Amazing training!! Awesome job on the DL PR and the bench - incredible!
Nice metabolic work too - i’m so stealing that.
I lol evertime I hear that a car “blew a gasket” - i’m juvenile.
yeah, about that belt… dont make nlmain and i come after you. she’s still upset about her bands and well, im just crazy.
TAKE THE DAMNED PIC!!
[quote]RBlue wrote:
5/15/2010 - Deadlift & OHP day
Finally went out to buy a belt just prior to training and I was very excited to use it on the deads!
[/quote]
I totally missed this the first time through! You are now obligated to post a Bear-like pic of you wearing said belt…and nothing but the belt. 
EDIT: I really need to read ALL the posts before I post…
Wow, I’m gone for a week, and a thousand new training logs pop up in here! I have had very limited computer access lately, what with work, and bridal showers, and bus rides, and car repairs, and changing the password on my laptop late on night followed by promptly forgetting it. I still need to get that taken care of!
I’m going to catch up on my log tonight, then hopefully I’ll have time to catch up on all your logs over the next couple of days! I’ve been a bad e-friend lately.
Don’t worry, there’s a belt pic or two coming, plus some training to report.
Grneyes - The guy on the segway sounds like he’s living on the edge. He’d be badass, except he rides a segway. I want to hear more about those gorillas! And pics are coming.
Pch2 - It’s wonderfully awesome of you to stop in. Yeah, the rack pulls felt pretty great. Oh, and I do a lot of adjective recycling myself.
Kimba - It’s true what they say - it really makes a difference to have the belt to push out against. It reminded me to keep my abs braced, which I think helped me keep my back tight throughout the lift. Plus, I think there’s a little bit of magic in it.
Spirited - That site is a riot! About the traps, I have a feeling it is due to the heavy pulling like you say, but I’m going to really focus on avoiding any shoulder shrugging in any other exercises to see if that helps. Like I said, if it’s heavy deadlifting that’s making my traps grow, then so be it! 
N - The chalk is going to be my next addition! I’m hoping to find some before I test my deadlift max later this week. Oh, and if you like the ass, just wait for my squat vid, it’s gotten extra ‘bootylicious’ lately. Ha ha.
Owlie - Thanks!! I try to train bench with the pause all the time now, I think it’s going to help me get stronger in the long run.
Masch - Feel free to steal that metabolic stuff, I just make it up as I go anyways. Glad my car’s misfortune got some laughs out of you, too. 
Love the new avi, btw!
Claire - I’ve got 2 belt pics coming, to make up for the delay.
Belt pic #1
So, I’ve got the car back since Friday, and it wasn’t a moment too soon. My 20 min drive to work became an hour and 50 min bus ride with 2 transfers. Transit around here sucks balls.
Didn’t train as often as I wanted in the last week, but that was to be expected with the car issues plus being busy with work and my friend’s bridal shower and my dad’s birthday. We took him out for dinner last night, and got him well-fed and liquored up. It was a good night!
Training - May 18, 2010
(1) Squat 3x3:
70% = 130 lbs x 3
80% = 150 lbs x 3
90% = 165 lbs x 5
=> Knees felt iffy between sets, but they felt fine while squatting, so I ignored it. Didn’t end up coming back to bite me in the ass (yet).
(2) GHR on lat pulldown 3xAMRAP: 6/5/5
(3) BB step-ups (to bench) 3x12 (6 per leg): 55 lbs
(4) Band leg curls 6x10: Blue band; 4 sets for left leg only.
(5) KB swings 3x20: 24 kg KB with 30s rest between sets
Belt pic #2
Training - 5/21/2010 (Yep, two days off in there)
(1) Bench Press 3x3:
70% = 105 lbs x 3
80% = 120 lbs x 3
90% = 135 lbs x 6
=> My brother was training at the same time as me, so I got him to spot me. It was good, because I felt no hesitation when it came to yelling at him not to touch the bar on that 6th rep. It was a grind, but I got it up.
