Box Squat PR and Inpromptu Bench Meet

Hit a PR on the box squat tonight. Worked up to 405×3 with pretty good form. No bowing out and bent over good-morning-ing it up. I’ve been using about a 12 inch box with a bumper plate on top of it. If it’s not right at parallel, it’s only an inch or so high. With good form even, this was a big PR for me.

I was going to do some rep work on the leg press, but because I worked up, I didn’t

GHR front elevated 12 inches x 10, elevated 6 inches x 6, elevated 2 inches x 6, 6, 5

machine row 115×10, 12, 11

improvised reverse hyper off GHR – one #3 band double cinched x15, two #3 bands double cinched x12

standing incline DB external rotation 15×20, 20×9

plank 90x57s This was a PR on the plank too. I almost had the full minute, but I could feel my back start to buckle and I was shaking like Smoky the Crackhead .

I wanted to do some kind of shrug too, but what I accomplished was fine.

On another upbeat note, I have some friends from Serbia (I think, I don’t want to offend…) who decided to have a bench-off tonight. They’re all lightweights, I think under 200. I want to say the winning lift was 175. We placed them on coefficient, but I don’t remember who made what. They all actually looked pretty good, and they’ve come a long way.

Good work and good lifts from the Balkan crew!

Bench Work, Hotties, and Spastic Episodes

Did a little bench work tonight. I don’t take pep pills religiously, but I am, in the least, an aficionado of stimulants. I took half a caffeine free Spike and 200mg of caffeine before training and felt like a million bucks.

GHR front elevated on a 2×6. bwx2x10

Close grip bench, index a finger or so outside the smooth.  225×3, 245×3, 275×3, 295×1?(maybe three, I don’t remember), 315×1 (but my spotter touched it, at any rate it would have been legit so I’m counting it.), 325×0, 320×0

I was so pissed after that 325 attempt that I had a mild psychotic episode right in the middle of the gym. I just can’t quite push hard enough to get it once I hit my sticking point. Phil did a great job of making me fight at it though.

I’ve got pretty long wings and that extra reach with the close grip makes my stroke about a mile long. I was hitting my sticking point pretty high, I’d say four or five board press territory.

dumb bell bench 90x2x10, 90x2x9 I alternated with some empty bar rows to the face because I didn’t feel up to doing any “real” rowing.

dumb bell raises in scapular plane 25x2x10

iso back raise on GHR with bar on back 45 for 20s, 45 for 30s

rolling db extensions 20 , 30 reps in 90s

GHR situps – bwx4x4 abs are still killing me

There was a good looking girl in the gym last night, training pretty hard too. There were a couple of girls, one of them in some kind of crop top or sports bra or something that just peeked in, head the Manson or whatever was on the radio, looked at us and decided to leave.

I wasn’t going to train until tomorrow night, but 1) I like training when Phil’s in the gym, and 2) I realized I’m going to be on the road all this weekend, so I won’t be able to train Friday afternoon anyway, so I’m going to train tonight.

I ate a huge amount of food yesterday and I just pounded a big lunch today, so I should be able to double up without any problems. On a related note, I think all that extra chow lead to a good workout last night and I definitely felt “big”.

I’d like to know where in the state of Mississippi I’ll be going this weekend.

Extra Workout

I went to campus tonight for a meeting, which I conveniently failed to note was actually next week. So I printed off the entry form for this powerlifting meet and posted it on the Weight Club bulletin board. Then a noticed a moderately attractive girl and saw some of the regulars, so I decided to go back home, change clothes and come back for an extra workout.

I did a couple trips of forward lunges, then a forward bear crawl (just on hands and feet, don’t really know what it’s called), lateral lunges and backwards bear crawls, and a set of hanging knee raises. I even did some jumps and bounds for good measure.

I finished it up with static stretching. I’m trying to get my hips opened up so I’ll have better position in the hole in the squat. I have a copy of Eric Cressey and Mike Robertson’s Magnificent Mobility that I think I may rewatch this week.

Funky Bar Squats and Buddy Wood Holding

I got a lot done today. Per my previous post, I’m making sure to hit my GHR’s and get my assistance work on the level.

I did improvised safety squat bar (SSB) squats onto a parallel box with a narrow stance. I’m going to go ahead and take credit for “inventing” these until I find otherwise. You take the Manta Ray (aka the Manta-Gay) and put it in the middle of the cambered bar that you use on the bench. You know, not the big cambered bar like the West Side guys use, the one with the narrow camber that all the bench and curl crowd use to get more ROM on the decline press. By setting the manta ray in the center of the camber, and letting the ends of the bar stay in front of your shoulders, it simulates the forward center of mass of the SSB.

