Only 6 weeks out right now... that's a little scarey. I'm behind on my program as I had to take a bit longer to recover from a couple nagging injuries. This can get frustrating, but when you start planning 3-5 years down the line, instead of just to the next meet, taking care of that stuff is important.
Squats:
315x4
375x4
395x4
405x4
-all reps were fast and easy. Found a very good neutral bar position that I'm going to keep working with, as low bar isn't feeling too great right now, and this lets me use my quads a bit more.
Pin squats
475x4
525x4
545x4
Chins 5x10
Hips feeling good, ankles feeling good, shoulders a little tight from my biceps, but nothing serious. All in all, feeling good. I get a little worried when I'm training this light, and the heaviest weight I've had on my back is 415, when I'm planning to hit well over 500, but I trust Mark, I trust his experience, and if he's telling me to do this, it's because it's going to work.
Monday, October 31, 2011
Sunday, October 30, 2011
3rd Strength powerlifting
3rd strength - the strength and skill of the body when combined with the strength and skill of the mind, make for a third strength and skill far in excess of the sum of the two. - Stuart McGill
This is what the team is all about: I run the team as I've ran a business, and my business is me. I do all things according to this princicple, and thus I apply the same principles to all aspects of my life. Everything is in balance, and flows with the other. How do I plan our powerlifting? we look at the big end goal, for me a 800 pound raw squat, 550 pound raw bench press and a 900 pound deadlift. Basically what I can say that just about the highest level a regular man chan acheieve in the strength world...
We plan how to achieve this, on a yearly then weekly basis. We plan to compete 3 times a year, and to set our goals for each one. Not all of our goals can be PRs, but we set them anyways. we break these goals down into 9-12 week periods, and then set daily goals from there. we evaluate at the end of each meet, decide what direction we need to take things based on what was achieved, ie a lifter missed a squat in the hole so we know to work on his quads, then put more of a focus on that. The actual loading from week to week, month to month and all that is actually still a little confusing for me, so I ask other people to guide me on that, but honestly, once you can completely let go of you need to hit your goals, and still be 100% committed to them, and totally remove yourself from your training to plan things this far away from the actual event things start to get easy,,, well people that have executed this, many many entrepeneurs and even high level athletes will get this, some will not.
Things such as nutrition, sports psychology, restoration, stress management, technique training are an ever ongoing process. Once you can truthfully attain this mindset of strength, then you can attain the mindset of success in general. And anyone who has truthfully attained this mindset of success in all things, you will also understand what total accountability will mean, some people will get this. Others who cannot control themselves and continually make the decision to damage themselves will not.
explain to me westside barbell, and I will explain to you success. Dave Tate will explain success to you, his powerlifting career is now his business. He knows exactly how to think success. Maybe at times he doesn't think so positive, but dave doesn't have to be say positive, he is positive.
This is the 3rd strength. I look forward to bringing people to this, and attracting those that already figured it out
This is what the team is all about: I run the team as I've ran a business, and my business is me. I do all things according to this princicple, and thus I apply the same principles to all aspects of my life. Everything is in balance, and flows with the other. How do I plan our powerlifting? we look at the big end goal, for me a 800 pound raw squat, 550 pound raw bench press and a 900 pound deadlift. Basically what I can say that just about the highest level a regular man chan acheieve in the strength world...
We plan how to achieve this, on a yearly then weekly basis. We plan to compete 3 times a year, and to set our goals for each one. Not all of our goals can be PRs, but we set them anyways. we break these goals down into 9-12 week periods, and then set daily goals from there. we evaluate at the end of each meet, decide what direction we need to take things based on what was achieved, ie a lifter missed a squat in the hole so we know to work on his quads, then put more of a focus on that. The actual loading from week to week, month to month and all that is actually still a little confusing for me, so I ask other people to guide me on that, but honestly, once you can completely let go of you need to hit your goals, and still be 100% committed to them, and totally remove yourself from your training to plan things this far away from the actual event things start to get easy,,, well people that have executed this, many many entrepeneurs and even high level athletes will get this, some will not.
Things such as nutrition, sports psychology, restoration, stress management, technique training are an ever ongoing process. Once you can truthfully attain this mindset of strength, then you can attain the mindset of success in general. And anyone who has truthfully attained this mindset of success in all things, you will also understand what total accountability will mean, some people will get this. Others who cannot control themselves and continually make the decision to damage themselves will not.
explain to me westside barbell, and I will explain to you success. Dave Tate will explain success to you, his powerlifting career is now his business. He knows exactly how to think success. Maybe at times he doesn't think so positive, but dave doesn't have to be say positive, he is positive.
This is the 3rd strength. I look forward to bringing people to this, and attracting those that already figured it out
Matt Britts Blog
http://www.billionaireinaction.com/index.php/2011/10/30/keep-on-failing/
This is Matt Britts blog. He's the guy that brought Visalus into Canada, that's something that's going to be a big deal in a few more years. Someone had to do it, but he was the first one. Besides the ridiculous amount of money the guy makes that he doesn't seem to define him as a person at all, I've seen him wear skater shoes and a suit jacket, he's just the kind of entrepeneur I'm trying to grow into. No matter what happens at visalus, and it will be something life changing, this guy has taken things that I'm trying to do, and having access to where he was at and what he was thinking while he did it, is pretty much the fucking shit.
It's just a sincere blessing to be surrounded by all these high level entrepeneurs who have just taken leadership to another level alltogether. Hanging around Tim Melanson, Ben Johnson, Kim Mcintyre, Melinda Curry and Ashley Mercer is craziness. That it's just so important for their compensation to help build and mentor young entrepeurs to point them in the direction Matt Britt had to go... well that's basically the most kick ass company ever.
Ryan Blair is awesome, I loved reading his book, but he's not where I want to be, I want to be like my ambassadors, and they're right there. All I have to do is pick up a phone and tell people about how cool that is... I don't have to be them or anything... but in the fashion I was traiend to run a business, having this level of mentorship and able to have so much of their time is unheard of. This is the company my old company wanted to be, and this is what I wanted them to be as well. Now I get to focus on my strengths, and be supported for it without any of the negativity... Honey I'm home.
