20081029

Deadlift day
---

I'm definitely much stronger as this was all relatively easy, and percentages were based upon my last maximum of 405 lbs.

3x3 300 lbs.
3x2 320 lbs.
3x1 340 lbs.

I think I'm going to re-mix it this to base it upon an estimated 425 lbs. max. We'll see.

20081028

Bench Day
---
Not much weight, just putting up volume and working on technique.

Bench Press
155 lbs.
1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3
1, 2, 3

Close Grip Bench Press
135 lbs.
3, 3, 3, 3

Double Military Press
28 kg.
4 sets of 1

20081027

Squat Day

Warm ups to include some 24 kg. pistols just to make sure they still work. :)

Squat (Barbell)
20x210

Ouch. I mean really this time. The last couple were like I was trying to stand back up in the midst of being beaten (which has actually happened on a couple occasions) but I pushed it out. Despite the difficulty I capped it off by taking the 20th rep a couple inches lower.

Mil Press
3x1/1 32 kg.

Windmills (Kept these light)
2x3/3 45 lbs. (barbell)

Nail Bending
8 total green nails done all as singles. I just did them from disadvantageous leverage points. 4 were Heslep Style and 4 were reverse grip done at arms length. Whole new level there. All were drawn back in to the body for the crush down.
Bending a green nail is like bending a spoon now.
I've got some new stock as well as a horseshoe and some leather and suede wraps coming from fat bastard barbell company soon, so that will be cool.
I've broken 170 pounds and I haven't gotten fat yet. :)

20081025

Today I hit pull ups and presses. I was a little concerned I'd have fallen behind on my pull ups but they went fine. All were pretty clean. Pressing strength is going up fast. The double presses with the 28's were relatively easy once I locked my technique down.

Not in this order.

C/P ladder 24 kg.
2/3

Pull Ups
4x22 lbs.
3x1 45 lbs.
3x1 45 lbs.

Military Press
3x1/1 28 kg.

Double Military Press
3x1 28 kg.

20081024

Squat day.

Warmed up, then...
20x210 lbs.

This was brutal toward the end. The last two reps really pushed me.

Bent Press
3/3x24 kg.
1x32 kg. Right hand only
1x24 kg. Left hand
Repeat
Getting stronger on this, just working on connections and tightening up. Almost put up the 40 kg. on my right.

Nail Bending
1 Green Nail to warm up
11 Green nails back to back.

I'm putting in an order to Fat Bastard barbell for some different stock so I don't have this giant jump to the yellow nail. Took a swing at it today and bowed it, but couldn't get the kink in.

20081023

Rest day. I needed it. Bad.
I was feeling tore up from the floor up when I got home last night, so I committed myself to doing nothing today.
You know, except that set of 40 kg. snatches.
I'm up around 170 lbs. and climbing. My shirts don't fit anymore. I've always worn smalls or mediums. My mediums are like a second skin. I put on my formerly too big bad ass Pantera shirt and it fits properly as it's a large. I'm a little bummed as I have some kick ass t-shirts. I have a bad ass 7 year old Guinness shirt and my New Orleans Gator Wrestling shirt, as well as a t-shirt I got from Sun Studios in Memphis. Looks like I have to go back to Memphis.
Let's hear it for military pressing, squatting, and bench pressing.
Oh yeah, and shoveling food in your mouth and drinking milk like it's going out of style.

20081022

Deadlifts

I think this works best, just to do the deadlifts.

3x3 285 lbs.
3x2 335 lbs.
2x1 355 lbs.

Felt strong in everything, no problems. I'm pretty sure I can exceed 405 now. I'll wait until the end of the cycle before I max again. Patience pays off.

20081021

I screwed this one up and can't remember what happened.
I do know I hit the bench press and plate curls. I mis-loaded the bar and ended up doing singles of 205, which far exceeds my old max.
Better luck next time on the note taking.

200801020

TGU
32 kg. 2x1/1

Squats
20x195
This one hurt. When I thought I was parallel I dropped another couple inches, and that made a difference. Reps 10-15 are the killers.

Mil Press
5 sets of 5 reps with two 24 kg. kettlebells.

Windmills (Barbell)
45 lbs. 5/5
55 lbs. 3/3
65 lbs. 1/1

Nail bending
1 green nail.
5 green nails back to back.
---
This is a good template for this workout and most likely it will stay this way. I also had my psoas worked on today, still working on correcting my anterior pelvic tilt.

20081017

TGU
32 kg.
6 reps total alternating

40 kg. 1/1

Squats
20x190 lbs.

Assorted presses and plate curls.

I'm going to work on tightening this up. It's a little too scattershot. I also have to limit how often I'm pressing. I'm waaay over-training right now.

20081016

Swings and Nail Bending
---
Two handed swings
40 kg.
10x20

Green nails
4 sets of 5 back to back.

20081014

Deadlift and Presses
---
These were mixed as in deadlift, press, deadlift, press, etc.

Deadlift
3x280
3x280
3x280
2x325
2x325
1x355
1x355
1x355
Note: Deads were good and strong. Still tuning the form back up, but relatively easy.

