April 26, 2013 – Overhead Event Day & April 27, 2013 – Event Training

April 26, 2013 – Overhead Event Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Bigg Dogg Strongg Dumbbell Clean and Presses
20x5 R
20x5 L
50x5 R
50x5 L
80x5 R
80x5 R
110x5 R
110x5 L
130x3 R
130x3 L
147x3 R
147x3 L
167x3 R
167x3 R

Bigg Dogg Strongg Dumbbell Shoulderings
182x3 R
182x3 L
207x3 R
207x3 L
232x3 R
232x3 L

Band Triceps Pressdowns/Face Pulls (no rest)
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25

Comments: Wasn't too sure how this workout would go with having done the deadlift workout so close to it. Usually I do squats and that doesn't seem to be too bad. Pulling fatigues the clean for sure. The idea on paper was to do my planned work sets for pressing and then play it by ear on the shouldering stuff. Pressing wasn't bad, just some hesitation with getting the dumbbell positioned on my shoulders. Just threw in 25's for the dumbbell shouldering stuff at the start. Got a stupid idea to try and do triples with the weight I struggled to do once last time. I did the next set straight leg clean style. Harder this way and it's the style I normally use for my dumbbell pressing until the weight gets too heavy. Well, I went for the 232lbs with the idea of getting three reps, doing the two part clean. Tough but not as bad as I thought it would be. If I want to go heavier on these, I'll have to bring in my caps for the dumbbell. Won't have to worry about that until the next time I have comp with dumbbell. Pretty darn tired after this and finished up with band stuff relaxed at home eating turkey burgers and raw almonds.



April 27, 2013 – Event Training

Dynamic Warm-ups

Yoke
305x75'
395x75'
485x75'
575x75'
655x75'
735x75'

Uphill Yoke (10 second runs)
455x74'
455x75'6"
455x67'

55 Gallon Oil Drum Carries
183x75'/233x75'
183x75'
183x75'

Comments: Didn't even really plan on training today. Been having issues with my left side near by lower back and hip area. Sleeping in to recover meant that if I wanted to do any training, it would be at home with my stuff. I wanted to do something since I didn't really do events this whole month working on letting myself recover and finding a better training split. I settled on training eventually but I had to decide if it was today or tomorrow. Went with today. Pulled up some rough numbers for the yoke off of a 5/3/1 variation for moving events and decided to use the heavy week based off of my best 75' run with no drops. Same idea as the circus dumbbell in that I do several sets up to the work weight. Not as fast as I would have liked with the top weight but beggars can't be choosers. I wanted to get in a little more work and see just what kind of speed I need to hit 75' in under 10 seconds. I did three runs with 455lbs uphill. Only got over 75' on the second run. Might have been called early on the third run but that was enough for today. Stupidly decided to do some carries with my oil drum. Figured it would be a good way to check on my foot speed with a heavy keg. Forgot how much it hurts my hand holding on to the rim of it. Only a few runs was enough of that haha. Another week of hard lifting before the show.

April 24, 2013 – Speed Deadlift Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Deadlifts
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x1
355x1
395x1
395x1
395x1
395x1
395x1
395x1
395x1
395x1
425x1
455x1

Front Squats
45x3
95x3
145x3
195x3
245x3
285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5
285x5

Romanian Deadlifts w/ Chains (+105lbs)
135x3
225x3
315x3
365x8
385x8
405x8

Glute Ham Raises
bw+30x12
bw+30x12
bw+30x12
bw+30x12

Reverse Hyperextensions
90x25
90x25
90x25
90x25

30 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Working through some stuff. Left hip was achy warming up for the deadlifts. It is strange getting used to pulling from a dead stop. Got to get used to it though. Did singles this time rather than reps like I tried last time. I did my work weights and then bumped up a bit for two more singles. Definitely not as fast as the working sets but still a good test. Moved on to front squatting from there. Had to warm-up with just the bar for these since I'm not going directly from squats. Not bad, never any doubt about getting all the reps. Good place to start. Fun times with the rdls. Weird using chains but they work perfectly. Just smoked from them. I lowered the weight slightly on ghrs as I wasn't sure how fatigued I'd be from the previous exercises. Felt fine and got all the reps. Finished up the torture session with reverse hypers and stretching.

April 21, 2013 – Rep Press Day

Spent some more time thinking and resting. Slathered my back with Icy Hot yesterday and did a nice walk and turned over the soil in the garden plot. I think I have stuff figured out to allow for the best recovery and strength gains. 1 day for lower body with deadlift emphasis (cube scheme), 2 days for upper body (incline pressing with cube, event pressing with 5/3/1) and then an event day for lower body.

