No joke, when I was getting in the zone for my top set of bench on Tuesday, I thought of you push pressing more than I bench. woot.
killin it as always. BEAST MODE SQUARED.
"We are not weak if we make a proper use of those means which the God of Nature has placed in our power… the battle, sir, is not to the strong alone it is to the vigilant, the active, the brave. " – Patrick Henry
7/20/11 Squats and so on. Fairly good night. Tried a few new things, and am rather pleased with it. For the longest time, I have always had my toes pointed rather far outside on all of my squat variations. After doing some reading, I thought I would point them almost straight ahead, with perhaps a slight angle outward.
VIDEO:
Warmups: Same as usual.
Squats, all reps paused in the hole:
Bar X12
135X10
+80Lbs of chain
135X5
225X3
315X3
405X1 ← video angle here is horrible for judgeing depth. Gym was crowded and it was the best I could do.
This felt good. I was thinking a bit about TC’s live spill a few days ago about his “tough guy squats”(how does he come up with these names??). I remembered reading Josh Bryant writing about the benefits of dead squats and dead benches a while back also. Anyway, I have not until this point ever done a paused squat where the bar completely deloaded onto the spot pins before. This seemed like the night to try it.
Dead squats from pins:
BarX5
135X5
135+chainsX5
Here, my hips began cramping like no other. It became impossible to worm my lardass under the bar while it rested on the pins. So, I walked these out and just let the weight deload on the pins when I hit depth. My walkout could always use the extra work anyway. Looking at the video, I think I need the pin setting one hole lower next time.
225X3
315X3
405X2 These felt awesome and will be my main squat movement for a while. I thought about a 3rd rep for a second, but remembered that descretion helps sometimes.
Zerchers:
BarX5
135X3
225X3
275X3
Combo set:
Leg press with EFS grey bands added, then standing band good mornings with the black band.
3X8 Epic pumpzz.
Ab wheel roll outs:
3X8
20 min. incline walking.
Done and done. Pretty good night. Now to just get the bar weight up.
METAL:
Dixie, ^ the above will have to serve for the moment. Yeah, my paint skills suck.
Oregand, thank you for the kind words. Me, too sophisticated, thats a good one. The old pic of me squatting in the river is a more accurate representation really.
Killerb521, on the video angle I will see what I can do. The main problem is that there is a curl rack and a hack squat machine bolted to the floor on either side of the deadlift platfom. These things being immobile make a side angle rather difficult. However, I deadlift next on international bench night, so hopefully the area will be clear and I can play around with how I set things up. Thanks for stopping in.
BlackWidowGirl, thank you. Always nice to have an amazon let me know things are going well 
scj119, Thanks for dropping by. Yeah, on the equipement, I have talked to the gyms management. You see, real racks are expensive, so are bumper plates and heavier dumbbells. However, they just bought a bunch of fancy new treadmills. Eh, different priorities.
As far as the ego goes, I’ve found its best to just be a realist when it comes to your own goes, and to do your best to not compare your lifts/training directly against others in some kind of pissing contest. We all start at different places and have different circumstances. I think having independence of mind, tunnel vision at times, and pursuing your own goals will serve you best. Ok, I’ll put the soap box back in the corner now.
Mom-in-MD, lol thanks.
BugeishaAD, thanks man. Always glad to provide motivation. Oh, and the proper pronounciation is WHOOOOP!! 
“It behooves every man who values liberty of conscience for himself, to resist invasions of it in the case of others: or their case may, by change of circumstances, become his own.” – Thomas Jefferson
7/23/11 Bench night. I felt like dog shit on this day for some reason. Ended up just taking things fairly light and everything shy of failure. This turned out pretty damned well, as Deads on 7/25/11 were fucking amazing. Anyway, here’s teh bench day:
Bench:
worked up to 275+choked Grey Bands X3 for 2 sets.