This is Matt Britts blog. He's the guy that brought Visalus into Canada, that's something that's going to be a big deal in a few more years. Someone had to do it, but he was the first one. Besides the ridiculous amount of money the guy makes that he doesn't seem to define him as a person at all, I've seen him wear skater shoes and a suit jacket, he's just the kind of entrepeneur I'm trying to grow into. No matter what happens at visalus, and it will be something life changing, this guy has taken things that I'm trying to do, and having access to where he was at and what he was thinking while he did it, is pretty much the fucking shit.
It's just a sincere blessing to be surrounded by all these high level entrepeneurs who have just taken leadership to another level alltogether. Hanging around Tim Melanson, Ben Johnson, Kim Mcintyre, Melinda Curry and Ashley Mercer is craziness. That it's just so important for their compensation to help build and mentor young entrepeurs to point them in the direction Matt Britt had to go... well that's basically the most kick ass company ever.
Ryan Blair is awesome, I loved reading his book, but he's not where I want to be, I want to be like my ambassadors, and they're right there. All I have to do is pick up a phone and tell people about how cool that is... I don't have to be them or anything... but in the fashion I was traiend to run a business, having this level of mentorship and able to have so much of their time is unheard of. This is the company my old company wanted to be, and this is what I wanted them to be as well. Now I get to focus on my strengths, and be supported for it without any of the negativity... Honey I'm home.
Training week 3 Mark program
Great training week, had to miss my squat day, but it was for the best. Made some big headway in clearing up some sciatic pain that was starting to become unbearable, shoulder pain is also very reduced now that I've identified the pain as the long head of the bicep. Megan showed me a few things that immediately made a big difference. Learning what pains to let slide, and when to just loosen a spasmed muscle and train normally to force recoverey.
Tuesday - flat bench
-very easy day, never felt tested, focused on perfect technique and explosive reps.
worked up to 264 for 3 sets of 4
floor press lockouts
350 3 sets of 4
dumbell flyes
40s for 5x10
Wednesday Deadlift day
- weight felt very light, I worked on executing perfect technique with these weights at maximim speed, I did rush my warm up a bit, and next time I'm going to stretch my hips a lot more. I found I was pulling from a much higher place and the closer I can my femurs to parallel the more quads I can use, and I can start the pull in a better position to set up a stronger lockout.
465 for 3 sets of 4
Rack pulls
-This was the 2nd week not getting my reps in a row on these, so this tells me my hamstrings and glutes are either weak, or I'm pulling from too low a point. The numbers are laid out, so i'm out of balance somewhere, I look forward to figuring it out and addressing it as getting back in balance will really help.
620 for 3,1
585 for 4
chin ups - was supposed to be shrugs. either way I'm not forcing my range of motion on these, just doing reps.
5x10
Thursday - heavy squat
- worked outside in the cold all day, and didn't handle my nutrition the way I should have, so this workout was a little harder than usual, but nothing serious. after I warm up, any nagging injuries are generally gone while I train, during the day, these make my life hard, after warming up, things are good and my tight muscles are like a spring. As i bring my posture around, this will hurt less and less until it's just a general ache in my knees. I look forward to that.
415 for 4 sets of 4
- I was having problems staying upright, then I looked into elbow placement on a low bar squat. I switch between low and high bar on light and heavy days, but i found for high bar, elbows forward is what you need, and low bar it's elbows back. I was pulling my eblows forward, and everything just felt off, my other days felt easier, so I'm looking forward to next week to get that under control.
good mornings - did 250 for 5x5, but i wasn't sure of how the reps were. my heeled shoes make these hard as hell compared to flats.
Shrugs - 2x20 nothing serious
Satruday - had to bench that day, took my girl to Wreck MMA and I just didn't want to miss it.
274 for 3 sets of 4
-these were easy, but not easy enough, Some of my reps got a little slow, so I'm looking forward to more weight coming on, Hassan took me down 5-6 pounds in the last couple weeks, and that makes my ROM longer, not a big deal, but as the weight comes back on, these will be really easy again.
close grip
230- 5x5
flys 40lbs 5 sets of 10
- fun day, got to spend more time coaching booth and hussein, Segovia was in crushing it and Megan was doing cardio. Talked with Isabelle a bit about Stuart McGills textbook on back health I just finished ready, that was a good book.
Looking forward to this training week coming up,I've never really done a program like this one, the weights on the main moves stays the same, and the assistance poundages go up for a few weeks, whatever comes next should be cool
Tuesday - flat bench
-very easy day, never felt tested, focused on perfect technique and explosive reps.
worked up to 264 for 3 sets of 4
floor press lockouts
350 3 sets of 4
dumbell flyes
40s for 5x10
Wednesday Deadlift day
- weight felt very light, I worked on executing perfect technique with these weights at maximim speed, I did rush my warm up a bit, and next time I'm going to stretch my hips a lot more. I found I was pulling from a much higher place and the closer I can my femurs to parallel the more quads I can use, and I can start the pull in a better position to set up a stronger lockout.
465 for 3 sets of 4
Rack pulls
-This was the 2nd week not getting my reps in a row on these, so this tells me my hamstrings and glutes are either weak, or I'm pulling from too low a point. The numbers are laid out, so i'm out of balance somewhere, I look forward to figuring it out and addressing it as getting back in balance will really help.
620 for 3,1
585 for 4
chin ups - was supposed to be shrugs. either way I'm not forcing my range of motion on these, just doing reps.
5x10
Thursday - heavy squat
- worked outside in the cold all day, and didn't handle my nutrition the way I should have, so this workout was a little harder than usual, but nothing serious. after I warm up, any nagging injuries are generally gone while I train, during the day, these make my life hard, after warming up, things are good and my tight muscles are like a spring. As i bring my posture around, this will hurt less and less until it's just a general ache in my knees. I look forward to that.
415 for 4 sets of 4
- I was having problems staying upright, then I looked into elbow placement on a low bar squat. I switch between low and high bar on light and heavy days, but i found for high bar, elbows forward is what you need, and low bar it's elbows back. I was pulling my eblows forward, and everything just felt off, my other days felt easier, so I'm looking forward to next week to get that under control.
good mornings - did 250 for 5x5, but i wasn't sure of how the reps were. my heeled shoes make these hard as hell compared to flats.
Shrugs - 2x20 nothing serious
Satruday - had to bench that day, took my girl to Wreck MMA and I just didn't want to miss it.