Dynamic Warm-ups

Close Grip Incline Barbell Bench Presses
45x10
75x5
105x3
135x3
165x1
185x1
205x1
230x10

Close Grip Axle Floor Presses w/ SlingShot
250x3
300x8
320x8
340x8

Incline Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
125’sx12
125’sx12
125’sx12
125’sx12

EZ Curl Bar Overhead Extensions (seated)
115x12
115x12
115x12

IYT’s
5’sx12
5’sx12
5’sx12

37 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Incline is weird. I have to be super fast or I can't get the lift.  For my goal, I checked to see what I'd need to match the predicted max based off of the last time. Just need 10 and got that with some effort. Maybe had another but with how crucial speed is for me on these, I called it there. Moved on to floor presses with a SlingShot. Never done these before and it was a tad awkward getting down to the floor with the SlingShot on. Only did one warm-up set (thought it was lighter) before going for the work weights. In retrospect, I should have played around with it a bit more. Quite strange as there were reps that were super easy and others that felt like max effort. In either case, these were a good overload. Got the reps for all sets on rows. Switched out the dumbbell for triceps. I prefer the dumbbell version but I can only really go up to 120lbs before I have to use a plate loaded dumbbell and I don't feel comfortable using that. Finished up with a lot of stretching.

April 17, 2013 – Overhead Event Day & April 18, 2013 – ME Lower Body

April 17, 2013 – Overhead Event Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Bigg Dogg Strongg Dumbbell Clean and Presses
20x5 R
20x5 L
50x5 R
50x5 L
80x5 R
80x5 R
100x5 R
100x5 L
120x5 R
120x5 L
142x5 R
142x5 L
157x5 R
157x5 L

One Arm Overhead Axle Supports
72x3 R
72x3 L
122x3 R
122x3 L
182x3 R
182x3 L
202x3 R
202x3 L
222x3 R
222x3 L
242x1 R
242x1 L
262x1 R
262x1 L

Band Triceps Pressdowns/Face Pulls (no rest)
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25

Comments: Second time doing this workout and I had an idea of what to expect. I adjusted the weights by just a little despite the jump in weight for the left side. The idea is that I was making good progress with lower percentages to begin with compared to the actual max so no reason to disrupt a good thing. I'd also like to keep the right side engaged, even though it is not going to be used at the competition. Never know if an injury will prevent me from using my left. Hips were fairly tired from squats and goodmornings so the cleans felt a little sluggish. I feel that even with the issues I'm having with my grip on the right side, it is improving. Still not something I want to rely on in a competition at this point. Got to say that the biggest surprise came from the one arm supports. So much easier this time. I was only aiming for 10lbs increase but I just felt so comfortable that I went until I could barely get the lift. Finished up with the bands.



April 18, 2013 – ME Lower Body

Dynamic Warm-ups

Deadlifts w/ MM's dbl
No Bands
135x5
Add Bands (+90lbs)
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x1
405x1
455x1
Add Straps
495x1
535x1
550x1

Wide Grip Romanian Deadlifts (straps)
225x3
315x3
395x5
415x5
435x5
455x5
475x5

Modified Back Raises
bwx8
bw+10x8
bw+20x8
bw+30x8
bw+40x8

Pulldown Abs
140x12
140x12
140x12
140x12

Reverse Hyperextensions
90x25
90x25
90x25
90x25

34 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Moved this workout forward a day as the one gym I usually do my deadlift training at was closed Friday this week and the other gym closes early on Friday's. I'm really quite confused as to why my deadlift is down and yet my lower body lifts all around are either up or at the level they were before. Weights feel slow and lockouts feel tougher. It's quite baffling to me and I may need to think on it some more. May just need to give it time to get back to where it once was. First workout was with monster mini bands. Went in to the workout with a goal weight and upon having difficulty with the second to last attempt, I had to cut it by 20lbs to have a shot of getting it. Ugly lift for sure. Even had to drop the warm-up reps a tad as well. From there, moved on to wide grip rdls. Haven't done them in some time. I remember though that the last time I did them, I tried to do as much as I could with DOH grip and used only the soft belt. Went with straps and a belt right off the bat as I knew that my lower back was hurting from gms earlier this week and the heavy pulls. I wanted to give the hamstrings and upper back a good workout. These were tough and I was exhausted after them. The plan after that had been to do sumo sldl and ghrs but I scrapped that as I had no ghr and the sumo sldl would just be too much. I'm going to have the ghrs be the next exercise next week. Finished up with modified back extensions (did my best to make it hamstring focused like a ghr), pulldown abs and reverse hypers. Probably not going to do events to let my back/hip area rest.

