Post-Meet 1.2: 7/18/14
Body Weight: 138.8
Stress Check: 11% (Low)
RHR: 60
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 2 PM on normal rest. Some bros were air-5-board-pressing on the bench so I benched in a power rack today.
A. Bench (touch-and-go): 175x4x6 - I haven’t done touch-and-go in a while (nearly all benches in training are paused) so these felt a little weird.
B1. Incline DB Press: 55x3x12
B2. Chin-ups: BWTx4x12 (supposed to do “even” sets here - all sets for the same number of reps)
C1. Seated DB Press: 35x3x10
C2. Seated Row: 70x3x12
Done until next week!
Post-Meet 2.1: 7/21/14
Body Weight: 139.2
Stress Check: 17% (Medium)
RHR: 57
I trained at Morgan Stanley at 2 PM on normal rest. First “full” week (4 days) back in the gym, so still building up gradually.
A. Squat: 240x5x6 - Still working on moving the stance in, so still pretty light.
B. Walking Lunge: 40 lb. DBsx3x8 per leg
C. Barbell RDL: 135x10, 165x10, 175x10, 185x10 - Going with a shorter lockout time, so felt a little easier, but 185 was still challenging.
D. Leg Curl: 70x4x12
E. Abs (Technogym Machine): 40x4x20
Benching tomorrow!
Post-Meet 2.2: 7/22/14
Body Weight: 139.8
Stress Check: 55% (High)
RHR: 66
Usual time and place.
A. Bench (touch-and-go): 185x5x6
B1. Incline DB Press: 55x4x10 - My reps last week were sloppy, so I stuck with 55s and these were better.
B2. Chinups (even sets): BWTx4x12
C1. Seated DB Press: 35x3x10
C2. Seated Cable Row: 70x3x12
Post-Meet 2.3: 7/24/14
Body Weight: 140.6
Stress Check: 24% (Medium)
RHR: 60
I trained at Morgan Stanley at 2 PM. I wanted to say this was on normal rest, but I was dragging out of bed and felt a little sluggish.
A. Paused Squat: 240x5x4
B. Conventional Deadlift (controlled eccentric): 260x4x5
C. Rear Foot-Elevated Split Squat: 40 lb. DBsx3x8 per leg
D1. Back Extension: 1" Green Bandx4x20
D2. Abs (Technogym Machine): 45x4x20
I was going to post pictures of my Powerlifting Watch Rankings, as I had a #9 total as of yesterday, but they just updated it today with the results of USAPL Raw Nationals and now I’m down to #13. lolz.
Post-Meet 2.4: 7/25/14
Body Weight: 140.0
Stress Check: 40% (High)
RHR: 61
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 2 PM, on normal rest.
A. Bench Press (touch-and-go for AMRAP with 4 min rest between sets): 135x21, 13, 15, 10 - Someone walked in front of me on the 2nd set which threw me off a little. Decent, but not quite as awesome as these guys: - YouTube…_AUBLSt7SxKAmw
B. Pendlay Row: 135x10, 145x10, 150x10, 155x10
C. Dips (even sets): BWTx3x15
D. Pullups (even sets): BWTx3x10
E. Defranco 3-Way Shoulder Shocker (DeFrancosGym.com - Exercise Index: 3-Way "Shoulder Shocker" - YouTube): 25 lb. plate for front raises, 10 lb. DBs for others - 3x10 each
That’s it for this week! Looking forward to a full week of training next week!
Post-Meet 3.1: 7/28/14
Body Weight: 142.4 (Finally starting to feel like a normal person again, lol.)
Stress Check: 16% (Medium)
RHR: 63
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 2 PM on normal rest. Physically I feel fine, but we’re still laying off competition stance deadlifts and high-frequency paused benches for now, so I’ll still call this “Post-Meet.” I should note that we had planned for me to do my next meet in October but the date of that meet may change which could affect my own plans, so as of now nothing’s official.
A. Squat: 265x5x5 - These still moved pretty well (first 4 sets @7.5, last set@8), but all the high squatting going on in my line of sight was pretty distracting. I was more ticked off about that than anything I did.
B. Walking Lunges: 40 lb. DBsx3x8 per leg
C. Barbell RDL: 135x10, 185x10, 195x10, 200x2x10 - Grip was a little shaky on those last few sets; form broke down a little on that last set of 200.
