BW Calf raises off a 2x4 50 reps wicked pump!
CoC trainer 20 reps
CoC #1 1 rep
I am bored with my bum bicep, lol i think I will do those BW calf raises every night like Meat was doing, I did them the last couple days and my calfs cramped up BAD from driving 3 hours and than standing around all day at the strongman comp.
08/27/07 - Squat (ME)
A) Squat (Wide Stance - Touch and Go to 14 3/4" bench to ensure depth)
barx12
135x10
225x5
275x5
315x3
365x3
405x3
435x3 (PR +10lbs)
405x3
405x2
B) Good Mornings (Bottoms Up-Pin #11)
135x10
225x6
255x6
275x2 (didn’t feel right)
(dropped weight to)
225x6
C) Pullups (Wide Overhand)
BWx12
+25lbsx6
+25lbsx6
D1) Plank
x60sec
x60sec
D2) Weighted Russian Twist
+25lbsx15
+25lbsx12
D3) Weighted Situp
+25lbsx15
+25lbsx12
Felt great on the squats today, happy to make some progress with these. Using the belt definitely helps to remind me to keep my abs pressed out against it, and I’ve been working hard to keep my head up. I was pretty spent by the last set of 405 and wasn’t sure I’d get the third rep. Without a spotter, I decided to call it at 2 reps rather than missing the rep. 435 also ties my 1 rep PR so this is a good sign of things to come.
I was a little more fatigued going into the GM’s than I was a couple of weeks ago, and the 275 set just didn’t feel right. I felt like I was changing the exercise into a 1/4 Squat/GM and that’s not what I was trying to do, so I dropped it back to 225 and really focused on driving the hips back. Good feel to the last set.
I think the week off last week was a good thing, but my elbows were a little tender today from Saturdays Benching. I’m heading to CVS to pick up some feminine hygiene products, since the ibupropen didn’t seem to help.
[quote]Pemdas wrote:
Modi wrote:
Pemdas wrote:
DE Upper
Bench
95+mini bands 9x3 (wide, med, close) grip rotation
This was my first time using band. Awesome. I felt super fast today. These babies take all the pressure off my elbows. I am going to start rotating bands and chains in three week cycles.
That’s funny, I felt like the bands were beating my elbows up, so I’m laying off them for a few weeks. Where were you getting pain? Just curious if we are fighting the same injury or not.
It is difficult to say. My pain is deep in the joint. It feels like it comes from somewhere right above my elbows on the upper arm side.
I have been wearing elbow sleeves and taking a lot of fish oil and pain is practically gone. However, I can usually still feel the injury when I am doing pressing movements. It doesn’t hurt anymore, but it makes its presence known.
With strait weight, I have to catch the weight and pull it back down at the top. This semi whip-like movement really starts to bother my elbows quickly.
The bands take away the bars momentum at the top and don’t feel like I have to pull the bar down. Plus, with the weight and the bands, the weight at the top was probably about 25-30lb more than the weight I was using strait. Therefore, it is possible that the added weight also helped. [/quote]
Sounds like different pain. I’ve got pain at the top of my forearm on the inside just below the elbow joint. I had the same pain in college when I threw the javelin. It’s a tendinitis (medial epicondylitis), so I just spend a lot of time warming it up before I lift, and then suck down the ibupropen when it’s inflamed. I’d ice it if weren’t so damned lazy, and resting it isn’t a valid option.
