November 28, 2014 – Week 2, Day 3 & November 29, 2014 – Week 2, Day 4

As usual, went down to the mountains of Virginia for Thanksgiving with family on my mother’s side. Being around people can be exhausting to me. A bit more somber this year as this is the first everyone has been together since my grandfather passed away in September and Thanksgiving had always been his favorite holiday since the family all came together. On top of that, it was a reminder of Jenkins too and will always be a reminder of the year before when he suddenly passed. While I am thankful for my family, it was good to have time to be alone with my thoughts while lifting.

November 28, 2014 – Week 2, Day 3

Dynamic Warm-ups

Barbell Strict Presses
45x10
75x5
105x3
135x3
165x1
200x7/2/1

Lean Away Dumbbell Lateral Raises
40x10/10
40x10/10

40x10/10

Plate Around-the-Worlds
45x15/15/15
45x15/15/15
45x15/15/15

Close Grip Barbell Bench Presses
135x2
190x2
240x2
290x2
290x2

290x2

290x2

Overhead Dicks Presses
90x8
90x8
90x8

Neutral Grip Pull-ups
bw+10x9
bwx8
bwx6

32 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Dropped off at the gym and set about warming up and getting ready to lift. If I knew that I’d be lifting this early in the day, I probably wouldn’t have eaten all those western omelettes at the hotel. Warmed up and got set for lifting. Weight felt good on strict presses but I got a little off balance from the slight bevels in the rubber flooring. I feel I lost of rep here because of it. I gave a half-hearted attempt to get a third rep on the second set of rest pause but as soon as I did, I knew it would be an all-out grinder so I shut it down and saved it for the last set. Weight increase on lean away’s was fine and the lower reps kept me from experiencing the painful lactic acid fatigue. I’m getting used to the around-the-worlds. I only went to eye-level for the front raise portion as going all the way up was what did me in last time. I felt my recovery was better after all the shoulder stuff for benching as I didn’t feel like I would be crushed by 135lbs like last time. This not to say these were easy by any stretch. Every rep felt heavy even though they moved pretty well. The bench wasn’t adjustable and was quite squishy. From there, on to easy dicks presses and then pull-ups. While my first set wasn’t as awesome as last week’s, my consistency and recovery between sets was better.

November 29, 2014 – Week 2, Day 4

Dynamic Warm-ups

Front Squats
45x10
135x5
185x3
235x1
285x1
285x1
285x1
285x1
285x1
285x1

3” Block Pulls
225x5
315x3
405x1
475x1
Added Straps
525x1
525x1
525x1
525x1
525x1

525x1

Snatch Grip Deadlifts (straps)
295x1

370x1

445x3
445x3
445x3

Head Supported Swiss Bar Rows
135x2
195x5
195x5
195x5
195x5

195x5

Yoke/Farmer’s Walk Medleys
600xpick/220xpick
600x60’/220x60’
600x60’/220x60’
600x60’/220x60’

Gironda Perfect Curls
85x8
85x8
85x8
85x8

Pulldown Abs
120x8
120x8
120x8

28 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Knees were a tad achy after being in the car for 4.5 hours but I needed to lift and I rushed over to Ironmill as soon as I got back home. Even though the sun was out, I knew I had to get everything setup first because I knew it would be cold and dark by the time I got to event work. I didn’t feel like I needed to do so much warm-ups for the front squats this time around and they were just as speedy as last week. I had made an error last week with the deadlifts. I was supposed to be pulling with the weights on 3” blocks, not myself standing on 3” blocks. So same weight as last week with the correct exercise. This change was only slightly better haha. 3” block pulls are slightly less than what I pull from the ground. These were tough but I knew I would get all the lifts this time. I did some singles to prep for the snatch grips this time around. My hope was that they wouldn’t be as soul crushing.  I brought my grip in about 6” each side as suggested. These were all kinds of suck by not as much as last week. It looks like the gym now has a swiss bar type thing so I used that for rows. These felt good (despite the sore back) but I can’t touch my chest with the weight. Went outside to do light-ish event work in the cold darkness. I increased the weights a little and I tried to keep the rests shorter than I had last week. Yoke felt better despite the tightness in my knees and quads while farmer’s walk was good but I was pretty wobbly. As last time, finished up with the weird curls and super easy ab work. Finished up the night by putting all the toys away and stretching.

