Squat day, not dead yet.

Which obviously means I didn't do enough.  I'm still nervous about my back while squatting because of that spasm issue I was having so we started light.  Trying to make sure my partner hits decent competition worthy depth each time so I knew I had to set an example, right now back feels good but I'm still loose, going to post this then hit a contrast shower soon, so that will help.  So lets get to some numbers.

Squats 135x5, 145x5, 155x5, 185 3 sets of 2, each rep had a long pause at the bottom.  Partner's knee was hurting so I didn't want to push those any further and cripple him in the first week of his training.

Box jumps, middle plyo box.  4 x5.  Still proof to me that someone at my weight shouldn't propel themselves in the air.


Hyper extentions with hamstring flex  3x10   Holy crap, on the last rep of each set I did a hold, my hamstrings are dead right now.

Hanging leg rasies full power on these making sure we got the hips hit really hard.  1x15


Kinda feels like in helping him to train his squat I'm retraining mine, hopefully this will work some wonders I desperately need for my squats. 

Heavy shoulders!

Today was pretty solid, even after having to be at work at 4am.  Got to the gym around 3 this afternoon after a much needed nap.  Went in with a minor gameplan as far as my weight and nailed it pretty spot on.  So I figure I'll just hop to numbers today.


Double Arm Landmines  1 plate x10, 2 plate x8, 3 plate x6, 4 plate x5, 4 plate/1 quarter x3
Machine lateral raises   200 3x8
Grenade grip pressdowns 47.5 x 10, 52.5 x8, 57.5 x7
V-bar pressdowns  100 3x10
Front raise dumbbell burn out 25 x27


So far everything is feeling good, which is really nice.  Shoulder is feeling good, back is feeling good.  Tomorrow will be squats, so back could go wonky, but we'll see. 

Block pulls!

Man, this morning was fucking great, that's all their is to it.  Shoulder is feeling fantastic which is super nice.  We did some ME training this morning, which was fun and I was a bit stronger than I had expected to be, which was nicer.  I will admit my final block pull was a grinder, but it was one of those, I was shaky bringing it to my knees, but in my head I was like "FUCK THIS, YOU ARE LOCKING THIS DAMN THING OUT!"  Fun fact!  I also curse a lot in my head.  So lets hop to some numbers....



Block pulls 135x6, 225x5, 315x2, 405x1, 495x1, 545x1
Cable sidebends 100  3x10
Ab machine 100 burnout of 42 reps, didn't think I had another in me at 41 but I did I squeeze out the last one for Douglas Adams. 
Total Chinups 10


Off tomorrow, then back Thursday for some direct shoulder work.  Should be a slap and a tickle. 

A little DE Bench fun...

So, funny story before I get to the actual numbers.  Today doing 8 sets of 2 pause on the first rep.  So, I get my Full Boar SlingShot on, get set on the bench, unrack it, thinking damn this feels light.  Lowered it to my chest, locked my arms, exploded, completely lost my form because I pushed it so hard that my shoulders came off the bench.  Got up thinking "Damn, that was awesome."  Then I realized I forgot to go to 295 and it was just 205 pounds.  Damn, that was funny.  Today, was the first day of actually training my partner instead of training with him.  After having to be at work at 6am and doing an 8 hour shift, it was pretty hard but a good day.  So now... we get to numbers...


Dynamic Effort Bench Full Boar  205x2, 295 7x2.  Paused on the first rep for a press command each set.

Chinups 1x4, 1x3

T-Bar Rows  2 plates x12, 3 plates x12, 3 plates + quarter x10

Chinups  3

Grenade Grip Pressdowns  52.7x12, 57.5 2x12

Chinups 2

Face pulls 70.5  3x12

Chinups 2


Damn good day, hit a lot of focus on upper back today.

Finished reload week...

So, I finished reload week yesterday and today, the days were pretty boring so not really going to post numbers.  I will say that I wish I had remembered for a reload I shouldn't go balls to the wall, after training squats/legs today I can't stand up without wanting to scream.  Me and good sense go together like oil and water.  Anyway, actual serious training for a purpose beings tomorrow.  That will be fun. 

Reload deadlift day

Today was really good.  Back felt really good, I'm thinking that time off helped with that catch, we'll see how much it does when I squat.  Today also included an impromptu chin up challenge and a few impromptu curls with 135 and 225.  So lets hop to numbers...


Deadlifts, 135x8, 225x8, 315x4, 405x1, all beltless.
Ab machine I think I had plate 10 selected.  3x15
Hip abductors 200 3x15
Hip adductors 150 3x15

Chinup contest was a tie at 4 a piece. 

Reload Bench Day

Okay, so... after the week off from the gym following the deload week, it's now time for the reload week.  Going to just jump into numbers, but man, everything felt good today.  So lets see where we're at...


Shoulder Saver Bench 135x10, 185x10, 225x10
Handle Grip Press Downs  37x15, 42x15, 47x15
Over Head Band Triceps Mini Band 3x20
Machine Bench Selector 145  3x15
Pec Deck 140  3x20

Happy anniversary my beloved...