Nice squatting bro and a lil inspiration for me I had planned on going for a triple or double today touch and go 14" as well
Keep it up
Phill
[quote]Modi wrote:
08/27/07 - Squat (ME)
A) Squat (Wide Stance - Touch and Go to 14 3/4" bench to ensure depth)
barx12
135x10
225x5
275x5
315x3
365x3
405x3
435x3 (PR +10lbs)
405x3
405x2
B) Good Mornings (Bottoms Up-Pin #11)
135x10
225x6
255x6
275x2 (didn’t feel right)
(dropped weight to)
225x6
C) Pullups (Wide Overhand)
BWx12
+25lbsx6
+25lbsx6
D1) Plank
x60sec
x60sec
D2) Weighted Russian Twist
+25lbsx15
+25lbsx12
D3) Weighted Situp
+25lbsx15
+25lbsx12
Felt great on the squats today, happy to make some progress with these. Using the belt definitely helps to remind me to keep my abs pressed out against it, and I’ve been working hard to keep my head up. I was pretty spent by the last set of 405 and wasn’t sure I’d get the third rep. Without a spotter, I decided to call it at 2 reps rather than missing the rep. 435 also ties my 1 rep PR so this is a good sign of things to come.
I was a little more fatigued going into the GM’s than I was a couple of weeks ago, and the 275 set just didn’t feel right. I felt like I was changing the exercise into a 1/4 Squat/GM and that’s not what I was trying to do, so I dropped it back to 225 and really focused on driving the hips back. Good feel to the last set.
I think the week off last week was a good thing, but my elbows were a little tender today from Saturdays Benching. I’m heading to CVS to pick up some feminine hygiene products, since the ibupropen didn’t seem to help.[/quote]
[quote]Phill wrote:
Nice squatting bro and a lil inspiration for me I had planned on going for a triple or double today touch and go 14" as well
Keep it up
Phill
[/quote]
Nice, go tear it up.
I had to mention the 14 3/4" bench after you gave me a hard time last time for calling it a 16" box. I think 16" would be fine in many federations, but AAU requires a pretty deep squat, so better safe than sorry.
[quote]Modi wrote:
Sounds like different pain. I’ve got pain at the top of my forearm on the inside just below the elbow joint. I had the same pain in college when I threw the javelin. It’s a tendinitis (medial epicondylitis), so I just spend a lot of time warming it up before I lift, and then suck down the ibupropen when it’s inflamed. I’d ice it if weren’t so damned lazy, and resting it isn’t a valid option.[/quote]
It it is really acting up then I will use Icy-Hot sleeves for a couple hours. In the past, that stuff has worked like magic. Plus, you don’t have to hold anything in place. You just pop it on and leave it there for a while.
[quote]Pemdas wrote:
Modi wrote:
Sounds like different pain. I’ve got pain at the top of my forearm on the inside just below the elbow joint. I had the same pain in college when I threw the javelin. It’s a tendinitis (medial epicondylitis), so I just spend a lot of time warming it up before I lift, and then suck down the ibupropen when it’s inflamed. I’d ice it if weren’t so damned lazy, and resting it isn’t a valid option.
It it is really acting up then I will use Icy-Hot sleeves for a couple hours. In the past, that stuff has worked like magic. Plus, you don’t have to hold anything in place. You just pop it on and leave it there for a while.
[/quote]
Thanks, I used to use sleeves in college when they bothered me.
They don’t hurt when I’m doing bench press, but they hurt for a couple of days afterwards. Holding the bar for squats is painful, but it doesn’t effect the squat. Basically they hurt until they are warmed up, which is fine for bench, but they never get warm doing squats.
I don’t want to rely on sleeves during my training because I can’t use them in competition.
Nice squatting there, Modi!
[quote]Modi wrote:
08/27/07 - Squat (ME)
A) Squat (Wide Stance - Touch and Go to 14 3/4" bench to ensure depth)
435x3 (PR +10lbs)
[/quote]
How about that Modi? Damn, setting new PRs after just coming back from vacation? Looks like you’ve picked up where you left off, you PR-whore. Keep it up man!
8/27/07 KOME Upper
I’m ripping off Jim Wendler’s Kind Of Max Effort acronym, because it suits the main movement.
A)KOME Flat DB Press
20 x 5
40 x 5
60 x 3
80 x 3
100 x 3
115 x 3
130 x 5 x 3 (Tied old PR)
This is the best my DB pressing has ever been. I’m convinced I wasn’t being honest with my depth when I did 3 sets of 5 a few months back. My upper back was really sore and stuffed up from Saturday’s session but it didn’t really hamper me at all. My left arm felt stronger and I finished the last set of 5 with a little left in the tank.
