training 3/2

ME Upper

Bench
didn't push it, VERY sore from the crazy band tension on Tuesday. Just went up to 315 then a couple of back off sets.

After that just did a ton of movements using bands.

Pushdowns
Extensions
Rows
Shrugs
Abs

All against bands, basically 35 minutes of non stop stuff. Then called it a day to get ready for the arnold.!

Training 3/1

DE Lower

Box Squats against bands Did blues and greens today, tons of tension.....very difficult to walk it out. Did doubles at 302 for a few sets, then worked up to 412, 8 total sets

Deads against silver short bands

Finally got the tension/set-up right on these, 10 singles, mostly at 315, couple at 405, and a bandless single at 500, just to feel the weight, VERY easy.

GHR static holds with 125 bag on back

Reverse Hyper

Abs

training 2/27

DE Upper

Axle Bench+ doubled mini bands

9 triples, sets from 165, to 205

Board axle bench + bands

Band Pushdowns

BS Scarecrows

Band Pull Aparts

DB Flys

Grip Work

training 2/25

ME Lower

Suspended GM's

up to 412 for 1 from a low height

Carry/LoadMedley (75lbs, 125, 230 sandbags, then yoke(weights listed))

520X3 sets

610X1 sets

700X1 set, technically a pr beltless, very easy

Yoke pics

880Xpick and hold (beltless)

1000X5', added belt,picked it easy, so walked a little, will take this for 50' this year

Some loads with 234 stones, then a bunch of reverse hyper

Some abs, then more abs later after everyone left.

Good workout, kinda fun to do some longer medleys, still only 15' each leg,but 4 part made it fun.

Training 2/23

ME Upper
Axle OH Strict +80 lbs of Chains (totally deloaded the entire lift)
up to 175 of bar weight+ chains.

IN honor of Jared Enderton, who beliefs strict pressing to be the purest form of athleticism ever to exist.

CG Floor Press with chains and weight....4 sets, not sure of weight

REverse Hyper rows

Band Pull aparts

Band Laterals

Also, I have been continuing to do my pull-ups, just haven't been logging them.

Training 2/22

DE Lower
Box Squats plus blue bands
working sets at 362 for 8 sets of 2

Speed Deads
335X5X1
385X5X1

Reverse Hyper
X TONS

GHR
X Tons

ABs


Jake "The Ginger Snake" Schulte decided to try and become strong by training with us full time. Fun stuff, he will make a great addition if he sticks with it!

training 2/18

ME Lower

Sumo Deads
worked up to 565 for a very easy, horrible form rep. I've never done these heavy before, missed 605 mid shin, the bar was about 3 inches too far away from my body, should be a HUGE pr next time I do these, lol.

Sandbag carry and load medley
Bunch of sets until the sandbag broke

Yoke, 15' down, 15' back, done as fast as possilbe, beltless
520X6 sets

Stones (no tacky)
238X3 singles

Abs

training 2/16

ME Upper
Bad day today, just out of it.
Incline Close Grip
missed 315....not sure what to say about that, at least in 6 wks when we hit it again it should be easy to PR...

Super CG- Inclone

BB Rows

KB C&P

Pull-ups

training 2/15

DE Lower

Box Squats + blue bands
working sets at 332X8X2

Speedy Deads-squats felt harder then they should, so I stayed at 315, in order to feel faster, not sure if it worked
315X10X1

Reverse Hypers
5 sets, 4 of them at 260 I believe, I continue to learn this machine, since I have recieved it, my lower back has pretty much been a steady cramp of blood.

GHR
bwX5X10

Abs...a bunch of stuff

Also did 20 pullups throughout workout. I will now do 20 pullups each workout, not sequential....yet, but I will always do 20. After much discusion with Pmart, we have decided this is the simplest way to increase lat strength, without adding a day in the gym. We shall see how it works.

In 2008 I actually decided, I should be able to rip off 20 pullups whenever I want. I started with 10 sets of 2 three days a week. Then 9X3, 8X4, 7X5, 6X6, 5X7, then I started doing 4X10 for a couple weeks. At this point I could do 20 pullups pretty much whenever I wanted. What happened you ask?.....Two things, first off I stopped doing them so often..."stupid".....secondly, I gained 60 lbs. Contrary to common opinion, pullups are MUCH harder when you're 300 lbs then 240....I know it is still just bodyweight and don't be fat and lazy...you're right...but it is still much more weight.

I will remedy this though, and soon be doing weighted pullups with ease:)

training 2/13

DE Upper

Floor Press with axle + 120 lbs of chain
up to 165+ chainsX9X3

Blast Strap Rows
bwX9 sets

Band Pull aparts

training 2/11

Me Lower

Reverse Blue Bands Box Squat (bands remove 120 at the very bottom, nothing at the top)
up to 702 in 50 lbs jumps. This is a PR, but I believe I'm good for 775-800. Next time this lift comes around (6 wks or so) I am going for 800.