So, the actual anniversary was on Jun 9th, however, thanks to working 11 straight 11 hour days, I was a bit pooped.  Plus, it came at the start of an off week, my last day of that stretch was today, so I figure before I start my reload week, I'd try to hammer this out.  However, I'm sitting here, with a few other things on my mind, so this might turn into rambling, but don't worry, we're detouring through Mordor but we're coming right back to the Shire.  June 9th 1998 I walked into a gym, the equipment was purple and there was pink neon on the wall.  I was intimated, I was a colossal fatass but I was determined that I was going to be a wrestler.  In order to do that, I had to become less of a fatass and stronger.  The first time I ever benched, Brian the owner had to pull 70 pounds off my chest because I couldn't get it even once.  Just straight down to my chest.  I remember the first time I decided to attempt a plate on each side of the bench.  Alex spotted me, he was a wrestler too.  We had talked about wrestling before this, he was a wrestler.  He said at that point he knew I could do it because he saw the amount of drive I had.  In the first year I dropped over 100 pounds of bodyweight.  I remember for the longest time I had my belt hung on the wall to remind me to never go back to that.  Eventually I took it off the wall because I knew I wouldn't. 


The gym has been my best friend, my therapist, my love, in some cases my worst enemy.  Sometimes I've been too stupid to listen to my body and try working through injuries I shouldn't have.  Hell, once I was so injured I couldn't walk for a few months, but as soon as I could get knee and ankle braces on, I walked in there with a cane, because goddamnit, I could train upper body again.  I'm not sure exactly the point it became training, to some people it's working out.  I have triggers that set me off, "I want to lose weight"  "I don't want to get all muscley" "I don't want to get too big"  "I just want to tone."  It has become my passion.  It's what's what makes me happy.  It's like, I don't care what I do in life, job, love, sorrow... as long as I have the gym, I'll be okay. 

The gym has introduced me to people that the word friend isn't strong enough, they truly are my brothers and sisters and they mean more to me than I can ever explain.  Met one of the greatest people I've ever known thanks to the gym, unfortunately it's been almost a year since we lost him, but I like to think he'd be smiling knowing we still talk about him, think about him, and still miss him(even though he'd tell us to stop being pussies and go do squats). 

It's funny, 20 years later and I'm still training with the same person who I started with all those years ago.  He was way ahead of me then.  Now, well... the student has become the teacher even though he swears we do the same weight and same reps.  I think part of what I enjoy is the fact I get to torture him through new devious ways just to prove it's no where near the same reps and same weights. 

So yeah, I'm going to wrap this up because I got pretty wordy.  But it's been a great 20 years with plenty of ups and downs.  Here's to another 20 or more. 

Back day....

Woke up this morning with my back stiff as hell, could not get it to straighten up so that sucked, ended up scrapping deadlifts this morning. This was around 8am, finally around 1pm today it finally got lose enough that I could move without wanting to grumble.  Not a pull, just stiff, so another telltale sign I need that week off.  So instead we went to the gym we don't deadlift in and just did worked upper back.  So I'll hop to those numbers.


Lat Pull Downs 1 plate x10, 2 plate x10, 3 plate x10, 4 plate 3x10

Face Pulls 80x15, 90x15, 100x15, 110x15

Straight arm pulldowns  110 4x15

Two Days in One Post!

So, going to do two days in one post here since I forgot to last night. 

Leg day was Saturday this week, good day, felt good, decided to do some midrange squats to see how my back would hold up and it went well.  So lets throw down some numbers on that at first.  Oh, and insanity struck and I started with leg extentions, then squats.

Leg extentions 100x10, 115x10, 130x10, 145x10, 160x10, 175x10, 190x10, 205x10, 220x10, 235x10, 250x10

Midrange squats... now lets see how to explain these, I saw this huge dude I'm friends with on Facebook doing them once before so I figured I'd give them a shot.  You basically don't squat to full depth, but you don't also come completely up so it keeps constant tension on the quads, hips, glutes, and hamstrings. 

135  4x8

Calf Raises 115  2x25

And to stop my partner from whining we did one set of alternating dumbbell curls  60x8

I hope he sees that and whines more.


Bench day, man went in there today wanting to go all out, but fatigue struck, after our third exercise we started doing the math and realized we haven't had a deload or week off since last year.  So, we decided next week we'd do that.  Anyway, numbers on that...


Shoulder Saver Bench  135x10, 185x10, 225x10, 275x10, 315x6, 365x1.  I had every intention of attempting 405 today to see how that would feel, however, once I did that 365 I realized I was too damn fatigued to do it.

Cable grenade Tate presses  40x15, 50 3x15

Hammer triceps machine  4x20, giggity, 420.  This was the point where we realized how beat we were so we decided to skip the last exercise, deload the rest of this week, then take next week off.  Should be a blast. 

Shoulders, triceps, and donuts!

So, another sleep deprived day from having to be at work at 5am in Chattanooga.  But eh, good day none the less.  The GM at the gym gave me a donut for national donut day.  I wish I could say this is the first time I've ate a donut in the gym.   Tested my shoulders a bit today, and they seem to be feeling good.  We'll see how they feel tomorrow.  So some nice simple numbers...


Seated Smith Machine Military Press 75x10, 95x10, 115x10, 135x10, 155x10, 175x6    Stopped there because they were feeling good but didn't want to push it too hard yet.

Lateral raise machine 150 4x10

Grenade grip press downs 32x15, 37x15, 42x15, 47x15

Long Bar Double Cable Setup 52 4x10


Called it a day there.  Now I think I'm going to call it a night.