Good day of training. Finally started training with over 400 on the deadlift. Hit 407 for an easy double. I remember when I did that for 10 reps back in the day. Oh well, it’s coming back.

Wow! Long time no update, huh? Well, things haven’t been too bad. Feeling strong on everything and my cardio is getting better as well. On the bench press I hit an easy 319 for 5 reps friday before last, then backed it down last week to 297 to recycle. Still doing rack squats, hitting 407 for 5 2 weeks in a row, then dropping down last week to do some full range Hatfield squats.

We are still hitting the track for 2 miles on Monday, Thursday, and Saturday. However yesterday I went to the gym instead and hit 30 minutes on the treadmill and then 30 minutes on the bike. My bodyweight has been fluctuating between 215 and 219, so that has been a sticking point for me, but this past 7 days or so I have been dropping again, and I’m refocused on hitting 200.

Deadlifts are up tomorrow. I’ll see about putting some videos back up this week, at least of my deads and bench.

Haven’t missed a beat this past week. Last Friday I recycled on the bench, took it back down to 286 for 5 reps. I’ll continue to do these mini-cycles to stay fresh and not max out too soon. This week I’ll go back up to 296, then next week 308, then the week after back down to 296.

Sunday’s square were still in the rack, and will be for quite a while. 363 for 3 sets of 3 reps, easy weight.

On deadlifts last week I went up to 386 for 3 reps. Today I did stiff-leg deads without a belt and hit 325 for an easy 3 reps. I will alternate deads this way to keep my back in shape.

I haven’t skipped out my cardio, either. Monday, Thursday, and Saturday we hit the track at Erickson Field.

The diet was going pretty well for the most part, but it took a hit this week. Nothing bad for me, just to much of a good thing

Ok, a little lax on the updates, right? Well, I have been very consistent in my training, but not my blogging, and very inconsistent on my eating habits. A little catch up:
Because of the pain in my IT bands, I have switched to heavy rack squats…I have started doing much light deep box squats on my deadlift day, just as a way to warm p for deads. Just doing heavy rack squats feels good, getting heavier weight on my back is a mental boost. I trained for the Nationals in Baton Rouge for an entire training cycle by doing no full squats, just racks, and didn’t even put gear on until 2-3 weeks out from the meet.
Deadlifts are going well. This is the first time in years that I have actually trained the deadlift, so any deadlifting is a plus for me. I should be back over 400 for reps in the next couple of weeks.
The Bench Press is my baby, and it’s coming along nicely. Slight shoulder pain, but not so much that I can’t ignore it. This week I hit an easy 297 for 5 reps (paused the last one), and then dropped down to 231 for 20 reps. One indication that my shoulder is close to normal is that I can do dips again, this week hitting 2 sets of 15. 5 weeks ago is was all I could do to even hold myself up on the bars, the shoulder didn’t want to support me. I modified how I was doing them so that I could some kind of range of motion, and now can do regular dips.

I finally got into the cardio part of my training. This past tuesday I hit 2 miles on the treadmill (quick walk at an incline), and this morning I went to the track and ran/walked …the running part had me hurting.

Ciao.

After taking last week off on Deadlifts, it was good to get back at it today. My wife and I had a long two and a half days at the hospital (Cleveland Clinic, one of the best in the country), and mentally I just didn’t want to lift today, but once we started warming up at the Patriot Fitness Center, I was fine. My last deadlift workout two weeks ago ended with an easy 286, so I went up to 308 today, still with an overhand grip. I did put the wrestling shoes on today. The weight was still easy, good for the ego. I’ve never trained with an overhand grip, but so far no issues. Again, the work load is light, no multiple sets at the top weight yet, that will come later. Right now, we just want to stay in the groove of working out.

Deadlifts 132 x 8, 187 x 8, 220 x 5, 264 x 5, 308 x 5
Shrugs 264, 308, 352 x 10
Pulldowns 4 x 8
Low Cable Rows 3 x 8
Chins 3 x 8
EZ Curls 3 x 15

Still hacking up crap out of my lungs, but overall I feel good. Bodyweight stayed at 214, even though I pigged out on food for the last 2 days in Cleveland. It’s been a good change of pace to work out at the Patriot Fitness Center. We’ve put a lot of work into it over the last couple of weeks and it look much better now. It’s built for training, not looking pretty. I mean, c’mon, I can’t get much prettier, right?

Ok…took a slight break attending to personal biz up in Cleveland. The last workout was a quickie bench workout in my basement last Wednesday, the 24th. It went ok, but by myself, and I still don’t trust the shoulder at all.

Today, we were back on the deadlifts. This has to be the last easy deadlift day, have to put up a little more. Still used overhand grip, still no deadlift shoes. Everything was the same as last week as far as assistance exercises and weight goes, so I won’t bore you with the details. However, for some reason, I got a wild hair up my caboose and decided to swing by a notorious set of steps downtown, pictured above. Didn’t look that bad at first, so I started jogging up them…this was not the stairway to heaven…midway up, I was walking…3/4’s of the way up, by legs started cramping up, so hard that they felt like they were being ripped away from my legs. I almost thought I wouldn’t make it up, but up I went. Somebody else had sauntered up right before me, and he was smugly walking around the park that is at the top of these demon steps. Rest assured, I continued to act cool once I made it to the top, acting like I was checking a text message while trying to get my right leg to unlock and not collapse at the same time. I’m not sure he was completely fooled.

I made the decision to put myself through this hell after I checked my weight at the gym…219, up a pound over what I had began. Waaaay too much good eating in Cleveland, I’ll admit. The full rack of ribs at The House of Blues is awesome…ask for Genille!

Todays meals were full of protein and low on calories, especially fat…lot’s of water…good good good…I’ll be hitting the treadmill tomorrow morning…

Another kinda sorta easy workout. With everything going on this week, we will start pushing more next week. Conditioning feels good, a lot of the aches and pains are disappearing, and I’m starting to feel like I actually work out now.

Top set was he same as last week, 286 for 5 with just the belt, high tops, overhand grip. Next week we will ad another set at the top weight for a few weeks, then 3 sets at the top weight. Going to see how far I can go before I switch shoes and grip, then add suit much further on down the line. Along the way, we’ll add bands and some of the other goodies that are so popular with powerlifters today, but let me point out one thing. It doesn’t really matter what you do for assistance exercises, if you don’t eventually start busting your ass, you’ll go nowhere. So, don’t think that you’ll find some magical secret out there being sold by this gym or that gym, this system or that system. It’s all junk without the effort. No champions out there in any sport got where they are because they had “secret training methods”. They worked their asses off to get where they are today. Hard work and consistency. To some, it comes easier, they start with more on their plate, but if they don’t work at it, they only go so far.

After heavy shrugs we finished off with pulldowns, chins, and some ez curls.

My bodyweight was back at 218, but I’m in no hurry, I know it can drop quickly if I want it to do so. My eating habits have changed for the better, and I have greatly increased by protein intake, already feel like I’m leaning out. My energy levels have taken a jump as well, and today’s workout was much faster paced than usual, not a lot of the usual talking/bullshitting we normally do to gain rest before the next set.

Since I’ll be out of town, in Cleveland, Wednesday afternoon through Saturday, I’m going to hit a quick bench workout tomorrow morning. I won’t have a chance to work out again until Sunday or Monday, and then we will kick it up a notch. Until next time…