274 for 3 sets of 4
-these were easy, but not easy enough, Some of my reps got a little slow, so I'm looking forward to more weight coming on, Hassan took me down 5-6 pounds in the last couple weeks, and that makes my ROM longer, not a big deal, but as the weight comes back on, these will be really easy again.
close grip
230- 5x5
flys 40lbs 5 sets of 10
- fun day, got to spend more time coaching booth and hussein, Segovia was in crushing it and Megan was doing cardio. Talked with Isabelle a bit about Stuart McGills textbook on back health I just finished ready, that was a good book.
Looking forward to this training week coming up,I've never really done a program like this one, the weights on the main moves stays the same, and the assistance poundages go up for a few weeks, whatever comes next should be cool
Sunday, October 23, 2011
training week Oct 17-21
Monday Light squat (Light squats also means high bar)
375 3 sets of 4
- these felt pretty good, and I really worked on dropping until I hit bottom, and coming up hard, elbows forward, big chest and treating every rep like it was 500.
-there's still something going on with my left leg, some kind of imbalance or soemthing like that. I'm missing something, and looking forward to getting it figured out.
Pin squats
515 for 3 sets of 4
-I do these very knees forward and drop straight down, and oh man are they hard. I actually missed my reps on my 3rd set, only getting 2, then my good friend Dash, who's also 6'' shorter than me did a rep off my pin to rack it. I love these challenges that the guys throw down, and I love stepping up to take them on. I took the 10's off each side, threw on the quarters, and did a double. Thanks again my friend.
Chin ups
5x10 - i think I only did 3 as I was fairly messed up afterwards.
Tuesday - bench
245,265,270 for 4 reps each
- I still don't understand the program, but these weren't hard at all, just really working on speed and solid technique each rep.
Floor press
- aborted when my shoulder just about ripped off.
flys 40 for 5 sets of 10 - these were actually pretty hard as well
Wednesday - deadlift
440 for 4 sets of 4
- I'm still wrapping my head around not going nuts all the time, and still amazed when I get my ass kicked by these weights. Something i did was to really get it off the floor in good position, then straighten my legs hard and fast, and this really got me past my knees well, and kept the bar very close to my body, instead of having it further out where i lose my pulls.
I told Cameron that if he couldn't pull 435 for his set after this i was going to Zercher squat it from the floor. He missed it, then I did a PR zercher squat with no warm up. I almost passed out when i was locking it and just let it drop.
Rack pulls
610 for 4 sets of 4
- first set good, second set was brutal. I didn't get all my sets or reps, but I was extremely happy with my form, and I'm starting to understand neutral back. I've been yelled at to arch over and over... and it's just been the wrong cue. I went back and watched Willies pulls, and noticed how he didn't so much arch, as straighten his entire torso, and lock it, even his head. This was back when he pulled 683 at 2010 CPF Nats... or 2009, can't remember. But I think I'm on the right track there.
Chins
Thursday - heavy squat
-this was a very annoying workout. None of the guys were training together, everyone was doing their own thing, and this slowed training down like crazy, rest periods were fucked, and I was losing concentration. I eventually just asked for spots and that made all the difference. I prefer to squat no spot and just dump if I get into trouble, but having the boys right there really helped me focus.
410 for 4sets of 4
-didn't stay as uprigtht as last week, which I feel was my shoulder, and not being able to pull my elbows forward. I was going deeper than last week, and felt a ton more comfortable, altho Megans feedback was that I looked hesitant... which I think she meant I was descending then dropping instead of making it smooth. I'd like to just drop from the top, but I'll need to build to that, as if I go slow, I'll never get out of the hole with my second and third attempts. well, I might not.
Good morning.
250 for 5x5 - these aren't fun, and I don't know if i was going deep enough
Chins
Friday - heavy bench
-had to miss this session as I flew to Atlanta for a Visalus conference. My glute med has been spasming the entire time, giving me some pretty annoying sciatic nerve pain that runs right down to my calves... sitting for hours at a time hasn't been fun, but I've tried a few different things to get it under control. I made up for this workout in the hotel gym, which actually wasn't horrible, and I feel a lot better than doing nothing at all.
This wasn't a perfect week, but it was a very good week, and I'm very happy with my form changes and overall execution. I'm looking forward to this week coming up, I'll likely skip Mondays workout if I need to, just to get back onto the same page as everyone else. I think that's more important than missing a workout.
375 3 sets of 4
- these felt pretty good, and I really worked on dropping until I hit bottom, and coming up hard, elbows forward, big chest and treating every rep like it was 500.
-there's still something going on with my left leg, some kind of imbalance or soemthing like that. I'm missing something, and looking forward to getting it figured out.
Pin squats
515 for 3 sets of 4
-I do these very knees forward and drop straight down, and oh man are they hard. I actually missed my reps on my 3rd set, only getting 2, then my good friend Dash, who's also 6'' shorter than me did a rep off my pin to rack it. I love these challenges that the guys throw down, and I love stepping up to take them on. I took the 10's off each side, threw on the quarters, and did a double. Thanks again my friend.
Chin ups
5x10 - i think I only did 3 as I was fairly messed up afterwards.
Tuesday - bench
245,265,270 for 4 reps each
- I still don't understand the program, but these weren't hard at all, just really working on speed and solid technique each rep.
Floor press
- aborted when my shoulder just about ripped off.
flys 40 for 5 sets of 10 - these were actually pretty hard as well
Wednesday - deadlift
440 for 4 sets of 4
- I'm still wrapping my head around not going nuts all the time, and still amazed when I get my ass kicked by these weights. Something i did was to really get it off the floor in good position, then straighten my legs hard and fast, and this really got me past my knees well, and kept the bar very close to my body, instead of having it further out where i lose my pulls.
I told Cameron that if he couldn't pull 435 for his set after this i was going to Zercher squat it from the floor. He missed it, then I did a PR zercher squat with no warm up. I almost passed out when i was locking it and just let it drop.
Rack pulls
610 for 4 sets of 4
- first set good, second set was brutal. I didn't get all my sets or reps, but I was extremely happy with my form, and I'm starting to understand neutral back. I've been yelled at to arch over and over... and it's just been the wrong cue. I went back and watched Willies pulls, and noticed how he didn't so much arch, as straighten his entire torso, and lock it, even his head. This was back when he pulled 683 at 2010 CPF Nats... or 2009, can't remember. But I think I'm on the right track there.