Incline DBs:
75sX5
100sX5
125sX5
150sX5
125sX12
Felt ok.
DB incline tri press supersetted with alternating DB curls:
50sX15 tri presses, 50sX10 curls for 3 sets with only 10 breaths as my rest between each combo.
incline walk for 20 min.
Done for that night.
7/25/11 Deads: Bodyweight was 246 this morning. 4 LBs left to the 242s. I will probably get down to around 238-240 just to give myself some wiggle room. I think this helped with some of the PRs tonight, though it is causing another somewhat unwelcome issue, namely, that I am now down to the very last notch on my belt. I’m currently trying to decide if I will risk fucking up my belt by drilling new holes in it, or just spend another $95(I’m including shipping) or so on a smaller belt. I do not need more notches just yet, but probably will when I get closer to 240. Decisions, decisions… Anyway:
VIDEO:
Warmups: Usuall stretching and did a few complexes of deads, BB rows, and high pulls.
Deads:
135X8
225X5
Added 80LBs of chain
225X3
315X3
401X1
455X1
500X3 PR sort of I think. I don’t think I pulled 500 or more with chains from the floor like this before. I have done it from a deficit, but hitched it somewhat. This time I think there was some small bit of a hitch on rep 3 but not much. Pretty happy with this.
Pendlay rows:
135X10
225X5
255X5
275X5
Chins:
BDW X5 for 2 sets
All that follow were dead hang, or close to it.
+25X3
+50X3
+75X3 PR
+100X1 ← PR. So, I really don’t know where this came from, but after how easy 75 felt I had to give it a shot. For a second I thought about trying for 2, but I think I would have ended up turning it into some kind of retarded kipping pull up. Onward and upward.
BDW X8
Cable pull down Abzz:
4X10 with the stack, whatever that is.
Done. Pretty damned awesome night really. Deads felt good, as did chins.
In utterly unrelated news, the trainers at my Golds are putting on a “strongman” contest on the weekend of Aug. 19th. I plan on doing this as its local and I had no other plans that weekend other than possibly going into the office. Its a 2 day thing with 4 events each day. They have an interesting way of thinking about this, and I’ll post the details of it later. Right now, I am crashing.
METAL:
“Virtues are acquired through endeavor, Which rests wholly upon yourself. So, to praise others for their virtues Can but encourage one’s own efforts.” – Thomas Paine
7/27/11 Push press and stuff. Pretty crowded tonight. A friend of mine was actually using the deadlift platform for deadlifts. Motivating stuff. Anyway, tonight I had this strange urge to do some volume work. Kinda made sense given that heavy triple from deads the other night. Pretty happy with how things went.
VIDEO:
Warm ups: Same as normal.
Push Press:
BarX10
95X8
135X8
225X5
275X5 for 3 sets. Video is of the third set. Volume PR at this weight, and bar path felt good. Not sure if I want to continue the volume route with this or not. Probably will for a bit.
Standing one arm strict DB presses:
75X5 for 2 sets
75X10
Face pulls:
some X15 for 3 sets.
20 min. of incline walking.
Good night I think. Technique felt better on the push press, as it seemed like it was going to shit my last 2 overhead days.
METAL:
SOLID! Very impressive, especially since you don’t drop at all to catch the bar!
“Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.” – Winston Churchill
7/30/11 Squats and stuff. Gym was nearly empty. On the whole this was an ok squat session. My set up and decent needs some work. Bodyweight hit 245 the other day. Of all my lifts, my squat has been most affected by teh drop in weight.
VIDEO:
Warmups: same as always.
Squats, paused on pins.
Bar X 10
135X5
+chains
135X5
225X5
313X3
405X1
405X3
315X5
I am decending unevenly. Gotta fix this.
Leg press, band G.M. combo set. 8 reps each.
3 pps X8, Band G.M. with black band.
5 pps X8, " "
7 pps X8, " "
9 pps X8, " "
11 pps X3, shit. Huge pump. " "
Blast strap ab planks with chains:
3X5
20 min. cardio.