D. Leg Curl: 70x4x12
E. Abs (Technogym Machine): 45x4x20
Benching tomorrow.
Post-Meet 3.2: 7/29/14
Body Weight: CRAP I FORGOT TO WEIGH MYSELF THIS MORNING
Stress Check: 49% (High)
RHR: 68
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 2 PM today. For some reason I had trouble falling asleep last night so it was more like 6-7 hours instead of the usual 8. Oh well.
A. Bench Press (touch-and-go): 200x5x5 - RPEs were 8, 8, 8.5, 9, 10. Still not a huge fan of the bench they have at Morgan Stanley.
B1. Incline DB Press: 55x2x10, 60x2x10 - Was supposed to do 4x10 with weights in the 55-60 range - started off conservatively but was feeling good so I went with 60s on the last two sets.
B2. Chinups: BWTx4x12
C1. Seated DB Press: 40x4x10
C2. Seated Row: 75x4x12
Off tomorrow, then two more days of training this week.
Post-Meet 3.3: 7/31/14
Body Weight: 142.2 (Guess I really am back to normal, lol.)
Stress Check: 8% (Low)
RHR: 68
I trained at Morgan Stanley at 2 PM on normal rest.
A. Paused Squat: 255x5x4
B. Conventional Deadlift (controlled eccentric): 275x4x5 - My new SABO Deadlift shoes came in on Monday so I figured I’d give these a try even though it looks like I won’t resume sumo deadlifting until next week. They feel great, though probably overkill for someone who exclusively pulls conventional in socks or deadlift slippers. I also tried pulling with wrist wraps for the first time as grip on the crappy gym bars has been an issue. They seem to help slightly, but I don’t know if I still feel comfortable doing this on the platform.
C. Rear Foot Elevated Split Squat: 50 lb. DBsx3x8 per leg
D1. Back Extension: 1" Green Bandx4x20
D2. Abs: 25x4x20 per side - I did rotational abs on a cable machine this time.
Benching again tomorrow!
Post-Meet 4.4: 8/1/14
Body Weight: 140.0
Stress Check: 50% (High)
RHR: 73
I trained at Morgan Stanley at 2 PM on normal rest.
A. Bench Press (touch-and-go, 4xAMRAP with 4 min between sets): 135x24, 15, 12, 12 - 4 total reps more than last week
B. Pendlay Row: 135x10, 145x10, 155x2x10
C. Dips: BWTx3x16
D. Pullups: BWTx3x10
E. Defranco 3-way Shoulder Shocker: 25 lb. plate for front raises, 10 lb. DBs for everything else: 3x10 each
Done for training this week - looking forward to getting back into more volume of competition lifts starting next week.
MEET UPDATE: Originally we were planning on having me do a USPA meet in Allentown, PA in October, but apparently that meet has been moved to November which might not allow me to qualify for RUM in time. So my next meet will be the RPS Supreme Iron Warrior World Championships on Saturday, September 13 in Newark, NJ. Of course, this means the “serious” part of the meet cycle starts RIGHT NOW.
Iron Warrior 6.1: 8/4/14
Body Weight: 141.4
Stress Check: 9% (Low)
RHR: 64
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 1 PM (had an 11 AM client).
Updated Bench Warm-ups: 45x8, 95x8, 135x5, 155x4, Paused 180x3, 200x3 - all bench work sets are paused unless otherwise indicated.
A. Bench: 200x2x3
B. Bench (3-second Pause): 190x2x2
C. Sumo Pulls off 3" Blocks: Instructed to work up to x5 @8 RPE for 3 sets - got up to 355x3x5 - platform was slippery which probably made it more difficult
D. Chinup: BWTx4x12
E. Seated Cable Row: 75x3x12
Now I’m doing some kind of deadlift 3x this week, so off tomorrow then 4 training days in a row. We’ll see how this goes . . .
Iron Warrior 6.2: 8/6/14
Body Weight: 141.4
Stress Check: 36% (Medium)
RHR: 71
Morgan Stanley, 2 PM, normal rest, Hammer Strength rack w/platform
A. Squat: 275x3, 295x3, 320x2x1 - RPE was 8 for both singles. The closer stance is feeling better each week, even though the bar did roll a little more than I would have liked today.