April 15, 2013 – DE Lower Body

Dynamic Warm-ups

S-Cube Bar Squats w/ Chains
55x10
105x2
Added Chains (+100lbs)
55x2
105x2
145x2
195x2
235x2
280x2
280x2
280x2
280x2
280x2
280x2
280x2
280x2
280x2
280x2

Front Squats
105x3
155x3
205x3
255x5
265x5
275x5
285x5
295x5
305x5

Safety Squat Bar Goodmornings
85x3
175x3
225x3
265x3
310x8
330x8
350x6

Band Leg Curls
Mediumsx12
Mediumsx12
Mediumsx12
Mediumsx12

Reverse Hyperextensions
90x25
90x25
90x25
90x25

33 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Still fighting this cold. Been a while since I tried a dynamic effort workout. This week will be a bit different due to schedule issues and access to equipment. Using the S-Cube bar for squats since it is longer, has knurling and is a thicker/stiffer bar. Everything felt good a fast. With front squats, I got to say this is the best they have ever felt. I feel I can do more but not pushing it to the max yet. I was most anxious about the ssb gms since I haven't done them in a while. The first rep always sucks. Very surprised that I'm still around the where I left off on them. Feeling soreness in my neck and traps from them now. After three brutal exercises, I did band leg curls and reverse hypers. Kettlebell swings were doing nothing for me and now that the reverse hyper is over at the new place, I can do them twice a week to keep my back happy.

April 14, 2013 – Heavy Press Day

The past few days have been a butt. Plain and simple. New changes at work caused me enough stress that I got sick with a head cold. Thursday and Friday were extremely stressful. I tried lifting after work Friday but it was bad one and I went home a fell asleep without eating dinner. No appetie the following day either and I slept 14 hours. Just went for a walk and spent most of the day thinking and trying to myself to eat and drink. The short of it is DE/ME for lower body, cube stuff for incline and what I've been doing for the overhead. See how this goes and try to to squeeze in events at some point. Will be much easier when I'm done with night school.

Dynamic Warm-ups

Close Grip Axle Incline Bench Presses
75x5
75x5
105x3
135x3
165x3
195x1
220x1
240x1
255x1
270x1
285x1

Swiss Bar Floor Presses
125x3
175x3
215x3
265x8
285x8
305x8

Incline Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
125’sx12
125’sx12
125’sx10
125’sx10

Dumbbell Overhead Extensions (seated)
110x12
110x12
110x12

IYT’s
5’sx12
5’sx12
5’sx12

32 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Not feeling so hot with the cold. Weird using the axle for incline. Just feels dense. Only done it once before several years ago. Not bad, just under my barbell max. Moved on to floor pressing with the swiss bar. Just warmed up with plate-quarter-plate and went from there. Quite tired from this. Didn't push the rows as hard as I could've. Hard to get my air doing reps being all congested. Finally got all the reps on triceps stuff. Good bit of stretching to try and loosen up my glutes, hips and back.

April 10, 2013 – Overhead Event Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Bigg Dogg Strongg Dumbbell Clean and Presses
20x5 R
20x5 L
50x5 R
50x5 L
80x5 R
80x5 R
110x5 R
110x5 L
132x5 R
132x5 L
152x3 R
152x3 L
172x1 R
172x1 L
182x0,0,0 R
182x1 L
182x1 R
192x1 L
192x0,0 R
202x0 L
202x1 L

Bigg Dogg Strongg Presses (one clean)
130x8 R
130x8 L
130x8 R
130x8 L
130x8 R
130x8 L

Band Triceps Pressdowns/Face Pulls (no rest)
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25

Comments: I wasn't sure how this would go. Joints felt achy in my legs like I wasn't getting much out of them. Accelerated the 5/3/1 schema to have this be quasi-max test day to see where I'm at for the Pro/Am. The goal weight was quite easy. Had tons of issues with my right hand and only managed 10lbs more than the goal weight. Still my best on this implement. I was able to do considerably more with my left and did 30lbs more than the goal weight, which is slightly over the contest weight. Very happy with this result and it certainly makes it look like what I'm doing is working. For the secondary lift of the session, I did just the empty dumbbell for sets of 8 with only 1 clean. Shoulders took a beating on these and it was equally difficult for both sides. I figured this was the closest I could get to doing "rack presses" like I would for say the axle or log. Lot's of time for the shoulders and upper body to be under tension. Beat but satisfied.