That it. Not bad really, just need to get my squats decent even.
METAL:
[quote]Killerb521 wrote:
SOLID! Very impressive, especially since you don’t drop at all to catch the bar! [/quote]
Thanks bud. Doing what I can with what I got.
“I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.” – Abraham Lincoln
7/31/11 Bench day. Went into College Station and trained with a few buddies of mine. One very nearly hit a 500LB single ply bench, and got a triple with 525 from a 3 board. Yay for gear whore’n. Was a good day overall. Kept things rather simple.
VIDEO:
Warmups: same shit different day really.
Bench:
bar X12
135X8
225X5
295X3
325X3
365X1
385X1
405X1 Did not go up super fast, but went steady.
405X1 to a 2 board
455X stapled to a 3 board. Waaaaaaaaaay too big of a jump. Decided to experiment with some lockout work at this point.
close grip tricep hell with 275: to chest, to 1 board, to 2 board, to 3 board, to 4 board for 3 reps each. Pumptastic swolegasm.
385X1 to chest, to 2 board, to 3 board.
[quote]hungry4more wrote:
Dove, how’s bench strengh been holding up, as compared to squats?
[/quote]
Honestly my bench feels pretty good. I have not taken a true touch and go 1 rep max in a while,(or a paused max either for that matter) but I believe I am in the low 400s. Somewhere less than 430 for touch and go but not exactly sure where. My paused max will be right around 400. So given a 55 or so pound drop in bodyweight I’ve lost about 20-30 pounds on my paused and touch and go bench. The thing of it is though, benching does not feel any different at this weight(about 246) than it did when I was 295+.
Squatting on the other hand, just feels very very differnt. I can really tell that I am much less thick when I hit the hole, and I have to work much harder now to maintain tightness in my upper back, abdominals and lower back. Its really odd and I can’t exactly say why this is either. My theory is that I was relying on all that extra mass(fat) to maintain proper torso position when I squatted. Now without the mass, my weak points are much more exposed. Namely, upper/mid back and abdominal strength. I also think I am a bit hamstring weak as well. Currently experimenting with extra volume for the hamstrings to see how well that works. This is all just me thinking out loud(in text lol) really. My exact numbers on squats, a little tougher to say. I think I am still good for a 480-500 squat but am not certain. For what its worth, I did manage a 645 reverse band squat a few weeks ago. I will probably find out tomorrow just where I stand as I’ll be squatting with those two fellas above.
Aaaanyway,
DB incline bench:
50sX10
75sX10
100sX10
125sX10
140sX5 or so. The 130s and the 150s at the college station gym were broken sometime last year, and have still not been replaced. Kinda frustrating, but I probably only had 2-4 with the 150s in me anyway.
We called it after this. Good day overall.
Shit, I nearly forgot about this thing. Long story short, I got busy as hell at work, did some total body work 2-3 times a week a life allowed, then the deadline passed, and things are now back to “normal” more or less. Here are my last 2 sessions. Also, we moved??? What the hell, I go on vacation and all my stuff is in a new house down the block.
Fellas, as to the posts not showing up issues, I have only ever experianced this with long training posts with videos in them. Everytime I use the quote or go advanced functions things work fine.
9/18/11 bench night. I felt like shit all day for some reason. The weekend of late nights, drinking and cigars probably did not help things.
Warm ups: same shit as normal.
Close grip bench:
barX12
135X8
225X5 and things felt like total shit. Shoulders did not feel right at all, so I switched to my normal wide grip.
315X5
345X5
365X3 yeah, 3rd rep was a bit of a grind.
Dips:
BDW X10
+90X5
+135X5
BDW X10
- grey band X6 drop to BDW X 8
Dips actually felt pretty good. Might have been a PR with +135 or a tie, not sure which.