B1)Single-Arm H.S. Iso Row=160 x 8 x 4
B2)H.S. Iso Incline Press=250 x 6 x 4
Not sure how I feel about the machine incline press. It did feel like it might be what I’m looking for, but I’ll push it and see what happens after a couple weeks.
C1)Pulldown Abs=123.5 x 10 x 3
C2)Bent-Over Rear Delt Fly=30 x 10 x 3
This is Norweige. I just realized my computer is logged on as my girlfriend, arod1182.
Monday, 8/27/2007: ME Bench
A. Pin Press - Chest Level
135 x 8
165 x 5
175 x 3
185 x 1
195 x 1 (PR +5 lb)
205 x 0
205 x 0
175 x 4 (PR +1 rep)
B. Chest-Supported Row
110 x 4 x 8
C. Standing Dumbbell Supination Curl
45 x 2 x 10
45 x 2 x 7
D. Lean-Away Lateral Raise
30 x 4 x 8
E. Standing Dumbbell External Rotation
15 x 4 x 15
After a week of eating more (~3450 calories/day instead of ~2550 calories/day), I was quite a bit stronger. I had a really bad night of sleep because I goofed off during the weekend and jacked up my sleep schedule, but nevertheless, I was good to go under the bar. Every rep leading up to my PRs was solid and I pressed up 195 really smooth and easy. This led to me being a bit cocky and going for 205. The first attempt was not good at all as my bar path started to float toward my head. I tried to give it another try but I was already spent trying to muscle up the first 205 attempt.
I’m glad that my curling is getting a little bit better. I used to try to do 5x5s with 45’s and today, I moved up to 45’s again and was able to get 2 sets of 10’s and 2 sets of 7’s. However, going by Meat’s proportion of upper arm and calves, my 14.5" pythons are still lacking in comparison to my 15.5" calves. Maybe I should switch to the “Beach Muscle Workout” to catch up. 
Ok everyone…two questions for those of you who’ve been at this Westside-esque training for a while.
If you don’t know, I’m currently on the road to doing a 500 Incline @ 250lbs. Currently I’m at 430 @ 259.
Ok. How often do I rotate my incline on ME day? At first I was doing incline every 3-4 weeks and i moved up nicely (30lbs). Now, it seems to be working against me. Can a small change make a huge difference…for ex. - close grip incline v. reg incline? Or incline with chains? Or does it have to be completely different like doing bench rather than incline?
I rotate my RE exercises every 1-2 weeks and thats still going awesome.
Second part of my question. The reason I ask both of these is because today i friggin missed a 370 incline. Wasnt heavy tho. My bench is garbage. It’s an old utility bench thats proped up with a punching bag because the bar that raises the incline broke.
I video taped the lift and noticed that @ one point, the bar stayed in the same place and my body sunk into the bench/bag about two inches!
So is it rotation of exercises or the crappy bench? all my other lifts are moving up nicely, so a 60lb drop in the incline is just insanity.
a shot of my incline bench…note the super advanced “Punching-Bag Prop-Up” set up!
[quote]arod1182 wrote:
This is Norweige. I just realized my computer is logged on as my girlfriend, arod1182.[/quote]
Hey, at least you raised her total posts to 3. That was productive. lol.
[quote]IL Cazzo wrote:
Ok everyone…two questions for those of you who’ve been at this Westside-esque training for a while.
If you don’t know, I’m currently on the road to doing a 500 Incline @ 250lbs. Currently I’m at 430 @ 259.
Ok. How often do I rotate my incline on ME day? At first I was doing incline every 3-4 weeks and i moved up nicely (30lbs). Now, it seems to be working against me. Can a small change make a huge difference…for ex. - close grip incline v. reg incline? Or incline with chains? Or does it have to be completely different like doing bench rather than incline?
I rotate my RE exercises every 1-2 weeks and thats still going awesome.
