Another week off last week in the gym due to hitting Cleveland and than at the USYWA National Wrestling Championships. This week in deadlifts I stayed the same as my last week deadlifting, 308 for 5 reps. Same back workout, but I added inverted sit-ups and decline sit-ups at the end of the workout. Deads were easy, so I will make a bigger jump next week, probably 330 for 5. I’m still using the overhand grip and will do so until I can’t hold on to the bar.

I spent the largest part of my day at the emergency room with my wife today…everything is fine now, out of respect for her, I won’t go into the details, it’s her story to tell. In place of my squat workout I was going to post, I want to post a video on Rotator Cuff training that I first saw on Joe Herrera’s blog  The Pursuit of Strength in a post entitled “Bulletproof your rotators”

Another decent day in the comeback…benches were super easy, as the videos show…only thing is, on the two heavier sets, 220 and 242, I don’t feel like I’m pushing with the right shoulder, the one that’s injured. They were super easy, but the shoulder just feels like it’s detached or something. It looks eve on the video, but it feels off. I’m a lifter who has always been exact on balance, perfect on technique, and these feel way off, even if they don’t look it.

220 x 8:

242 x 5:

So, you can see that the benches are easy, I’m just getting to the edge of greedy, and really am fighting the urge to make bigger jumps each week. I might stay at 242 next week, for 2 sets of 5.

The rest of the workout was identical to lat Friday’s workout, so you can refer back to that day for the details. Bodyweight down to 213, that was still in my jeans, so I’m happy with that. I’ll be hitting some cardio and a long stretching session tomorrow, then squats on Sunday. I’ll be going for a bigger drop in weight by the end of next week, increasing cardio each day, increasing the water intake. The caloric intake has been steady at about 1200-1500 per day, mostly due to the big dinners…eating light at breakfast and then a protein drink for lunch.

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, we skipped last weeks squat workout because of me being sick, so it has been 2 weeks since I have hit legs. A lot of discussion going on in the gym (this time back out at Dave’s house) and it took a while to get into the workout. Stuck with Hatfield bar squats…one day last week I had tried to get under the bar to see how my shoulder felt and it felt like it was ripping out of the socket, no weight, as a matter of fact it was on a smith machine, so I didn’t have to even balance the bar. The warm-ups were exhausting, much more so than the benches on Friday…squats tax you so much more than any other exercise, and my system isn’t back up to speed. Should be good to go by the end of next week. Went up to 252 for 8, easy weight but tiring. Followed up with leg ext, leg curls, ez curls, and db preacher  curls. Body weight still at 214…Pants are finally giving me a little more breathing room!

Well, I finally felt good enough to workout again, having been sick with a head and eventually chest cold for a week now. Still have a lot of congestion I’m hacking up, but everything else is all good. We worked out the Patriot Fitness Center yesterday. For the past couple of weeks we have been revamping the center to be a more effective training center, emphasis on training. It’s turning out well, a few more pieces of the puzzle will be added next week, such as more cardio equipment, but the main areas are set.

I took a little leap based on last weeks workout. Instead of the normal 5 pound jumps we were making, I went from 198 last week to 220 this week. It was still extremely easy, but I felt it more in the rotator this time. Actually, the right shoulder almost felt detached at that weight. Just for variety, we added incline and decline presses on the Icarian machines. The inclines really put a strain on my shoulder, but in the end it felt good to grind it out.

Bench Press: 99 x 15, 143 x 12, 176 x 8, 220 x 8 (I should have added another set, but wasn’t thinking)
Incline machine 140, 180, 200 x 8
Decline Machine 140, 180, 200 x 12
Shoulder press mach 70, 80, 90 x 12
Front and lateral raises 3 x 12
Tricep Pushdowns 4 x 10
Lying 1 arm tri extensions 4 x 8
cable kickbacks 2 x 12
Nautilus tri ext 1 x 25 (burnout)

My bodyweight is down to 214, more than likely due to not eating very much while being sick, but we’ve also been busting our humps moving equipment in here, so I’m sure that had something to do with it. Either way, I’ve lost 4 pounds this week. We’ll be squatting Sunday, and then right after that I will be leaving for Cleveland again for a couple of days, so I won’t be training again until Wednesday’s deadlifts. I’ll try to get in some cardio at the hotel on Monday and Tuesday.

So…this past Friday evening I started feeling poorly, as my great-grandmother, Beulah May Green,  used to say. What started out as a simple head cold with a little sniffle worked it’s way down into my chest. I started hacking up great gobs of phlegm, couldn’t breathe, aches and pains above and beyond my normal, powerlifting-induced aches and pains. Lovely. I’m on the upswing again, finally stepped out of the house yesterday, enjoyed the beautiful day, was completely worn out. I didn’t take any over the counter cold meds last night and slept fine. Holding off on the powerlifting workouts until Friday, but I will be getting back into a little yoga and abs today.

Friday was Bench day. Shoulder is getting there…went up to 198 for 8 today, and finally figured out that if I don’t concentrate so much on that first rep, the pain isn’t nearly as bad. The first rep is always the worst, then I rep ou the next 7 reps with little to no pain. So, on the set with 198, I just dropped the weight down fast, concentrating more on speed than thinking of the shoulder, ad it worked fine. Still didn’t rush it, of course 198 is extremely easy, but I’ll stick with 11 pound jumps each week for awhile (maybe a little more next week). I’ll video next week so you can see what I’m talking about.
The rest of the workout was quick:

Flat Db flyes 3×12
Front raises 3×12
Lateral raises 3×12
Tri Pushdowns 4×12
Lying 1 arm Db Tri ext 4×10
1 arm reverse pushdowns 2×12
purple band pushdowns 1 set of burnout (around 25 reps)

Lost 2 pounds since Tuesday, back down to 117…diet has been on the mark this week, good increase on protein and cut back on the carbs, fat, and empty calories, while increasing my water consumption. By the way, if you want to read a good article why you should drink water, and how to get into the habit read this article.  I also hit the treadmill on Wednesday, and have hit abs in the morning each day. Much better on the workload compared to last week.

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…