B. Paused Squat: 250x3x7
C. Conventional Deadlift (controlled eccentric): 275x4x4
D1. Back Extension: 1" Green Bandx3x20
D2. Abs (Technogym Machine): 45x3x20
Today’s workout felt brutal volume-wise, but everything moved relatively well considering that point. Of course, this is the first of four consecutive training days, so we’ll see how I feel as I get through the rest of the week.
Iron Warrior 6.3: 8/7/14
Body Weight: ??? (I just forgot again)
Stress Check: 34% (Medium)
RHR: 64
Morgan Stanley, 2 PM, normal rest, etc.
A. Bench Press: 220x2, was supposed to do 230x2 but couldn’t even get 1 - My usual spotters weren’t around so the handoffs I received on these were all shaky, which threw me off considerably. Tightness was an issue with all my sets - I definitely wasn’t in the right groove.
B. Sling Shot: 240x2x2 - These were better.
C. Bench Press (paused, no Sling Shot): 200x4, 200x3 - Was supposed to be 2 sets of 4 but I missed the last rep of that last set - tightness was still an issue here.
D. Bench (3-second pause): 190x2x2 - Better than those sets with 200, but much slower than Monday.
E. Pendlay Row: 155x2x8, 160x2x8
This was the worst bench session I had in a while. Too many variables screwed me up. I’ve often had bad bench workouts during the week only to kill it on Saturdays at Iron Arena, so hopefully that will be the case this Saturday.
Iron Warrior 6.4: 8/8/14
Body Weight: 139.6
Stress Check: 37% (Medium)
RHR: 66
Morgan Stanley, 2 PM, normal rest, rack w/platform
A. Squat: 265x4x4
B. Abs (I chose Cable Rotations on the Technogym Machine): 30x4x20 each
Yes, that was it. Squats moved well (started out at 7 RPE, got up to 8 by the fourth set). I certainly don’t mind, as I’ll be benching and deadlifting tomorrow.
Iron Warrior 6.5: 8/9/14
Body Weight: 139.6
Stress Check: 22% (Medium)
RHR: 63
I trained at Iron Arena at 2 PM. I benched on the ER Rack with the 50 lb. Iron Wolfe Super Bench Bar. Normally we use the Iron Wolfe bar on the other bench but Jason and Jonathan were using the regular power bar on that bench. I did have the Deadlift Bar all to myself, though.
A. Bench: 225x1, 195x4, 190x5, all @10 - I was supposed to do 220x3, 200x2x5. Using an extra-long 50 lb. bar on an ER Rack threw me off in terms of the misload, and possibly because of the weight distribution as well. I was having a hard time staying tight.
B. Was supposed to do 3-second pause 190x2x3, but we skipped this because I was missing too many reps on the bench.
C. Sumo Deadlift: work up to x3@8, Load Drop 7% Fatigue - 335x3, 310x3x3
D. RDL: 205x3x8
E. Face Pull: 50x3x15
This was an awful week in terms of benching, but my squat and deadlift are coming along so it’s probably more of a technique issue than anything else (though I have noticed I’ve had a hard time keeping weight on since the meet which is a concern). This does remind me that there are a lot of variables in my training that I do need to do a better job of controlling, though.
I’ve been working on an in-service for the staff members at work on properly spotting the bench press and giving commands for quite some time (admittedly I came up with this for selfish reasons, but it is an important safety issue and it amazes me how many “fitness professionals” don’t seem to understand this), and I’ll finally get to put it to use next week. And I’ve been away from Iron Arena for WAY too long. It’s good to finally be back.
Iron Warrior 5.1: 8/11/14
Body Weight: 142.4
Stress Check: 17% (Medium)
RHR: 63
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 2 PM, normal rest.
A. Bench: 210x2, 220x1@8.5, 230x1@9.5 - Doing singles did feel better than trying for multiple rep PRs like I did last week, but these were still a little shaky, especially considering I’m supposed to do 230 for a double on Thursday. Still having a hard time staying tight.
B. Sling Shot: 230x3x3 - These weren’t so bad, so my main issue with the single was at the bottom. Need to get tighter.
C. Bench (no Sling Shot): 195x2x3
D. Sumo Pulls from 3" Blocks: Work up to 8.5 RPE for 3 sets of 5. Got 365x3x5.
E. Chinups: BWTx4x12
F. Seated Row: 75x3x12
Iron Warrior 5.2: 8/13/14
Body Weight: 140.8
Stress Check: 8% (Low)
RHR: 55
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 2 PM on normal rest. Squats were done on the Hammer Strength power rack with platform.