Second part of my question. The reason I ask both of these is because today i friggin missed a 370 incline. Wasnt heavy tho. My bench is garbage. It’s an old utility bench thats proped up with a punching bag because the bar that raises the incline broke.
I video taped the lift and noticed that @ one point, the bar stayed in the same place and my body sunk into the bench/bag about two inches!
So is it rotation of exercises or the crappy bench? all my other lifts are moving up nicely, so a 60lb drop in the incline is just insanity.[/quote]
That bench is ghetto! I have to think that hurt your incline today, unless you’ve been pressing on it all along.
IMO you don’t have to change your exercise completely to get benefit from it. Things like adding chains, adding bands, rack lockouts, board pressing, changing the bench angle, etc will all help.
If you aren’t good at flat bench, then rotating that in and out will help as well. Typically if you can improve at what your not good at, it will help your lifts.
3 weeks is the general guideline, but the more advanced you are, the more often you may have to rotate.
If I am making good progress, I will stay with an exercise for longer than 3 weeks, but if I stall on it, I will switch it sooner.
If your are hitting a plateau, it’s probably time for a change.
Good luck hitting 500, that’s a very respectable goal!
[quote]jthsiao wrote:
Modi wrote:
08/27/07 - Squat (ME)
A) Squat (Wide Stance - Touch and Go to 14 3/4" bench to ensure depth)
435x3 (PR +10lbs)
How about that Modi? Damn, setting new PRs after just coming back from vacation? Looks like you’ve picked up where you left off, you PR-whore. Keep it up man![/quote]
Thanks, I’m glad I hit a few light sets of squats on Saturday. If I hadn’t worked up to 315x5 on Sat. I don’t think I would have felt as strong today.
Don’t get me wrong, 435 felt heavy on my shoulders, but it didn’t kill me, although I don’t think a 4th rep was a possibility.
Hey Modi,
Thanks for the reply. Yea, I have been pressing on that for a while now. But, today it was really bad. I noticed on the tape that the whole bench was wobbling, and tipped back a little.
I had been rotating ME exercises every week. I meant to say i was doing incline once every 3-4 weeks, sorry about that. So…I’d do incline, then bench, then maybe floor press, then incline and so on…
[quote]IL Cazzo wrote:
Hey Modi,
Thanks for the reply. Yea, I have been pressing on that for a while now. But, today it was really bad. I noticed on the tape that the whole bench was wobbling, and tipped back a little.
I had been rotating ME exercises every week. I meant to say i was doing incline once every 3-4 weeks, sorry about that. So…I’d do incline, then bench, then maybe floor press, then incline and so on…[/quote]
Actually you did say that, I just mis-read it.
At your level you may need to switch every week, that’s certainly what many of the guys at Westside do.
Have you tried keeping the ME exercise the same for 2 weeks in a row? If so, can you make progress both weeks? We sometimes fall into the trap of switching an exercise or taking a deload because we think we should, but if we are continuing to hit PR’s why not roll with it until our progress starts to slow?
How about doing the rotation that you are currently doing but adding chains for the second week,
wk1:Incline Press
wk2:Incline Press w/chains
wk3:Bench Press
wk4:Bench Press w/chains
Or throw in some band work the second week, or even switch to DB’s for the second week. This way you can try to hit a PR every time you train, you can switch exercises each week, but train similar exercises two weeks in a row?
Just a random thought, since I haven’t tried this exact approach, but food for thought. I’m sure others will throw out some good ideas as well.
I agree better safe then sorry and nail that eassy opener DEEEP make an impression and they wont question the others as much LOL
Phill
[quote]Modi wrote:
Phill wrote:
Nice squatting bro and a lil inspiration for me I had planned on going for a triple or double today touch and go 14" as well
Keep it up
Phill
Nice, go tear it up.
I had to mention the 14 3/4" bench after you gave me a hard time last time for calling it a 16" box. I think 16" would be fine in many federations, but AAU requires a pretty deep squat, so better safe than sorry.
[/quote]