Chins
Thursday - heavy squat
-this was a very annoying workout. None of the guys were training together, everyone was doing their own thing, and this slowed training down like crazy, rest periods were fucked, and I was losing concentration. I eventually just asked for spots and that made all the difference. I prefer to squat no spot and just dump if I get into trouble, but having the boys right there really helped me focus.
410 for 4sets of 4
-didn't stay as uprigtht as last week, which I feel was my shoulder, and not being able to pull my elbows forward. I was going deeper than last week, and felt a ton more comfortable, altho Megans feedback was that I looked hesitant... which I think she meant I was descending then dropping instead of making it smooth. I'd like to just drop from the top, but I'll need to build to that, as if I go slow, I'll never get out of the hole with my second and third attempts. well, I might not.
Good morning.
250 for 5x5 - these aren't fun, and I don't know if i was going deep enough
Chins
Friday - heavy bench
-had to miss this session as I flew to Atlanta for a Visalus conference. My glute med has been spasming the entire time, giving me some pretty annoying sciatic nerve pain that runs right down to my calves... sitting for hours at a time hasn't been fun, but I've tried a few different things to get it under control. I made up for this workout in the hotel gym, which actually wasn't horrible, and I feel a lot better than doing nothing at all.
This wasn't a perfect week, but it was a very good week, and I'm very happy with my form changes and overall execution. I'm looking forward to this week coming up, I'll likely skip Mondays workout if I need to, just to get back onto the same page as everyone else. I think that's more important than missing a workout.
For some reason this didn't post before, but these two workouts were pretty good.
Thursday I squatted 405 for 4 sets of 4, this was supposed to be 400...
Went olympic low bar, me and Megan have been talking a lot about this, and this is how I'll squat in competition, It's just what I feel is going to be the strongest style for me, and I use enough quads to get out of the hole, and enough hamstrings and low back to finish it.
Good mornings 264 5x5
Chins 5x10
I was very happy with this coming off a brutal monday session
Friday bench
270 for 4x4
- I missed a rep on the 3rd set. I remember feeling like my left arm just wasn't working. Right shoulder has been and continues to really bug me. But I've identified it as the long head of my bicep, which makes a lot of sense all in all. Knowing that I think I can keep training and get it sorted out with minimal problems.
close grip 225 for 5x5 - this was a hard day and I actually missed reps.
-Dieting caught up with me on this one, Hassan put me on the base plan and I went from 213-205 in the first week, just water wright, so nothing to write home about.
Flyes
35 5x10
A very up and down week, Monday was pretty tough and missing bench reps on what I feel are light weights really sucks, but there's a plan here, and I'm going to stick to it.
Thursday I squatted 405 for 4 sets of 4, this was supposed to be 400...
Went olympic low bar, me and Megan have been talking a lot about this, and this is how I'll squat in competition, It's just what I feel is going to be the strongest style for me, and I use enough quads to get out of the hole, and enough hamstrings and low back to finish it.
Good mornings 264 5x5
Chins 5x10
I was very happy with this coming off a brutal monday session
Friday bench
270 for 4x4
- I missed a rep on the 3rd set. I remember feeling like my left arm just wasn't working. Right shoulder has been and continues to really bug me. But I've identified it as the long head of my bicep, which makes a lot of sense all in all. Knowing that I think I can keep training and get it sorted out with minimal problems.
close grip 225 for 5x5 - this was a hard day and I actually missed reps.
-Dieting caught up with me on this one, Hassan put me on the base plan and I went from 213-205 in the first week, just water wright, so nothing to write home about.
Flyes
35 5x10
A very up and down week, Monday was pretty tough and missing bench reps on what I feel are light weights really sucks, but there's a plan here, and I'm going to stick to it.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Wednesday deadlift
Did a light warm up, just enough to get into position and make sure my shoulder was well warmed up.
Deadlift
425 for 3 sets of 4
- really really worked on coming off the floor in a good position and keeping my hips down, then accelerating past my knees to lockout... I've pointed my toes out a bit more than usual... Felt good.
Rack lockouts at the knee
585 for 3 sets of 4
- these kicked all our asses. We were all having a tough time keeping position. After watching the video, I'd start my pull with a very arched back, then there'd be a slight round and I'd go. A lot of reps where my back felt totally arched this still happened... I'm really going to keep straining like crazy for better form on these
Shrugs
220 2 sets of 20
- these didn't make my shoulder feel the best...
10 minute walk - building up to 30 mins
Booth did some good reps on 230 tonite and switched to an Olympic low bar style that looked really good for him.
Cam is hungry as hell and just grinded out the work tonite. Chris is loving life and training like a beast. Segovia is a great combination of hard work, focus, and very good technique. Eric is just a workhorse and freaky strong. Jeremy is grinding out consistent progress all the time. Jordan gets better form every night. Dash is training harder than ever, and maxes on 4-5 exercises every night. Very exciting stuff.
2 days into the new diet... Not the easiest switch to make... But it'll get easier every day. Starting to feel a little low on energy and getting brutal sugar headaches.... But nothing serious... I seem to be leaning out very well, and I'm sure we're just getting a baseline then moving from there.
Tuesday - light bench
Did enough of a warm up to be able to arch... I've done my best to stop stretching... not sure where the no stretching or warm up thing is going... but basically, if something is spasming and in really bad shape I'll take care of it... if it just hurts, I let it stay tight. This is I think just a part of the process, and helps to keep you healthy... sounds weird... but I'm going with it. There's being strong... then there's peaking to the point where stairs give you an anxiety attack because your knees hurt so bad... that's a good place to be heading into a meet.
Bench
255 for 3 sets of 4 reps
- light and easy as they should be, right shoulder not feeling super happy
floor press lockouts
345 3 sets of 4
- trap and shoulder felt like they were going to rip right off the bone. I'm really bad at lockouts, so I can use the work.
Dumbell flys
35 for 5 sets of 10
face pulls - couple sets
After the bad workout yesterday... I was pissed for a bit, ran through a couple hundred things that it could have been, but after a half hour, I was pretty chilled out. I'm a little frustrated because I wanted to just jump right into where I was supposed to be at right now, instead of just starting at the beginning... That was my big mistake... I've taken a few weeks to go light and let things heal, now I'm a ton looser, and I just need to start over, stay patient, not rush things, and just let it happen. Worst case, maybe I won't go for a huge squat at the next meet in December, and I'll focus on my bench and pull... Either way, rushing things is where I get into trouble, and I just need to keep my head and let it happen.