November 26, 2014 – Week 2, Day 2

Dynamic Warm-ups

High Pulls
89x3
133x3

177x1
200x3
200x3
200x3

Hatfield Overload Squats
150x5
150x5
260x3
260x3
350x1
400x1
440x2
440x2

440x2

440x2

440x2

Safety Squat Bar Pause Squats (2 second pauses)
280x5
280x5

Keystone Deadlifts
145x3

195x3
245x12
245x12

Dumbbell Sidebends
80x6/6
80x6/6
80x6/6

33 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Due to inclement weather, I was off work today. Rather than stay asleep for the Z’s I crave, I woke up as normal. Needed to get to the gym before that closed too. For high pulls, I worked my best to get triple extensions on these. Easy stuff here. I was a little apprehensive going into the Hatfield squats as my lower back was still pretty tight and usually I’m up for quite some time before I got lift heavy things. Honestly, not that bad and comparable to how it felt last week.  Same as last week, went right into pause squats. Held the pause for at least two seconds. That pause really slows me down haha. Second set was quite a bit more challenging than the first. Keystone deadlifts felt much better than last time. I did a few more warm-ups for these to make sure my grip was okay with the bruised finger. Easy stuff here, grip and air just a tad pushed by the end of the second set. Finished up with dumbbell side bends and a lot of stretching. Still have a lot of day left, not sure what to do with the unexpected free time haha.

November 25, 2014 – Week 2, Day 1

First week in the books and besides an error on the last day, so far so good. Exquisite soreness to be sure and hopefully the start of good progress to come.

Dynamic Warm-ups

12” Log Jerks
100x5
100x5
150x3
150x3
200x1
230x1
260x2
260x2
260x2
260x2
260x1

12” Log Z Presses
100x1
150x1 185x1
185x3
185x4 PR+1 rep

Giant Set: Dumbbell Front Raises/Dumbbell Lateral Raises/Dumbbell Bent Over Raises
25'sx11/11/11
25'sx11/11/11
25'sx11/11/11

Band Pull A-parts
MMBx12
MMBx12
MMBx12
MMBx12

Myostatic French Presses
70x12
70x10
70x8

Band Scapular Retractions
SBx12
SBx12
SBx12

30 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Still sore and my lower back cramped up briefly during my dynamic warm-ups. Only going up a little bit on log jerks considering the difficulty of last week. Made a stern effort to keep the rests short and get the form right. Log felt much more comfortable on my chest warming up than last week. However, it felt heavy like last time as soon as I got to 200lbs. I did notice that the log felt like it was getting out in front of me on the second reps of the doubles and most noticeable when I had to go into a semi-split stance to catch the weight on my third and fourth set. Not sure what happened on the fifth set; perhaps I hesitated too long after the first rep or I was fatigued but I missed it. I took a brief rest and tried again but not happening. Z presses were interesting with the 185lbs. If I hit it right, the weight seems to fly up but man if I hit that sticking point midway do I have to fight. Last set was go for broke and got three and then pushed for a fourth. Hip flexors and quads cramped up mightily as I grinded out the lift. From there, on to more assistance rep stuff. Three way shoulder stuff was much tougher with the increased reps. I had to use plates for the first two sets as the dumbbell pair was in use. Had to take a few more breaks mid-set with the fatigue and lactic acid on the second and third go around through the giant set. Pull a-parts are improving, I may increase the tension after this next session. The French press went well; again starts out easy but becomes a slow burn by the end. Finished up with some scap work with high band tension. Like pull a-parts, I may increase this after next week. Finished up with stretching and pot roast.

November 22, 2014 – Week 1, Day 4

Dynamic Warm-ups

Front Squats

45x10

95x5

135x5

185x3

225x3

275x1

275x1

275x1

275x1

275x1

275x1

3” Platform Deadlifts

245x5

335x3

Added Straps

425x1

475x1

525x1

525x1

525x1

525x1

525x0

Snatch Grip Deadlifts (straps)

440x3

440x3

440x3

Head Supported 8” Log Rows

160x1

205x5 (oops)

185x5

185x5

185x5

185x5

Yoke/Farmer’s Walk Medleys

450xpick/160xpick

450x60’/160x60’

550x60’/200x60’

550x60’/200x60’

550x60’/200x60’

Gironda Perfect Curls

80x8

80x8

80x8

80x8

Pulldown Abs

120x8

120x8

120x8

30 Minutes of Stretching

Comments: Really wanted to sleep more but can’t sleep the day away. Went lifting at IronMill. Started off with front squats and these were fast and easy. I did 310x8 after multiple sets the day before my injury so it makes sense these would be a piece of cake. Deadlift was not a piece of cake. I did something to my left ring finger loading up the bar and it bruised and swelled under the first digit. Hurt to hold on the deadlifts without straps. With how 475lbs felt, I felt I could complete the task at hand but no dice. Every rep was a slow grind and I couldn’t get past mid-shin on the fifth rep. Short rests got me here. I really hate when I miss a deadlift but I needed to shoulder that hurt for later as I was just getting started. Went right into snatch grip pulls as I should be ready after the platform pulls. These were horrible too and I was so glad to finish the three sets with no injuries or missed reps. On the head supported rows, it was to be swiss bar but just went with the tiny log rather than drive to the Y and disrupt the workout. I accidentally added 20lbs on the first set. After that was light event training. I was going to go a bit heavier but with how craptastic my warm-up set felt, I swallowed my pride and did what felt nice and doable. Did weird curls and easy abs to finish up the day. This was a long session.