Funky Bar Squats 225×3, 245×3, 265×3, 275×3, 295×3, 305×1, 315×2 Just like my normal squat and box squat, I need to work on arching my way out of the hole, pressing my head and traps back first.

Lat Pulldown w/the big double triangle that looks like an old dinner bell 150×6, 170×6, 190×6, 200×6, 200×6 I don’t know how much weight is actually on the lat pull, so I just take the number on the stack times ten. I don’t really care how much it weights either, I’m only glad it’s numbered so I don’t have to count how many holes up I’m using every time.

Alternated with GHR’s, bwx5x6 (setsxreps, bw=body weight)

One arm cable rows with a D-handle 50×15, 62.5x15x2 alternated with

improvised reverse hypers on the GHR 3 sets of 15 reps. I do these by putting a big board we have on top of the GHR pad and setting the toe plate all the way to the back. I then lay on the flat board (more comfortable than beaching myself on the rounded GHR pad) and I wrap two green mini bands around the upright and hook my feet through them like you would the strap a real reverse hyper. Unlike the picture, I keep my legs straight I let the bands slingshot my legs towards my head. I do these pretty fast. It helps if you have someone hold the board so your ponderous body doesn’t wobble it around. It also helps if you ask them if they’d like to go in the other room and hold your wood.

Lastly, I was going to do some situps off the GHR, but my abs don’t seem to be working any more so I didn’t. It looks like a Sunday afternoon whiskey, cheap champagne and PBR bender doesn’t help the ol’ six pack.

Getting Things in Perspective

When I was training this week, I realized I really need to get my act together. On Dave Tate’s shit-suck-good-great scale, I’m still at “shit”, possibly on the verge of “suck”. I need to get strong in the right places, get into better shape and just get the job done.

In no particular order, I need to:

Improve my GPP. I’m not strong enough for how out of shape I am.

Get my hamstrings stronger. With stronger hamstrings I’ll be able to sit back in the squat and deadlift.

I need to do more rep work for upper and lower body. I’ve looked back over my training logs and lots of reps always preceed big PR’s on my lifts. I also need more mass on this chicken legs I teeter around on.

Stronger torso. I need to get much stronger on my back extensions and ab work. My current goal is 150 for 10 on the back extension and 150 for 75 seconds in the front bridge or plank.

I’ve got plenty of time to come up with some big PR’s for our meet in February, I just need to bust ass.

Now, I should go and do some training tomorow before we eat. Maybe I’ll take my little brother out to the hen house where he has some weights and do front squats and floor presses till I can’t stand.

Another Extra Workout and Training on the Road

After I blogged Saturday morning, I trained again that night. Same stuff really, did a bunch of GHR’s and then did some stuff for time, rolling extensions and improvised reverse hypers.

Today I went to train in the Chickasaw Wellness Complex and it was less than stellar. This is one reason I don’t like to do meaningful training when I’m away from Ames. I try to make my visits home coincide with a deload week so it doesn’t matter what I do or what weights I hit. A deload, for my meatheaded readers, is when you back off so that you can come back stronger when you resume training at your normal volume and/or intensity.

Anyway, it sucked. There bars are too thick and for some reason too smooth. The sleeves are either too small for the plates or vice versa, so they shift around, even with collars on. I’d step back one foot to squat, and then the other and I’d feel both sides jerk. Needless to say, I didn’t hit any PR’s but I got some good form work done with 315.

Then I did some bench, just because I can and worked up to a single at 295. The benches are super soft and squishy and I was benching out of the power rack. I just wanted to press enough to let the high-fiving tenagers standing around know that I was stronger than them.

Then I did a set of fifty on the circuit machines of rows and hamstring curls and did some rolling extensions.

There were only a few hotties in the gym, and luckily, I’m uglier than sin and dress like a vagrant hobo past his prime, so they didn’t approach me and interrupt my training. Much like the cheerleaders I saw when I went to get my little brother’s keys so Dad and I could go home, they probably weren’t 18 anyway, so no loss.

 Just then I locked my keys in my truck and had to have my dad drive me home so I could get his spare key and open it up. That totally sucked.