Bench
255 for 3 sets of 4 reps
- light and easy as they should be, right shoulder not feeling super happy
floor press lockouts
345 3 sets of 4
- trap and shoulder felt like they were going to rip right off the bone. I'm really bad at lockouts, so I can use the work.
Dumbell flys
35 for 5 sets of 10
face pulls - couple sets
After the bad workout yesterday... I was pissed for a bit, ran through a couple hundred things that it could have been, but after a half hour, I was pretty chilled out. I'm a little frustrated because I wanted to just jump right into where I was supposed to be at right now, instead of just starting at the beginning... That was my big mistake... I've taken a few weeks to go light and let things heal, now I'm a ton looser, and I just need to start over, stay patient, not rush things, and just let it happen. Worst case, maybe I won't go for a huge squat at the next meet in December, and I'll focus on my bench and pull... Either way, rushing things is where I get into trouble, and I just need to keep my head and let it happen.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Friday heavy bench / Monday squat hiccup
Friday was just a really fun day in the gym. It was my first time seeing Sue Thompson since she got back from her 4th place finish athWorlds, so it was great to catch up. I felt like a real ass when I realized my current coach competed as well, and I didn't even wish him luck. Sue said he didn't have his best day, and I know I don't like being reminded after a disapointing day.
I benched with Megan, as we had to go in early to make a dinner later. She just has freaky dealy bench form, and it really makes her a total package of a lifter. Great squat, and even better deadlift along with a great bench is pretty deadly.
Marks program to start feels fairly light right now, which I hope is a good sign, at least on bench. I went:
264 for 4 sets of 4
- last set, I did 6, and felt like 7 I had 7 and 8 for sure... Last time I was moving these weights around I was 235 and hit a 363 in competition. I'd really like to hit 350, which is just small continuing progress from meet to meet.
Close grip
220 5x5
-did 10 on the last set, just to see
Dumbell flys
35 10x5
- haven't done these in a looooong time, But i feel like they're going to be a help keeping me healthy.
I also did a few sets of facepulls
-Took the weekend off, which hasn't happened in a while
Monday - light squat nightmare
-Trained early, when I typically train after a full day of water and food, made the mistake of loosening my belt a notch, as it was too tight the other night... i moved it back later to the oringinal position, and it was still loose.
Went up to 415 for a planned 3 sets of 4
1st set - was all over the place, and twisting, 3rd rep racked it
2nd set - after 1st rep, racked
3rd set - did 2 twisting reps again with a lower bar position
Tried to get my head back into things, but just wasn't my day, so I left, and plan to redo this workout tomorrow.
I benched with Megan, as we had to go in early to make a dinner later. She just has freaky dealy bench form, and it really makes her a total package of a lifter. Great squat, and even better deadlift along with a great bench is pretty deadly.
Marks program to start feels fairly light right now, which I hope is a good sign, at least on bench. I went:
264 for 4 sets of 4
- last set, I did 6, and felt like 7 I had 7 and 8 for sure... Last time I was moving these weights around I was 235 and hit a 363 in competition. I'd really like to hit 350, which is just small continuing progress from meet to meet.
Close grip
220 5x5
-did 10 on the last set, just to see
Dumbell flys
35 10x5
- haven't done these in a looooong time, But i feel like they're going to be a help keeping me healthy.
I also did a few sets of facepulls
-Took the weekend off, which hasn't happened in a while
Monday - light squat nightmare
-Trained early, when I typically train after a full day of water and food, made the mistake of loosening my belt a notch, as it was too tight the other night... i moved it back later to the oringinal position, and it was still loose.
Went up to 415 for a planned 3 sets of 4
1st set - was all over the place, and twisting, 3rd rep racked it
2nd set - after 1st rep, racked
3rd set - did 2 twisting reps again with a lower bar position
Tried to get my head back into things, but just wasn't my day, so I left, and plan to redo this workout tomorrow.
Friday, October 7, 2011
the willie squat program
I never really tracked how things were going with Willis program, I sent him videos every day at the start, then my latop decided to die, so that went out the window. But The program was very simple, do one week of 10 singles with a pretty challenging weight every day, except sunday, then max the following week every day. Don't stretch of foam roll or do any kind of warm up at all, let the squat build the flexibility to squat.
After the first couple days, my left leg got tight to the point where i could barely straighten my leg, or move it in general, my barcihials started to spasm like crazy from holding the bar on my back, and I had to ice them every night. A deep general ache set in, touching the bar hurt, where the bar sat on my back was tender to touch. Oddly I was sore all over except my low back. I can remember taking naps as I was painting during the day, and almost having an anxiety attack having to carry my equipment up 3 flights of stairs.
The second week the brachials were a lot looser, but needed constant attention. I was maxing daily, and terrified as i felt so horrible, but the weights were all around 500, and I was genuinely surprised. Missed a couple squat, and folded over pretty hard into my belt, and really jacked up my ribs. This became a rough go, I didn't break anything, but tore a bunch of cartiliage, and they just hurt like crazy all the time, and couldn't unrack a bench press by myself. Wound up going to the hospital at the end of the week for x rays, and they said I was fine, but should take 4-6 weeks off lifting, I explained my situation and they just said to train as the pain allowed. Halfway thru the week, I hit a pretty good burnout, and it took Diane and Willie to get me in the gym that night.
Week 3 was 10 singles with 435, and it was like a recovery week. It was still brutal, and the ribs bothered me like crazy all the time, and by the end of the week my right trap/shoulder was spasming all day every day. Sleeping was a total nightmare. This was the week I started trying a few new things with my stance, I have no idea how to explain it, but my body naturally just wanted to let the knees go more forward and stay more upright. I pointed my feet much more forward, and really worked on keeping my knees out. I actually kept maxing on Monday and hit a really good 5 plates in this style, and decided to try to stick with it as I was getting a fair bit under parallel and felt strong like crazy. I took a few vids to make sure i was getting depth, and all was looking great
week 4 was another max out, I was feeling strong, but my body was so tight that looking back i was cutting all my squats, I thought from the week before I was still getting solid depth, as I typically just judge it by feel... but I wasn't. This was stilla great week, and by the end of it, I felt like I could max out on any given day and given time, and not even get too worked up about it.
