by myself. It actually worked out in my favor because I got done 30 min faster, at least, than I would have if I’d been with my usual group. Need to get used to higher reps on the bench. Hopefully I can take a run at 315x10 in the next few months.

BW is still climbing (235 this morning). I’m starting to think I need to add a control day or two, but I’m not losing any ab definition really, so it’s tough for me to make that call when I know it will cut into my gains.

I also haven’t done the Prowler in a week because of laziness and shitty weather. I’ll get back on the fucker tomorrow night.

Need to work out a bw circuit for after daylight savings time too. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to share. I’m thinking just fat man pullups, pushups, and squats. Keep it simple, do 5/10/15 of each every minute or so for 10-15 min. Just enough to get some sweat going. I just need something to keep me from turning into the abominable fat fuck over the winter.[/quote]

Not too bad for a stiller-loving yinzer. :wink:

[quote]hlss09 wrote:
Hey man, GREAT log in here. Seriously. Just saw it for the first time. If you want conditioning type stuff, I’d check out seal fit dot com

They have some great CrossFit type stuff. But yeah, just wanted to say you’re a BEAST.

PS the hardest conditioning I ever did was the 100 Burpee pull up challenge:
Do a burpee, but on the jump up, grab a pull up bar and keep doing that until you reach 100 reps or die, whatever comes first.

I got like 80 something in 10 minutes I believe and HAD to stop b/c I was too dizzy. [/quote]

Thanks for the ideas man. I’ll check that site out. I’ve done the burpee/pullups in the past, but definitely never for 100 reps. I think I did them ladder style with 1 the first minute, 2 the second, etc until I couldn’t finish in a minute, then worked back down. That might be a good plan.

I find that when I push the conditioning envelope too hard I end up really compromising strength gains. Since that is the priority, I’m just going to do it at a medium pace. Like this:

[quote]novaeer wrote:

Not too bad for a stiller-loving yinzer. ;-)[/quote]

LOL, thanks bro.

Just please tell me you didn’t go to Pitt.

[quote]novaeer wrote:
Just please tell me you didn’t go to Pitt.[/quote]

Nope. Case Western in Cleveland. Pitt wasn’t giving football scholarships to 5’9" 200lb linebackers with no speed or athletic ability, LOL.

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:

[quote]novaeer wrote:
Just please tell me you didn’t go to Pitt.[/quote]

Nope. Case Western in Cleveland. Pitt wasn’t giving football scholarships to 5’9" 200lb linebackers with no speed or athletic ability, LOL.[/quote]

Good. Now I don’t have to hate you.

[quote]novaeer wrote:

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:

[quote]novaeer wrote:
Just please tell me you didn’t go to Pitt.[/quote]

Nope. Case Western in Cleveland. Pitt wasn’t giving football scholarships to 5’9" 200lb linebackers with no speed or athletic ability, LOL.[/quote]

Good. Now I don’t have to hate you.
[/quote]

I take it you’re a Mountaineer?

[quote]Steel Nation wrote:

[quote]novaeer wrote:
[Good. Now I don’t have to hate you.
[/quote]

I take it you’re a Mountaineer?[/quote]

You are correct, sir!!

haha

Killin it.

Lol @ 235 with abs. Good stuff.