Incline barbell press. I had not done these in FOREVER and on a whim wanted to see where I stood with them.
barX8
135X5
225X5
275X3
315X1 very fast rep then missed my groove pretty badly. I will try this fresh next bench day and see where I am with it.
Tri press downs:
someXsome
9/19/11 Conditioning.
I went to the park, stretched, jogged for what seemed like a 200, then drug my sled for an hour. Did not sprint, just put 80Lbs of chain on it and kept walking with it continuously randomly changing between forward and backward walking, only stopping for a swig of water every 5 min. or so. This worked out well as I felt a million times better the next day.
9/20/11 Deadlift night.
Warmups, stretching, then,
powercleans from the floor:
111X3
201X3
251X2
291X1 All felt very fast and explosive.
Deads from 2 plates:
315X3
405X2
500X1
550X1 PR. Not sure how much, but I’ve never pulled this much from a deficit before. Will try to up this next time.
Pendlay row, chin up combo: 5 rows, then 5 chins directly after with no rest.
135X5, 5chins
185X5, 5chins
225X5, 5chins
275X5, 5chins for 2 sets.
This is a good little combo move, or complexe or time saver if you will.
My gym got a new trap bar. SO for no reason whatsoever:
trap bar rows:
some for 3X5
Preacher curlzzz:
someXsomeXsome.
Done. The dead session felt good. I also think I may have stumbled upon a cool recovery technique that a bunch of people smarter than I am already knew about lol. Blind hogs find acorns every now and then.
Good to see you back! Lookin JACKED.
Trap bar rows…hmmmm
550 standing on two plates NICEEEEE
Do you think your weight loss as helped your DL technique?
Keep smashing the weights!
FINALLY.
Howdy
welcome back big man! Those dips were bad ass! The beast has returned.
9/23/11 Push press, and some impromptu pumptastic armmmzzz
VIDEO:
Warm ups, stretching, etc.
Cleans from the hang:
4 sets up to 251X2
Push press:
barX15
95X8
135X5
185X5
225X3
285X5
285X5 and 1 clean from the floor cause I dropped the fucking bar on the re-rack
285X5
All 3 heavy sets felt strong. Plan is to just gradually work my way up in weight with the same ret/rep scheme for a while.
Neutr. grip floor DB tri press:
50sX10
75sX8
100sX5
125sX5
Face pulls:
3X10
shrugs: have not done these in probably a year and a half, it showed.
315X10
405X10 for 2 sets. And my traps are SORE from this.
Ran into one of the bodybuilders and just trained arms with him for the fuck of it.
JM press, barbell curl superset:
someXsome up to 225 JM press for 5 and 135 BB curl for 5
Preaher curl, one arm DB tri extension superset:
someXsome
Phat grip hammer curl, rope tri pushdown superset:
soemXsome
Felt pretty awesome the whole way round. Nice power at the beggining, and good pumpzzz at the end. I think that all that we did anyhow, as I wasn’t really writing shit down at the end.
9/23/11
Went outside to the park in the heat of the day(12:30-1:45) and drug my sled, ran some sprints and jogged some. Worked up a nice sweat.
[quote]mom-in-MD wrote:
Good to see you back! Lookin JACKED.
Trap bar rows…hmmmm[/quote]
Thank you Ma’am.
Yes, the new trap bar was there, so I had to use it for something. Will probably use it as a squat auxillary for a bit and see how that goes.
[quote]deat wrote:
550 standing on two plates NICEEEEE
Do you think your weight loss as helped your DL technique?
Keep smashing the weights![/quote]
Thanks dude. Looking lean in that avi, and the beard is a nice touch.
The weight loss has very much helped my technique on deads. Its a lot easier to get into position now, and I really doubt I would have been able to do deficit pulls a year ago.
[quote]bugeishaAD wrote:
FINALLY.[/quote]
LOL, yeah I know. I can be a slacker when it come to this stuff sometimes.
Damn dude your one strong guy