Week 5 was a bit of a taper... I did 2 days of 10 singles, and 2 maxes, that I had to do in Toronto in one crappy gym and one pretty good gym where I hit a 535 in the same style I was missing 520 with... it wasn't to depth, but it was consistent, and i felt like if i had the boys around I could have gone much higher. I watched them all, and they were close, probably 2 inches high above parallel, but above.
week 6 i squatted monday and wednesday, monday just up to 440x2 and wednesday 405x3.
The meet was the meet, I benched much better, and pulled well, but not how I wanted to. I'm confident both these lifts are going to keep moving though. My squat was a painful thing, after watching the vids, I thought i maybe got a gift on the first one, but compared to my 2nd high squat it was fine. 2nd i did it just like i did in training, and it felt light, but not to depth. 3rd i decided to take it lower and i just didn't do it. A very tough thing to have happen after putting in the time... but there are so many positives from this failure i really don't care. I immediately headed home, put the bar all the way up to my neck, dropped straight down, and it felt perfect. I maxed out that monday with 435 and 45lbs chain, and while feeling like death, it went up smooth, and I'd found my style.
Other things I noticed:
-my left foot would slide into a toes pointed out position in the hole and i never noticed until a partner pointed it out to me, and that knee was horrible, I limped for weeks.
-I couldn't eat enough, my food choices this summer weren't really all that great, but honestly, it's by far the best I've ever done. I had a lot of plain triple patty hamburgers, plain chicken wraps from tim hortons, and flatbread from Subway and bacon and eggs, but I had to start slamming mixed nuts like crazy, low sugar oatmeal/protein bars, and timbits whenever i wanted, and a big general increase in portion sizes... and it was still tough to keep weight on.
- I was just tired an exhausted all day every day
-my hands hurt to touch anything
- my posture improved, shoulders pulled back a fair bit, and I could feel the muscles that had to tighten up like crazy to do it, cause they were sore all the time.
-Deep breaths hurt, and breathing in general got kinda crappy, Isabelle told me my diaphragm was spasming
- i woke up 10 times a night, basically whenever i moved
- Every day i was looking forward to my squat workout, even though i dreaded it like you can't believe.
- I was cold all the time, I mean all the time
- I benched maybe 4 times in 6 weeks, and 2 of them were about a week out from the meet, and my bench went up after losing a fair bit of upper body size from not being able to do much.
-the doubles on the way down from maxing out were harder than the max by a lot, but still went up.
- getting thru something like that just changes or makes you question just about all your training beliefs
I think when I go back to this and try it again I'll have much better results. Willie has been keeping his numbers very quiet, but I hear he's made big time progress, and I think one of the reasons is that the dudes had near perfect form for like 10 years, and if he tightens up like crazy, his body can still go to that perfect form... whereas mines ok, so when I get tight, it throws things off. I think after Dec I'd like to give it another whirl, but it's also one of those things where you've gotta have a big WHY, or you'll never make it, so you may have to think about timing. I'd prefer to not be in a wildly stressful time with very long work hours the next time I try.
After the first couple days, my left leg got tight to the point where i could barely straighten my leg, or move it in general, my barcihials started to spasm like crazy from holding the bar on my back, and I had to ice them every night. A deep general ache set in, touching the bar hurt, where the bar sat on my back was tender to touch. Oddly I was sore all over except my low back. I can remember taking naps as I was painting during the day, and almost having an anxiety attack having to carry my equipment up 3 flights of stairs.
The second week the brachials were a lot looser, but needed constant attention. I was maxing daily, and terrified as i felt so horrible, but the weights were all around 500, and I was genuinely surprised. Missed a couple squat, and folded over pretty hard into my belt, and really jacked up my ribs. This became a rough go, I didn't break anything, but tore a bunch of cartiliage, and they just hurt like crazy all the time, and couldn't unrack a bench press by myself. Wound up going to the hospital at the end of the week for x rays, and they said I was fine, but should take 4-6 weeks off lifting, I explained my situation and they just said to train as the pain allowed. Halfway thru the week, I hit a pretty good burnout, and it took Diane and Willie to get me in the gym that night.
Week 3 was 10 singles with 435, and it was like a recovery week. It was still brutal, and the ribs bothered me like crazy all the time, and by the end of the week my right trap/shoulder was spasming all day every day. Sleeping was a total nightmare. This was the week I started trying a few new things with my stance, I have no idea how to explain it, but my body naturally just wanted to let the knees go more forward and stay more upright. I pointed my feet much more forward, and really worked on keeping my knees out. I actually kept maxing on Monday and hit a really good 5 plates in this style, and decided to try to stick with it as I was getting a fair bit under parallel and felt strong like crazy. I took a few vids to make sure i was getting depth, and all was looking great
week 4 was another max out, I was feeling strong, but my body was so tight that looking back i was cutting all my squats, I thought from the week before I was still getting solid depth, as I typically just judge it by feel... but I wasn't. This was stilla great week, and by the end of it, I felt like I could max out on any given day and given time, and not even get too worked up about it.
Week 5 was a bit of a taper... I did 2 days of 10 singles, and 2 maxes, that I had to do in Toronto in one crappy gym and one pretty good gym where I hit a 535 in the same style I was missing 520 with... it wasn't to depth, but it was consistent, and i felt like if i had the boys around I could have gone much higher. I watched them all, and they were close, probably 2 inches high above parallel, but above.
week 6 i squatted monday and wednesday, monday just up to 440x2 and wednesday 405x3.
The meet was the meet, I benched much better, and pulled well, but not how I wanted to. I'm confident both these lifts are going to keep moving though. My squat was a painful thing, after watching the vids, I thought i maybe got a gift on the first one, but compared to my 2nd high squat it was fine. 2nd i did it just like i did in training, and it felt light, but not to depth. 3rd i decided to take it lower and i just didn't do it. A very tough thing to have happen after putting in the time... but there are so many positives from this failure i really don't care. I immediately headed home, put the bar all the way up to my neck, dropped straight down, and it felt perfect. I maxed out that monday with 435 and 45lbs chain, and while feeling like death, it went up smooth, and I'd found my style.
Other things I noticed:
-my left foot would slide into a toes pointed out position in the hole and i never noticed until a partner pointed it out to me, and that knee was horrible, I limped for weeks.