Anyway, training sucked, but I’ve been working in the barn driving hundreds of nails, so I’m sure my right arm strength will be through the roof, and I built an 8 inch box to box squat with.

 Happy T-day everyone.

More Extra Work, Booze, Mr T.

Thursday night I elected to do some bench work because I thought no one would be in on Friday in case I wanted to work up or do some heavy assistance work. Towards the end of training I asked my pal Phil if I should do some extra hammy work or come in and do an extra workout Friday.

Phil: Are you actually going to come in and do it?

Me: Oh yeah.

Needless to say, I didn’t do anything last night. After finishing up my classwork that was due before Thanksgiving, I drank some cheap beer, ate a $.34 fruit pie and watched the short-lived season of Mr. T’s reality show on DVD.

So today I got in and did some GHR’s and ab work. I was shocked at how hard the GHR’s were. It might be the fact that I drank last night or that I don’t normally train in the morning.

Normal warm-up

GHR, front elevated on 12 inch box (I know, pathetic) 5 sets, about 6-8 reps per set

Hanging knee raises 5 sets of 10

I really want to get my GHR up because my hamstrings are non-existent. I just need to start doing them. I think I’ll add a couple sets of AMAP (As Many As Possible) before my upper days and add them as a second or third movement on both of my lower body days. I read in one of Louie’s articles that in Soviet Russia 600 GHRs/month was considered maintenance work.

Speaking of added volume, I’d like to get the Econo Prowler from Elite, but I’m not sure anyone else in the club would use it. Maybe I’ll just make a little cart or sled or something while I’m at home for T-day.

I had Burger King this afternoon, and I have to say the Homestyle Melt is good, but it’s no Quad Stacker.

Punching The Clock

Today was nothing special, just got in and did some stuff, bitched and complained about it and went home.

speed bench, three grips, with 2 second pauses 205x9x3 What with the abs being sore, it was really hard to get into a good arch.

JM Press 115x6x6 I dont know if I’m doing these right, but they kind of make my elbows ache and then my wrist had a burny feeling by my thumb. If you know what I’m doing wrong, comment.

Overhead Rope Extension 70x2x12-10

Bent Over Flys 15x3x18-15-12

Front Bridge aka Plank 80x60seconds

I thought I might do some hamstrings tonight but instead I’ll do them tomorrow as an extra workout, probably GHR’s and some kind of ab work. Seeing as how I’ll have all next week to stuff myself and deload, I might as well go for broke in the weighroom.

Incidentally, no hotties outside the weightroom tonight.

Leg Press, Tricep Kickbacks: Flex Magazine Cover Here I Come

Tonight was awesome, intramural volleyball was in the gym, Kansas was on the radio (till I put the Mastodon on for the last of my speed work) and all was right in the world.

Normal warm-up

(weightxsetsxreps)

hang snatch 135x3x3

parallel box squat (done for speed) 225x4x2, 245x2x2, 255x2x2, 275x2x2 I’m really trying to drive my head and traps back first out of the hole on my squats and keep my knees spread hard.

leg press 180x1x10, 270x1x10, 320x1x10, 370x1x10

machine row with parallel grip 90x1x10, 90x1x12, 90x1x15

back extension on GHR with front elevated on box 45x1x10, 45x1x8 Did these with a cambered bench bar and a manta ray, to try to emulate the safety squat bar that I hope to be training with soon.

one arm pressdown 50x1x15

dumb bell shrugs (done for speed) 85x3x10 On one arm stuff I only write down the weight of the dumb bell, FYI.

tricep kickbacks, 15x1x20

Back was pumped after those extensions. Can’t wait to pull again.

See, I’m Cool, I Do “Extra Workouts” Too

I went to the weight room and did an “extra workout” tonight, just to prove that I read Louie’s articles too.

I did my normal warm-up, which is pretty much the same no matter what I’m training: lunges, bear crawls on hands and feet and side lunges then a set of RDL’s, front squats, drop snatches and overhead squats with an empty bar. Then I stretch the hip flexors, IT band and TFL, piriformis and calves.

The actual workout was supersets of hanging knee raises and improvised reverse hypers off the GHR. 5 sets of 10 with knee raises with bent knees and reverse hypers against a choked green band. I tried to do “real” leg raises with straight legs, but resorted to “knee tucks” because my abs are still too sore. I’m trying not to impact my real training sessions with this little bit of extra work.

I’m also hoping intramural volleyball is going to be playing inside Beyer Gym a few more times before Thanksgiving break.