(2) Inverted rows 3x6 (These were actually super-setted with my bench press working sets)
(3a) 1-arm DB row 2x15: 35 lbs
(3b) DB lateral raise 2x20: 12.5 lbs
Training - May 24, 2010 (Yep, another two days off in the middle there. I’m a slacker)
(1) Deadlift 3x3:
70% = 180 lbs x3
80% = 205 lbs x3
90% = 230 lbs x6
=> Yay for another PR thanks to the magic belt! I’m really excited to test my max this week and see where it is!
(*Question(s): For those of you who wear a belt, do you use it for squats also? Also, so far I’ve been using the belt only for my money set - do you guys use the belt throughout your workout, or only when things start getting relatively heavy?)
(2a) BB OHP 3x3:
70% = 60 lbs x3
80% = 70 lbs x3
90% = 80 lbs x4.5 => Aaaaaalmost 5. I’m very pleased with this, my max was 75 lbs for a single when I started this program.
(2b) 1-leg good morning 4x10: 45 lbs
=> Not sure if this is an actual exercise - I did a single-leg RDL with a barbell on my shoulders, rather than while holding dbs.
(2c) Chin-ups: singles between sets throughout workout; 10 total
(3a) Cable pull-thoughs 4x10: 65 lbs
(3b) DB lateral raise 4x10: 20 lbs
(4) Lying ham curl triset (what I could remember from last week’s t-mag issue) 3 sets of:
(a) 1-leg curl - 6 reps each
(b) 2-legs up, 1-leg down for 5s - 8 reps each
(c) 2-leg curl - 8 reps
Finished off with 1-min intervals on the stepmill for 10 mins.
Today’s training - May 25, 2010
Jumped right back in to squat day today to test my 1RM! Probably should have given myself a day off between deadlifts and squats, but I got into the gym so infrequently last week that I wanted to do it anyways.
(1) Squat:
75% = 140 lbs x5
85% = 160 lbs x3
95% = 175 lbs x1
Singles: 185 lbs/190 lbs/195 lbs/200 lbs/205 lbs/210 lbs
=> Video’d these, and depth was good! I’m excited that my squat is back up around where I started, but with better depth. While 210 was a bit of a grind, I think I might have had a little more in me. But I didn’t want to push it too hard after deadlifts yesterday, plus there was a guy very patiently waiting for the power rack, and I’d already been occupying it for 45 mins (yikes!), so I left it at that. I’m going to use 90% of 210 (190 lbs) as my 1RM for my next cycle of 5/3/1 and see how it goes!
(2a) GHR on lat pulldown 4xAMRAP: 5/5/5/5
(2b) 30 jumping jacks x 4 sets
(2c) 30 mountain climbers x 4 sets
(3) Intervals on stationary bike: 30s high/60s low intenstiy for 10 mins, followed by 10 mins ss biking.
Here’s hoping the vid works: 210 lbs for one
It’s definitely past my bedtime. Can’t wait to catch up on the other logs and see what kind of awesomeness you ladies have been up to.
So, awesome belt pix! Though there was too much clothing.
That vid had the same great angle as Claire’s!! Both of you have out of control asses.
Good job!
WOW! Awesome job…
Great work considering the gym has been hit and miss…
WOW!
Beautiful belt pics Blue: what a great way to start my day with a cup of coffee:) You’ve been working on those squats! I’m going to catch up to you sometime. Just wait and see.
Belt is a good look on you. But I would like to debrief you on a few other things.
^^^ De-brief you. Yep, I bet he would.
So much good stuff in here, Blue, it’s hard to know where to start.
You have such a great bod. Very proportionate. The belt looks fab! To date, I only wear my belt for DLing, but that will change once I return to serious training. I couldn’t squat in the belt I used to wear because it compressed me too much. But now that I have a tapered one, I’m going to learn how. I only wear my belt when the weight gets to a certain point and I’m doing low reps (three or fewer). For me, that’s about 1.7x bodyweight for DL and 1.4x bodyweight for squat, which is the point where I feel my lower back start to be compromised.