-I couldn't eat enough, my food choices this summer weren't really all that great, but honestly, it's by far the best I've ever done. I had a lot of plain triple patty hamburgers, plain chicken wraps from tim hortons, and flatbread from Subway and bacon and eggs, but I had to start slamming mixed nuts like crazy, low sugar oatmeal/protein bars, and timbits whenever i wanted, and a big general increase in portion sizes... and it was still tough to keep weight on.
- I was just tired an exhausted all day every day
-my hands hurt to touch anything
- my posture improved, shoulders pulled back a fair bit, and I could feel the muscles that had to tighten up like crazy to do it, cause they were sore all the time.
-Deep breaths hurt, and breathing in general got kinda crappy, Isabelle told me my diaphragm was spasming
- i woke up 10 times a night, basically whenever i moved
- Every day i was looking forward to my squat workout, even though i dreaded it like you can't believe.
- I was cold all the time, I mean all the time
- I benched maybe 4 times in 6 weeks, and 2 of them were about a week out from the meet, and my bench went up after losing a fair bit of upper body size from not being able to do much.
-the doubles on the way down from maxing out were harder than the max by a lot, but still went up.
- getting thru something like that just changes or makes you question just about all your training beliefs
I think when I go back to this and try it again I'll have much better results. Willie has been keeping his numbers very quiet, but I hear he's made big time progress, and I think one of the reasons is that the dudes had near perfect form for like 10 years, and if he tightens up like crazy, his body can still go to that perfect form... whereas mines ok, so when I get tight, it throws things off. I think after Dec I'd like to give it another whirl, but it's also one of those things where you've gotta have a big WHY, or you'll never make it, so you may have to think about timing. I'd prefer to not be in a wildly stressful time with very long work hours the next time I try.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Thursday - heavy squat
Wednesday - deadlift night
this was supposed to be doing mid 400's for 3 sets of 4 tonite, but pulls are rough when my back is acting funny like this. I will not give whatever is going on back there any attention. I've always felt the best way to come back from injuries is to do the most you can right away within reason. Monday nigh squatst had bad news written all over it, but tonite i wanted to see what i could do without too much discomfort.
warm up - everyone else does the warm up Paul gave me, after Willies max every day program, I've been trying a few different things
-back raises, Dimitri recomends these big time
-bodyweight squats till things didn't hurt too much
-kettlebell swings - i think i do these fine, i just squeeze my butt, and i think i feel my glutes a lot better while i'm squatting.
- reverse barbell curls - brachials are feeling fine and under control lately
-ankle stretches... Sarah Leighton told me she finds it harder to hit depth when her calves are tight, then Megan Told me the same thing,.. so I started to stretch them a fair bit
barx a bunch
135x a bunch - just warming up until I feel kinda close to poition
185-
225x4-5 not really keeping count, but feeling like position is coming better each time
275- everything seemed to stay in the right place after watching the video
315- just stayed tight like crazy for this one, my squat don't usually loosed up all the way till after this
then did around 100 bodyweight squats in sets of 20 while watching all the guys. Being hurt makes it a ton easier to coach, when I'm lifting I find it hard to be helping out the guys. It's one of the reasons I take a lot of videos, I watch what i can during the lift, then I usually grab the guy and play him the video, and we chat quick about any changes for next set. I find showing them what's happening, they are a ton more aware then me trying to explain... which I'm really not smart enough to be able to do well. I also will generally watch the videos on a larger screen that night, to get a better sense of what's going on. Also helps me to see any dumb coaching moves I made... I started screwing Erics elbows on a set and totally screwed him up when he was squatting beautifully before I said anything. My bad.
Thursday - heavy squat night
I was supposed to do low 400\s for 4 sets of 4 tonite, backs been feeling better, and I think one of the reasons is just from being fairly physically active during the day. Sitting or laying for extended periods ruins me. I felt truly horrible all day after taking an old school ripped freak and just having a splitting headache... threw the bottle out, not the first time that's happened. But I made a deal to go in and warm up, then decide what to do.
warm up went really well so I went:
bar
135- not bad
225- not hard to hold position back noticeable
315- feeling fine
365- belt on, felt decent, then after the set felt totally normal, as I usually did during the Willie max out program. Nothing felt out of place during the set, mistimed a rep at the end but nothing serious.
405- fell forward on the 3rd rep, i think mostly just from having a bit of doubt. All the other reps looked fine, and much better speed with 405 then anything i've done in a while. I take it for a good sign, but stopped there as the squats felt good, everything was in place, so if I'm going to get tight overnite, I'd rather have my body get tight after doing reps with no twisting or favoring.
I missed a session with Dimitri this week, but I'll be seeing him tomorrow, and i think after this my hips should be back where they're supposed to be, my left leg that was extremely tight to the point where I could barely straighten it and my kneecap was sore to touch during the Willie program, but it's feeling a lot more even and equal with the right leg now which I think is going to be very important for the next push.
The boys had a big in their ass to max this week, so I let them, then dropped them down for reps really drilling in form as best we could. Cam and Ohri are still going head to head, tho I'm going to slow Ohri down next week, his form is off, and he's tight in the wrong spots... we're going to switch his pull to sumo, his squat is gorgeous, and he's gotta back off bench till his shoulder is feeling better. Cam is pissed about his first meet, which I love, and he's already pumping hard, he told me tonite the meet is only "9 weeks away"... he's going to make big progress. Jeremy amazes me with how technical he's becoming. His bench presses are great, and his squats have just become so smooth and flowing it blows me away every time I watch him.
Every night in the gym these days are good ones.
this was supposed to be doing mid 400's for 3 sets of 4 tonite, but pulls are rough when my back is acting funny like this. I will not give whatever is going on back there any attention. I've always felt the best way to come back from injuries is to do the most you can right away within reason. Monday nigh squatst had bad news written all over it, but tonite i wanted to see what i could do without too much discomfort.
warm up - everyone else does the warm up Paul gave me, after Willies max every day program, I've been trying a few different things
-back raises, Dimitri recomends these big time
-bodyweight squats till things didn't hurt too much
-kettlebell swings - i think i do these fine, i just squeeze my butt, and i think i feel my glutes a lot better while i'm squatting.