April 08, 2013 – Rep Squat Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Squats
45x10
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
265x3
305x1
345x1
380x10

Squats w/ 126lbs of Chains
135x3
185x3
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3

Barbell Hip Thrusts
365x12
365x12
365x12
365x12

Band Leg Curls
Smalls+Monster Minis+Minisx12
Smalls+Monster Minis+Minisx12
Smalls+Monster Minis+Minisx12

Kettlebell Swings
44x20
44x20
44x20

33 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Was not sure what was going to happen with squats. Still felt it in the lower body from attempted event training. I was concerned after how heavy the warm-up singles felt but pushed forward. Every rep with 380lbs felt heavy and slow. Really surprised to get more than 5 with how hard it felt. Just kept saying one more rep to myself and telling myself that I've done this stuff before. Bar rolled up my back on the tenth rep, making it way harder than it should have been. Felt like a good place to stop. Would have liked a dozen but still good. A bit apprehensive with how the chain squats would go but didn't have much trouble. Just felt heavy haha. Hip thrusts were painful without the squat pad. Had a bench with padding this time so no gashes on my lower back. Band leg curls were quite tough.

April 07, 2013 – Speed Press Day

Tried to do events the other day but that was just garbage. Not recovering enough to do anything truly heavy the day after deadlifting. Not sure how to break up the schedule to allow for enough recover with the stuff I have to work around at the moment. Might need to do some more thinking.

Dynamic Warm-ups

Close Grip Barbell Incline Bench Presses
45x10
75x5
105x3
135x3
155x1
175x3
175x3
175x3
175x3
175x3
175x3
175x3
175x3

Seated 12" Log Strict Presses
90x3
120x3
150x3
180x5
185x5
190x5
195x5
200x5
210x5

Incline Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
120’sx12
120’sx12
120’sx12
120’sx12

Dumbbell Overhead Extensions (seated)
110x12
110x12
110x11

IYT’s
5’sx12
5’sx12
5’sx12

34 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Lower back was sore from attempted event training the day before. Pressing felt good, nice and speedy. Moved on to seated log work. Not bad, just might have started a tad light. Made a bigger jump at the end for an extra set and that was definitely my limit for today. Managed all the reps for rows this time. Went back to the 110lbs dumbbell for triceps as I never did all the reps the last time I did it (accidentally did 120lbs last week) and I wanted to make sure I was going nice and deep with my reps. So close to getting all the reps. Finished up with shoulder stuff and stretching.

April 04, 2013 – Overhead Event Day & April 05, 2013 – Speed Deadlift Day

April 04, 2013 – Overhead Event Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Bigg Dogg Strongg Dumbbell Clean and Presses
20x5 R
20x5 L
50x5 R
50x5 L
80x5 R
80x5 R
110x5 R
110x5 L
130x3 R
130x3 L
147x3 R
147x3 L
162x2 R
162x3 R
162x3 L
162x3 L

Bigg Dogg Strongg Dumbbell Shoulderings
182x3 R
182x3 L
202x3 R
202x3 L
222x1 R
222x1 L
232x1 R
232x1 L

Band Triceps Pressdowns/Face Pulls (no rest)
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25
MBx25/MBx25

Comments: Another experiment day of sorts for overhead. Trying to get my right side to mimic my left side for the rack position. Ok for the smaller dumbbells when warming up but no good for the actual implement. I am putting it in a different position now, just slows me down a bit to let it settle is all. I felt fine until the top set. I got two reps pretty well on the right side but just couldn't get it for a third. I tried and failed like five times before stopping. Angry and embarrassed about it but told myself that I'm going to be using just the left at the show. Almost disaster with that side as well when the third rep almost jumped out of my hand and I had to catch it with my other hand. Had to think a bit after that as I've never had that issue with my left hand. The only thing I could think of was that I wasn't chalking up my hands and I didn't think that would be that big of a factor. I didn't want to end on such a low note so I decided to redo the top set with chalked up hands. What a difference. With my grip a bit more secure, I could transfer more power into the the dumbbell and I got the reps easy both sides. Lesson learned haha. Last week my secondary exercise had been the supports to work on the balance and stability with supramaximal weights. This time, it was to get the body used to getting that weight to my shoulder to press. I wanted to hit the same weight I did on supports but I knew that would be tough. Not much issue getting the 202lbs up with a one motion clean (couldn't do that before) but I had to switch to the two part clean for 222lbs and up. Just went to singles for those. Big difference between 202lbs and 232lbs on a dumbbell haha. Finished up with my band superset and called it a day.



