Geech,
At least tall and long limbed is good for something. As much as I struggle with the squat and bench, I am guessing that DL will be my best lift. I know that 385lb is not a lot but it is a good 100lb higher than my squat and bench max. By November, I would be thrilled with a 500lb DL. I expect the bench to be around 300lb, but I have no idea what I am going to squat. All I can do is keep improving.
mday
I am sure you are already well over 400 on the DL on a genuine rested test, and will be staying tuned as you dial up that squat.
[quote]mday wrote:
Geech,
At least tall and long limbed is good for something. As much as I struggle with the squat and bench, I am guessing that DL will be my best lift. I know that 385lb is not a lot but it is a good 100lb higher than my squat and bench max. By November, I would be thrilled with a 500lb DL. I expect the bench to be around 300lb, but I have no idea what I am going to squat. All I can do is keep improving.
mday[/quote]
385 is a milestone. When I first got 385 I could smell 405 and jumped to 425 not long after. I suspect that you will do the same or better as you are doing all the right stuff to get there.
Good Pr in the DL. I like you’re stone lift,too. Good idea.
Thanks guys,
You know I just really want to improve my squat. It is such a struggle for me to do it correctly. I know that in time, it will get better but it is hard to have to work through it. I guess it will just make it all the better when I nail the lift in competition.
Thanks again for everyone’s input.
mday
Thanks h, the stone lift was a blast. Being tall and long-limbed it is easier for me to get my arms around the weights. As long as I can break the weight off the floor, I can usually get it on the box.
I am not sure what my wife is going to think about all the bruises that I have on my stomach and chest however. Normally, she does the same workouts as me, but she passed on the stone trainer, go figure??
mday
Congrats on the PR on he DL Mday!
I am envious of your being able to eat as much as you want… your caloric intake is jaw dropping! You need to go to an “All You Can Eat” place… like the Mandarin or something… (do you guys have those there?) and tell us the story afterwards… would be good for a laugh.
I know that when I took myself and the 3 boys there after a football game… they tried to lock the doors to keep us out (not really…)
That stone lifter thingy sounds interesting… can you explain a bit more, describe it… something we can make for our gyms perhaps?
Great training mday! Congrats on the DL PR. I love the intensity of your workouts mday, your goals are gonna fall hard this year. That stone carry thing is right up my alley, sounds like fun. 
To All,
Sorry about the lack of updates. You may have seen on the news that Southern Wisconsin has been hit very hard by rain over the last four days.
Our house has been under threat of evacuation since Saturday night. It looks like the worst is over and that we should be all right, but it has been a busy couple days.
I will be back at it on Wednesday and will give everyone an update.
mday
[quote]mday wrote:
To All,
Sorry about the lack of updates. You may have seen on the news that Southern Wisconsin has been hit very hard by rain over the last four days.
Our house has been under threat of evacuation since Saturday night. It looks like the worst is over and that we should be all right, but it has been a busy couple days.
I will be back at it on Wednesday and will give everyone an update.
mday[/quote]
You and your family stay safe mday!
Mday, I can only imagine the stress. Glad y’all are ok. I echo soldog, y’all stay safe!
06/11/08
I’m back. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and concerns. The rivers are starting to go down and the threat of further evacuations are over. More rain in the forecast for the next few days so it is touch and go at this point.
Weight: 222, slipped a little due to not working out, not eating enough and stress
Workout: Max Effort Upper Body
A. Floor Presses
Worked up to a max of 285/1 rep then did 5 sets 225/6
B. Decline Press
185/5, 205/5, 205/5, 225/4
C. Skull Crushers
98/9, 88/10, 88/9
D. Cable Pushdowns
80/35, 90/37, 90/45
My triceps/elbows are in so much pain, I cannot raise my coffee mug to take a drink. I am sitting at work with ice on both elbows. Double up on the fish oil again today.
Nutrition: 3,465C, 153gF(39%),218gC(24%),310gC(37%)
I need to bring the calories back up as soon as possible. I haven’t had much of a chance to go shopping or do a lot of food preparation due to the flooding, so my food intake is suffering. I am hitting the grocery store today and we finally have hot water, so I should be good to go.
Supplement: Fish Oil, Creatine, Green Tea
Sleep: Finally got a good seven hours last night.
Mood: I have to admit that it was tough to get to the gym this morning. My motivation level is at a low point due to all the stuff going on. I just need to gut it out and get my work in (gym and kitchen). The motivation will follow. I just hope it doesn’t start raining again.