That squat of yours looks great. Nice depth. Good confidence.
blue! you look awesome! nice workouts too!
I was very distracted by the belt pictures…
So, YEAH! Nice looking 210 lb. squat! Despite all the distractions, you are hitting it hard over here.
I will be ordering up my own belt soon. That is the only way I’ll know for sure whether its helpful or not: try it myself.
Hey Blue! Your training is awesome as ever
That squat was be-u-tiful! 210 is soooo impressive. Nice booty on ya too
Love the belt, love the pics and that guy in the vid was prolly like, “er…i have to follow that” - LOVES IT!
the belt IS awesome, but i will bitch about the amount of clothing. less plz.
I think the hit and miss gym worked out for you rather well. some forced rest, maybe some lower stress involved? the strength is there for sure, as long as you’re willing to push yourself.
well done.
So after ‘studying’ my squat vid (I’m a nerd), I think I need to focus more on keeping my chest up and really sticking my butt out to maintain more of an arch/tight back in the hole.
Re: belt pics - Too much clothing? Well I’ve got to leave something to the imagination to keep y’all coming back, right?
Greeny - Thanks! I do like my out-of-control ass (except when I’m shopping for jeans).
MiM -
N - You definitely have me beat on depth. I’m sure you’ll be catching up to me in the weights very soon, too. But I’m warning you, I won’t back down.
Print - Love the play on words, you dirty dog, you.
Snapper - Thanks for the compliments, and thanks for the input regarding squatting with a belt! I think for now I’m going to focus on staying tighter in the hole without a belt, although I may end up trying it out on my final sets like I’ve been doing for DLing.
Brute - That means a lot coming from you! Hopefully with lots of hard work I can get a 300lb squat sometime in the (semi-)near future and be as bad-ass as you.
Kimba - I hope you find the belt useful. Did you decide on a colour? (I suppose I should just head on over to your log to find out)
Masch - You always make me smile. Thank you!
Claire - I think you’re right, hitting the gym less last week gave me almost a deload week prior to testing my maxes, which is probably a good thing. Plus all the eats helped too, I’m sure.
It’s a beautiful sunny day today, I’ve got the next 3 days off, and I’m having a lazy day alone at home so far. It’s lovely! Also, tried on the dress I’m wearing to the wedding in July today (that was ridiculously tight a couple weeks ago), and it fits properly again! Yay!
So I’m partially caught up on the other logs, and I’m still working on it. I need to not be away for so long again, it makes catching up a very long (if not enjoyable) process!
Update on the last couple of days’ training:
5/26/2010 - Bench Press max day!
(1) Bench Press:
75% = 115 lbs x5
85% = 130 lbs x3
95% = 145 lbs x1
Singles: 150/155/160 lbs!!! = PR and bodyweight bench!
=> Got my bro to spot me again for the singles. On 145, I paused on the chest, then struggled a tad to get it up, and he put his hands on the bar. I yelled. Loud. Did another rep on my own, then chastised him. To be fair to him though, I should have told him I was planning on pausing. On 160 (vid to come), I swear it felt like I paused, but the vid shows not so much. It was a BIG grind to get up, and I probably wasted energy during the lift telling my bro, “I got it, I got it”, but I DID have it! That was my goal for today, so I’m very happy.
(2) Low cable row (wide, neutral grip) 4x10: 70/85x3 sets
(3) Green-band assisted wg pull ups (strict pull with lats): 6/6/5
Yesterday’s training: Just did some metabolic work/cardio
3 times through:
OH Squat x10 with 12 lb body bar => First time doing these - me likey!
OHP x20 with same bar
1-leg box jump (box at mid-shin) x10 per leg
Chin ups x4.
Squat jumps x15
=> This took breathing like a fat kid to a whole new level.
3 mins on stepmill - my knees were yelling at me (or maybe I was just being lame).
15 mins steady state on stationary bike.