April 05, 2013 – Speed Deadlift Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Deadlifts
135x5
185x5
225x3
275x3
315x1
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3

3" Deficit Sumo Stiff-legged Deadlifts
150x3
200x3
250x3
300x3
350x5
360x5
370x5
380x5
390x5

Glute Ham Raises
bw+25x12
bw+25x12
bw+25x12
bw+25x12

Pulldown Abs
150x12
150x12
150x12

Reverse Hyperextensions
90x20
90x20
90x20

32 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Had a lot of anger from work. Needed to calm down and focus so it was a good thing I had a workout today to let off some steam. Original plan was 10x1 on deads but I went with 8x3 like I did for squats. I like symmetry in my workouts haha. Continuing to use the newer deadlift setup I started using last week. Felt easy to break the weights off the floor. Rather than do regular sumo stiff-legged deads, I decided to do them from a deficit. I've learned from experience that trying to use a platform doesn't work well with sumo from how wide I need my stance and since the platform spreads out if it's two pieces. Loaded up the bar with 25's to make it 3". Glute hams went much better this time around, possibly since my lower back wouldn't be as fatigued from the exercises this week. Got all the reps no problem. I had the settings off a little for the first set which made enough of a change where there was constant tension on the hamstrings. Need to remember that for future reference but for now I'll stick with normal style. Increased weight on abs made it a bit more challenging. Finished up with reverse hypers and stretching.

April 02, 2013 – Heavy Squat Day

Dynamic Warm-ups

Safety Squat Bar Squats
85x5
135x5
175x3
225x3
265x3
315x1
355x1
385x1
415x1
445x1

Cambered Squat Bar Zercher Squats
85x3
175x1
265x1
315x8
335x8
355x8
375x8

Barbell Hip Thrusts
350x12
350x12
350x12
350x12

Band Leg Curls
Smalls+Monster Minisx12
Smalls+Monster Minisx12
Smalls+Monster Minisx12

Kettlebell Swings
44x20
44x20
44x20

36 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Kind of knew what to expect this time. Original plan had been to do stuff with just a barbell but I decided I'd go for a max on the ssb. Haven't really used it for deep squats in a while with any appreciable weight. Still aimed for a PR. Legs felt strong, back had to fight for it. I feel I had a little bit more in me but didn't want to over do it. Next up was zercher squats. Also supposed to be barbell stuff but I figured I'd try it out with the cambered squat bar. Lucky that the plates touched the ground at the bottom of the lift. First set felt awful in how tough it was but I kept pushing and adding weight each set. Probably had more for that too but already enough sets to get good work in. Went up a little on hip thrusts because I wasn't sure how fatigue would factor in to it compared to last time and the lifts I need before hand. No issues and quite easy. Finished up with band leg curls and kettlebell swings. Did a ton of stretching when I got home.

April 01, 2013 – Rep Press Day

As I was heading over to the gym to workout, I got the thought of changing it a bit. My plan had been to do strict pressing as my exercise of choice on this day but I thought that incline may be a better choice. My incline and strict press are about the same and the incline will save my back for events, squats and deadlifts. I'm still doing an overhead press day that is event specific so I'd think I'm alright.

Dynamic Warm-ups

Close Grip Incline Barbell Bench Presses
45x10
75x5
105x3
135x3
155x1
175x1
195x1
215x13

Close Barbell Bench Presses w/ SlingShot
225x3
275x3
315x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3
365x3

Incline Chest Supported Dumbbell Rows
120’sx12
120’sx12
120’sx10
120’sx8

Dumbbell Overhead Extensions (seated)
120x12
120x12
120x10

IYT’s
5’sx12
5’sx12
5’sx12

32 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Felt like I put good work in today. Incline was flying up (but then again, it usually does). Probably would have been smart to stop at 12 but I had some stupid idea before the set even started to aim for 13 so I did. Moved on to benching with a SlingShot. Haven't done them in a while and it felt odd at first but then more like an old friend as I got up in weight. Not at my strongest as far as top end strength but a good place all the same. Upped the weight considerable for rows and extensions. I meant to on rows but it was a mistake for extensions. Going to be staying with these weights until I can get all 12's. Finished up the workout and did a surprising amount of stretching.