Yoke
15' down, and 15' back, up to 790 for both, 880 for just a 15' run

Sled Pulls

Abs

training 2/9

ME Upper
Axle C& P-Have not done this movement in over 1 year. Needs alot of practice, 340-360 is there when I get my continental back.

up to 285

Triceps pushdowns
green&blue bandsX10X10

Face pulls

Lat Pulldowns

training 2/8

DE Lower

Box Squats + blue bands (circa max cycle started over with more band tension, 200-250 at the top added tension)
working sets at 302X8X2

Deads
working sets at 425X5X1

Reverse Hyper
4 sets of 15, up to 240

Hypers
bwX3X20

Abs

Training 2/4

ME Lower
We had a great group today. five training events, was really nice to be able to move quickly with so many loaders/spotters/lifters. I hope everyone can keep coming out!

Rack Deads from 16" (my dead has always been more difficult in this position, 3 inches higher or lower and I do well, but this is a bad spot for me, thus us training it:)
triples up to 515, then singles at 605, a miss at 715, then came back and hit 645

Farmers, just getting used to the movement again
up to 320 for 30'

Keg carriesX several sets, didn't write these down

Keg loads
we spent a bunch of time teaching how to load, and I'm not sure what those reps were. But then hit some single with the big keg to 63", followed by 5 doubles really quick.

After this did some reverse hypers, then abs. Fun day.

Training 2/2

Me Upper

Reverse Band (blues) Bench Press
worked up to 455X1
Added 2 board
465X1
Miss at 475 off the board

I am excited this movement worked out pretty well. It takes the stress off my shoulder at the bottom, but still alows me to work with heavy weights. Bands were taking 130 off at the chest, and nothing at lockout.

Triceps Pushdowns
Bard+2 bluesX20/15/then 10 sets of 10

Reverse Hyper Rows
120X10
170X3X10

Pushdowns and rows completed in 8 minutes.....laid on floorX20 minutes.

Training 2/1

DE Lower

Reverse hyper is now included in the warmup

Box Squats +Green Bands
working sets went like this
302X2X2
332X2X2
362X2X2

All very easy, but I wanted to focus on form. Will keep the weights the same for the next wave, but switch to blues on the bands.

Deadlift, no bands this week as I really want to focus on the ques from the seminar
10 singles at 365

GHR against mini band
3X10

Bent knee Reverse Hyper
sets at 120X4X10

Ab wheel
Standing Abs
Standing Band Side Bends

EFS Learn to Train Seminar

This past weekend I made the trip to London, OH for EFS: Learn to train seminar. I learned some things, got some great advice, and had a bunch of fun. I wanted to write a little about what I learned specifically, rather than write a review. So for the review portion, EFS does a great job with seminars, if you can, go to one, it WILL help you in some way.

Now on to the help I recieved. Technique wise I picked up a couple of things.

Squat- I need to focus on flexing my upper back, and more importantly get my upp back stronger. I will address this in programming. My form is pretty solid, I just need to really focus on my upper body during the lift. My biggest issue is my abs. I do not breath well, as in fill my belly with air while lifting and holding it well. I will change how I do my ab work, both the movements and the technique. Technique wise, I will perform each rep while pushing my belly out full of air as best as I can. I predict a MAJOR improvement in my squat shortly. This will keep me upright in the hole, and shorten the distance I am moving the bar.

Bench- I am guilty of not giving a crap about the bench. My shoulders are crap, I am not really into having more shoulder operations in the near future, thus, I hate bench. But what was really valuable here was learning more about how to FIX my shoulders, rather than continue to train around them. As I DO care a great deal about my OH pressing, this relates. I won't write any more on this, but you'll soon see me talk more about it in my log.

Deadlift- Belly full of air forcing me to arch my back (sound familiar). A lot of the ab stuff with the squat carries over here. This will help my lockout tremendously. Very difficult to explain in writing, but you will see it more in some videos I will post. Also, I pretty much grip and rip, I need to pull the slack out of the bar and flex everything (ABS!!!!) before begining my pull.

Those are the major things as far as technique. As for the educational portion, I won't go into much detail, as 6 hours of talking, and all that I picked up/confirmed, I am not interested in retyping a novel. But there is one thing I want to talk about.

EQ for your training. Everyone should remember on older stereos there was an equalizer. You could adjust levels of bass/treble is specific inputs. So if you think about it, there were certain levels, for certain types of music that make it sounds better. The same is true for strength sports. If you break down aspects of physical performance, ex-strength/speed/mobility/coordination/flexibility/conditioning/etc. Each sport has their own levels.