A. Squat: 275x3, 295x3, 320x2x1, 330x2x1 - 320s were 8, 330s were 8.5. These didn’t feel great in terms of depth but bar speed was decent.
B. Paused Squat: 260x3x6
C. Conventional Deadlift (controlled eccentric): 275x4, 285x4, 295x4, 300x4
Did assistance work at around 8 PM due to time constraints.
D1. Back Extension: 1" Green Bandx3x20
D2. Abs (Technogym Machine): 45x3x20
Iron Warrior 5.3: 8/14/14
Body Weight: 140.4
Stress Check: 19% (Medium)
RHR: 63
I trained at around 2 PM at Morgan Stanley (normal rest). I couldn’t find any spotters around so I ended up benching in a half-rack, which isn’t so bad except the j-hooks in that thing are ridiculously deep making it difficult to unrack the bar.
A. Bench Press: 210x3, 230x2x1, 195x2x4 - I was supposed to do 230 for a double, but the first rep felt shaky and I didn’t want to risk missing, so I broke this up into 2 singles. On a real bench with a GOOD hand-off (which, given last Thursday’s fiasco, is much more difficult than I would hope) I would’ve gotten the double easily. Feeling a bit more confident now, but the spotter situation on Thursdays still makes me nervous about going for PRs on those days.
B. Bench Press (3-second pause): 185x2x3
C. Pendlay Row: 155x5x8
Iron Warrior 5.4: 8/15/14
Body Weight: 141.8
Stress Check: 17% (Medium)
RHR: 63
I trained at Morgan Stanley at 12 PM - only ~6 hours of sleep because of a meeting this morning.
A. Squat: 280x4x4
B. Abs (I chose rotational abs on the cable machine): 35x4x20
Iron Warrior 5.5: 8/16/14
Body Weight: 141.4
Stress Check: 35% (Medium)
RHR: 63
I trained at Iron Arena at 1 PM. Last night I actually got home earlier than I normally do even though I spent some time hanging out with a friend who was visiting from upstate, but I was feeling sluggish getting out of bed - the short rest on Friday probably still affected me. I felt better after a full can of Spike. Benches were done on an ER Rack with the 50 lb. Iron Wolfe Super Bench Bar. I had the Texas Deadlift Bar to myself once again.
A. Bench Press: 210x2, 220x1, 195x5, 4 - Was supposed to be 220x2, 195 for 2 sets of 5 (missed the last rep on the 2nd set). On the 220 I felt like the strength was there but my technique was off - I’m starting to think that using the longer bar on the narrower bench throws me off (I never had an issue using the Iron Wolfe bar on the other bench, nor did I ever have an issue using a regular Texas Power Bar on the ER Rack.)
B. Bench Press (3-second pause): 180x2x3 - Was supposed to be 185 but we dropped 5 lbs. just to be safe. These weren’t so bad.
C. Sumo Deadlift: (work up to x3@9, Load Drop 7% Fatigue) - 365x3, 340x2x3
D. RDL: 205x3x8
E. Face Pull: 55x3x15
My bench was better than last week, but still not quite where I want it to be. There have been too many variables going on (not just using the different bar and bench, but the spotter situation on Thursdays) that need to be fixed. My other lifts are coming alone fine so I know I need to get my technique down better.
Iron Warrior 4.1: 8/18/14
Body Weight: 141.8
Stress Check: 42% (High)
RHR: 67
I trained at Morgan Stanley at around 2 PM on normal rest.
A. Bench Press: 210x2, 225x2x1 - The singles were at around 8.5 - wasn’t in any real danger of missing, but my technique still didn’t feel 100% on (the second single was better than the first).
B. Sling Shot: 230x3x3 - These felt better.
C. Bench Press: 190x2x4
D. Sumo Block Pulls: was supposed to work up to 3x5@8.5, ended up doing 360x2x5. My lower back was feeling sore and I had to use the stiffer bar because someone was using the other bar to do 65-pound RDLs with straps (I can’t make this stuff up). The 2nd set felt absolutely brutal and I may have even overshot the first set, so I ended up shutting this down a set early.
E. Chinups: BWTx4x12
F. Seated Row: 75x3x12
Off tomorrow, then the real fun begins as I go for a 340 Squat, then rep PRs on the other lifts later this week.