Military Press
32 kg. 3x1/1

Bottoms Up Cleans
32 kg. 2x1/1

Bottoms Up Press
24 kg. 3x1, 1x2 (Right Side Only)
I balanced this out with five reps military press on the left side with the 24 kg. It's all a grip and tension issue that I will sort out. I can BUP the 20 kg. on my left, but I can get two reps out of the 24 on my right. Oh well.

20081013

Program modifications
---
I'm retuning this thing and closing in on how I want it to look. I'm holding off on return to the vo2. I'm going to keep hitting the swings, and throw in some wheelbarrow work.
I hate the bench press. I have always hated it. Primarily because I am really bad at it. I mean really bad. However, I hate having weak points, so I'm going to do it for a while and try to improve it. I'm going to do the work on this and study the movement some more.
Today I took it easy, and was surprised at how well It went. The upper weight is my old max.

3x135
3x135
3x135
2x180
2x180

The 180's went up pretty easy, so I'll start ratcheting it up. I need a spotter to hand off to.

20081012

New Cycle Begins

My last pistol workout ended abruptly. Left knee made a pop and I called it quits on that. No pain, just one of those moments where you know it's best to stop.
It's great how the timing of this stuff works. My presses started to get smoked, my knee pops, guess what? Week 4, time to switch cycles. Now onto 20 rep squats, deadlifts, and you guessed it! More pressing!

So this is the basic breakdown for the next 4-5 weeks.
2xweek- 20 rep squats
1xweek- Deadlifts
2xweek- Mvo2

More rest days, more pulling, more loading.

Today was the first squat workout. I was very pleased with my squat stance and form. They just felt really good. Well, right up until about rep 16. :)
The popping in the left knee stopped after about five reps. No big deal, just a noise, and I'm being really paranoid about my squat form. I started off light at 185 lbs. for 20 reps.
It went down like this:
Squat- 20x185 lbs.
Pressing ladder (Descending) 3, 2, 1 (Double 24 kg. mil press)
Plate curls- 10 lbs. 5/5
Pressing ladder 24 kg. 3, 2, 1
Plate curls- 25 lbs. 3/3
Pressing ladder 24 kg. 3, 2, 1
Bent over rows- 5x24 kg's, 5x24 kg's, 3x32 kg's, 3x32 kg's

I never do bent over rows, but these felt fine.

20081009

Low volume presses
---
How fitting that I should be floating into the land of diminishing returns at the end of week 4. Perfect.
Today ended up being 7 sets of 1/1 presses 32 kg.
I also hit some swings.
3x40- 28 kg.
5x20- 32 kg.
I'm feeling very strong in my swings, and my endurance and grip are good.
I was feeling weak on the presses and some of the left side ones required a bump. You can only take so much of a beating before you have to back off, and six days a week of crazy volume is it. I'm going to wrap up with my high volume pistols tomorrow, back off next week with just some max vo2 for 3 days, then switch gears.

20081007

Low Volume Pistols
---
24 kg.
10 sets of 1/1

Mixed in some heavy swing- 40 kg. and double 24 kg.
Jerks- 2x10/10 32 kg. and 1x3/3 40 kg.

20081006

High Volume Pressing
---

24 kg.
3x3/3

28 kg.
4x3/3

28kg.
6x2/2

24 kg.
3x6/6

24 kg.
10x5/5

20081005

Low volue pull ups
---
16 kg.
1x1/1
20 kg.
9x1/1

Two handed swings
40 kg.
6x20

Pull ups went much better and I'm feeling a lot stronger in the pull up, though still lagging behind my pistols and presses.
Part of doing this program properly is accepting that I may not get done under an hour. Particularly with the high volume pull ups and pistols.

I'm starting swings again as I need to keep my endurance up, and snatches crossover too much with the presses. These were relatively easy. I need to go over 20 reps to get my HR up and work my wind. I was never out of breath. I'm going to go for 40 reps next time and go back and froth between the 32 and 40.

20081003

High Volume Pistols
---
I'm still working up the volume on these.
12 kg.
15 sets of 3/3

These felt good and I worked into a nice rhythm on the 3/3. Definitely started to feel my knees so I really focused in on my form and it got better. I feel fine the next day, so I'm good.

45 pistols per leg, 90 total. Working toward 100 each leg, 200 total.

I did some of my L and V sits on the pull up bar, and some inverted pull ups. Basically I bring my legs straight up until my hips are level with or higher than my shoulders, then I do pull ups. Today my mid-section is toasted.

20081002

Low Volume Presses
---
32 kg.
10 sets of 1/1

Last five sets on the left required a little bump, but the first five were very clean. This is pretty damn good considering that three weeks ago I couldn't even get the 32 kg. out of the rack position on my left side without push pressing it.
Additonally I did some stacked presses to work on form.
I also cleaned up two 32 kg. bells with surprising ease. I cleaned up the 40 kg. to get a feel for it, but it wasn't going up.

20081001

High Volume Pull Ups
---
10 kg.
12 sets of 3 reps.

Not really so high volume. earlier I did a half hour of pretty tough climbing at the rock gym (tough for me) which isn't a good combo with high volume pull ups. I'll structure is better next time and hit my 100.