So pick your sport, say its powerlifting, now pick the ideal levels for powerlifting. Usining the above examples- You might rate it- 10/3/5/4/6/1 for those levels. Now assess yourself vs. the ideal. Now base your training cycle off of the improvements needed. This offered a great perspective for me, and I will make some small changes to my training based on this.

Look for these changes to result in changes in my log, and more importantly in my results!

Training 1/25

DE Lower

Reverse Hypers


Box Squats +green bands
working sets at 332X8X2

Deads +short silver bands
working sets at 305 (lighter then the %'s were supposed to be, but was working on a form)

Reverse Hypers
4X10

Front Squats, fast paced, no lockouts
135X3X10

Abs

training 1/23

DE Upper

CG 1 board Bench +80 lbs chains off the ground completly at top of movement
working sets-
135X3
145X3
155X3
165X3
175X3
185X3
195X3
205X3
205X3

DB Laterals

Band Pull aparts

DB Upright rows

Training 1/21

ME Lower

Had a slight hamstring pull, so didn't do the planned lifting, but modified it and was able to still get a good workout.

Reverse Hypers
lots of sets, until back was really full of blood

Seated Good Mornings+ short orange bands
up to a triple at 305, with the band tension this was very tough.

Reverse Hypers/Pulldown abs
sets at 90 lbs, pulldowns done with 2 purples, supersetted for8 sets

Training 1/19

ME Upper
Log-Wanted to work on Viper technique (one motion from lap to OH)
worked up to 262 for a PR with this technique. It was a very easy lift, so jumped to 292, where I proceeded to miss three times due to poor technique. I can vipor this weight, and I will do so next time I try and lift it.

Blast Strap Push-ups
BwX10
Mini bandX10
PurpleX2X10
Legs raised up X3X10

DB Rows
110X3X10

Wet Arms

New Equipment at MVB!

MVB just unloaded a brand spanking new Pro Reverse Hyper Extension! I am incredibly excited to work this into the rotation for both posterior chain strength, as well as rehab for the lower back.

If anyone has been contemplating one, but isn't sure how to use it, I recomend checking out the latest issue of POWER magazine- www.supertraininggym .com (to check it out, or buy it at Barnes and Noble) Great article on the machine by Bryan Dermody.

From emailing with Louie Simmons, and various westside followers, I am really excited to see if I can get comparable results to what some have seen.

For those who have been thinking about checking out MVB as your new workout home and have maybe been on the fence about coming out, come check out our new machine!

Training 1/18

DE Lower

Box Squats (at parallel, will be lowering the box 1/4" every three weeks until 2 inches below parallel, wide stance)
working sets at 302 + green bandsX8X2

Deads
325+ silver short bandsX10X1

Band Leg curls
PurpleX25/25/25/25

Farmers Step ups
135X6X1

Abs

Training 1/16

DE Upper
CG Bench to 1-board (all sets +80 lbs of chain) <1 minute rest times
warm up to...
135X1X3
155X5X3
185X3X3

Fat Ez Bar Skull Crushers
95X4X20

DB Laterals

Band Pull-aparts/ss/Bent over DB Laterals

Abs

New Training Plan

My basic template is getting a facelift! As of this week we will be making the switch to a conjugate split. Out working days will be as follows;

Sun-DE Upper
Tues-DE Lower
Wed-ME Upper
Fri-ME Upper

I am very excited about the new split, I am ready for a change for sure. I would go into more detail on how each day will break down, but it will be very apparent from reading the log.

Also, I have restructered my own diet and cardio plan. I had gotten pretty sloppy with the diet over the holidays, and I am ready to get that cleaned up as well. In addition, the new split will allow me three days of good cardio time, without sacrificing time lifting.

Update

There were a few workouts not logged. I made a trip to help my grandparents out as my Grandfather recovers from his heart attack.

Two workouts in a commercial gym, just a basic upper/lower split. Not worth getting into detail, but nice to use some different equipment once in a while. They had a safety squat bar so I used that for squatting, just for some variety. Really hammered my upper back, something to look into for sure.

Also didn't log a workout after I returned. But some big changes this week so I will address them in a longer post.

training 1/4

Deads

Shrugs

Pullups

Hip THrusts

Chin Ups

CG Bench

Band Extensions

Abs

BB Complex

Jump Rope

1/2

Squat

Pause Squats

GHR

Front Squats

BB Complex (clean/front squat/pp/GM/squat/RDL/bent row/dead)

training 12/31

Deload week

OH

Cuban Press

Dumbell Laterals

Curls

Tabata Jump Rope