- reverse barbell curls - brachials are feeling fine and under control lately
-ankle stretches... Sarah Leighton told me she finds it harder to hit depth when her calves are tight, then Megan Told me the same thing,.. so I started to stretch them a fair bit
barx a bunch
135x a bunch - just warming up until I feel kinda close to poition
185-
225x4-5 not really keeping count, but feeling like position is coming better each time
275- everything seemed to stay in the right place after watching the video
315- just stayed tight like crazy for this one, my squat don't usually loosed up all the way till after this
then did around 100 bodyweight squats in sets of 20 while watching all the guys. Being hurt makes it a ton easier to coach, when I'm lifting I find it hard to be helping out the guys. It's one of the reasons I take a lot of videos, I watch what i can during the lift, then I usually grab the guy and play him the video, and we chat quick about any changes for next set. I find showing them what's happening, they are a ton more aware then me trying to explain... which I'm really not smart enough to be able to do well. I also will generally watch the videos on a larger screen that night, to get a better sense of what's going on. Also helps me to see any dumb coaching moves I made... I started screwing Erics elbows on a set and totally screwed him up when he was squatting beautifully before I said anything. My bad.
Thursday - heavy squat night
I was supposed to do low 400\s for 4 sets of 4 tonite, backs been feeling better, and I think one of the reasons is just from being fairly physically active during the day. Sitting or laying for extended periods ruins me. I felt truly horrible all day after taking an old school ripped freak and just having a splitting headache... threw the bottle out, not the first time that's happened. But I made a deal to go in and warm up, then decide what to do.
warm up went really well so I went:
bar
135- not bad
225- not hard to hold position back noticeable
315- feeling fine
365- belt on, felt decent, then after the set felt totally normal, as I usually did during the Willie max out program. Nothing felt out of place during the set, mistimed a rep at the end but nothing serious.
405- fell forward on the 3rd rep, i think mostly just from having a bit of doubt. All the other reps looked fine, and much better speed with 405 then anything i've done in a while. I take it for a good sign, but stopped there as the squats felt good, everything was in place, so if I'm going to get tight overnite, I'd rather have my body get tight after doing reps with no twisting or favoring.
I missed a session with Dimitri this week, but I'll be seeing him tomorrow, and i think after this my hips should be back where they're supposed to be, my left leg that was extremely tight to the point where I could barely straighten it and my kneecap was sore to touch during the Willie program, but it's feeling a lot more even and equal with the right leg now which I think is going to be very important for the next push.
The boys had a big in their ass to max this week, so I let them, then dropped them down for reps really drilling in form as best we could. Cam and Ohri are still going head to head, tho I'm going to slow Ohri down next week, his form is off, and he's tight in the wrong spots... we're going to switch his pull to sumo, his squat is gorgeous, and he's gotta back off bench till his shoulder is feeling better. Cam is pissed about his first meet, which I love, and he's already pumping hard, he told me tonite the meet is only "9 weeks away"... he's going to make big progress. Jeremy amazes me with how technical he's becoming. His bench presses are great, and his squats have just become so smooth and flowing it blows me away every time I watch him.
Every night in the gym these days are good ones.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Tuesday bench night
Took my time warming up, my glute med is still pretty messed up and was bugging me all day. When it takes me a good 2 minutes to put socks on in the morning I sometimes question what I'm doing... But I promptly forget all about it 15 minutes later.
Bench
Had to go flat foot cause I couldnt arch
Bar
135 with foam roller under my back
185
225
245 for 3 sets of 4
- all reps felt light and easy as they should. I use lighter days like this to really focus on form and squeezing the bar, and touching the bottom of my sternum, using my lats and slightly flaring on the way up. This took a while, but my bench feels great these days form wise.
Floor press lockouts
- always fun struggling to stand after these sets
295 x 4
335x4 2 sets
- I couldn't get 315 off the pins last week
Chins
- supposed to be 5x10, got 10s first 3 sets, then 6-7 last 2
Did a couple face pulls and lateral raises pretty light for my shoulder.
Cam and Ohri had a show down... Those 2 are right about the same level, so they're going to push each other really well. Cam really wanted another stab at Russian power, so he's started that again. Dash did Dash. Andrew did back work for his shoulder.
Overall another really fun night with the boys
Tuesday, October 4, 2011
Coming off our last meet we've been just doing some volume work, repairing any injuries, and re working any technical stuff we saw at the meet.
Right now, in my training I've had Mark Giffen, (multiple time Canadian champ, world champ, more records than I can remember), get my training put together for this meet coming up.
It's a cool program, like nothing I've tried before, so I'm pretty interested to see the results, and just in general to get feedback from Mark.
I'm currently rehabbing a couple things. I had a pretty badly strained rec femoris that was giving me ridiculous knee pain that I got to loosen up. I tore cartilage on both sides of my ribs and that's made it difficult to tighten my core the way i would like to, but is a lot better, and almost not even noticeable now. I've also had some pretty good pain in my right shoulder trap area, that I think has more to do with compensating than anything else, so I'm not too worried, it's a lot better and I expect it to simply go away on it's own pretty soon.
My big issue right now is a spasming glute med, that once didn't go away for about 6 months. I'm very certain that I'll have it taken care of this week however, It's a combo of tight hips and my core not being as strong as it usually is I believe... but I have no idea for sure. I've gone to see my chiro Demitri who takes care of all the "Smart" stuff for me, so I don't have to worry about it. I see him 3 times a week, and do some back raises, and take a ball hockey ball to my trouble spots, and that should do it up.
Right now, in my training I've had Mark Giffen, (multiple time Canadian champ, world champ, more records than I can remember), get my training put together for this meet coming up.
It's a cool program, like nothing I've tried before, so I'm pretty interested to see the results, and just in general to get feedback from Mark.
I'm currently rehabbing a couple things. I had a pretty badly strained rec femoris that was giving me ridiculous knee pain that I got to loosen up. I tore cartilage on both sides of my ribs and that's made it difficult to tighten my core the way i would like to, but is a lot better, and almost not even noticeable now. I've also had some pretty good pain in my right shoulder trap area, that I think has more to do with compensating than anything else, so I'm not too worried, it's a lot better and I expect it to simply go away on it's own pretty soon.
My big issue right now is a spasming glute med, that once didn't go away for about 6 months. I'm very certain that I'll have it taken care of this week however, It's a combo of tight hips and my core not being as strong as it usually is I believe... but I have no idea for sure. I've gone to see my chiro Demitri who takes care of all the "Smart" stuff for me, so I don't have to worry about it. I see him 3 times a week, and do some back raises, and take a ball hockey ball to my trouble spots, and that should do it up.
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