I hope to get back to eveyrone’s logs today.
mday
I am glad everything went ok for you and your family mday… with the exception of huge amount of stress of course.
With the joint pain… have you ever tried Glucosamine? I have some minor joint pain, and this was suggested by one of the guys in my gym. I am thinking about it…
bunny,
Thank you for the note, we will see what happens tomorrow with the rain.
I am considering a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement. I’ve taken these in the past for knee pain and it works somewhat, but you have to take them for a long time before you see an improvement. I think my joints just need to get used to the heavy lifting. I will probably start taking some anit-inflammatory (Alleve) for the pain also.
mday
[quote]mday wrote:
bunny,
Thank you for the note, we will see what happens tomorrow with the rain.
I am considering a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement. I’ve taken these in the past for knee pain and it works somewhat, but you have to take them for a long time before you see an improvement. I think my joints just need to get used to the heavy lifting. I will probably start taking some anit-inflammatory (Alleve) for the pain also.
mday
[/quote]
MSM is good too. You might consider drinking or otherwise adding olive oil daily. I take in a 1/4 cup daily and it seems to help. On a metrosexual note, it does great things for my skin as well.
When the joints start complaining, a good couple of high rep sessions can help get blood through the joint’s connective tissues to help healing.
Congrats on the 285 bench and happy to hear y’all made it through the deluge safely.
Good to see you back safe and sound, Mday.
As for the joint pain, check your form on some of your exercises like squats or even incline curls (depending on how you do them) to see if you are carrying the weight on or through your elbows.
Glad all is well with you and yours. Mother nature can sure be a bitch. Hope conditions improve.
What’s your form like on the bench? With your levers it’s probably putting a lot of strain on your joints. Even though it goes against traditional powerlifting bench advise I tried flaring the elbows out, widest legal grip, more chest, and less of the recommended 45degrees. Might take some strain off the elbows.
Thanks to everyone for the advice and the concern.
My joints feel better today. Given my inexperience with really heavy weight and my longer levers, I do have to focus on form a lot. I am still not the best on technique but things are improving. So far, the worst pain has been in my shoulders and elbows. My back has not been bothering me too bad. I will take your advice hel, and move the arms out and push a little more with the chest. I really think a big part of the discomfort has to do with my joints getting used to lifting heavier weight. As long as I add in some recovery time, eat well, do my recovery work, and balance my exercises, I think I will be all right in the long run.
Update on yesterday following,
mday
06/13/08
Sorry about the spotty posts, more rain yesterday afternoon and all night last night. Our situation is holding steady, but many others are not doing very well. Closed highways, more flooding, evacuations, boat rescues, train derailments.
Weight: 226, jumped up today due to higher calories, hitting the weights hard, supplements dialed in, and six chocolate chip cookies last night.
Workout: AM workout, max. effort lower body
A. Deadlift with chains
worked up to 5 sets/1 rep/315lb with 120lb of chains.
Doing DL with chains was a new thing for me. I really had to work on the lockout with my back. I need to get stronger throughout my entire back. Overall, I felt really good with this lift. After the 5 sets, I dropped the chains and did 1 rep at 365lb. I felt like I could have done 405lb easy, but I backed off and saved it for another day.
B. 45 Degree Back Extensions with Band
0/12, 0/12, 0/12, 0/15
C. Cable Pull Throughs
160/12, 160/12
D. DB Side Bends
65/50 reps each side
E. Hyper. Extensions
0/8, 0/8, 0/8
Nutrition: 4,392C, 191gF(39%),298gC(25%),377gP(36%)
Supplements: Post Workout Drink, Creatine, BCAA, Fish Oil(Doubled again), Green Tea
Mood: Yesterday, my elbows/triceps/shoulders were still bothering me a little, so I iced everything as much as possible and took some Aleve. I was very sore this morning but I worked through it and I feel really good right now. I got about 7 hours of sleep despite the rain all night. I will be icing and stretching all day to try and let the joints recover. I was very happy with the weight going up on the DL. I feel like I am back on track despite the crazy weather. I will get in some more repetition work this weekend in order to try and recover this weekend. We are starting a kitchen/bath remodel next week…
I hope everyone has a good weekend. I promise to get back to the logs soon.
mday
Well you’d better. I dunno what kinda slacker thinks keeping their family and dwelling safe is more important than these here hobby pages.
Slacker I said and slacker I meant.
Get your priorities straight, slacker!
Stay safe.