Wednesday

It was absolutely beautiful today. If we had the weather we had today every day of the year I would not be one bit upset. I decided to go for a walk outside since I'm inside for most of the day.
Sled Drags:
70 lbs
30 minutes

I broke up the drags into two segments. The first ten minutes was done with my shirt on. After 10 minutes I decided to take my shirt off and blast my nips. Last summer my only goal was to get a tan and I failed miserably. I'm not making the same mistake again this year. I just have to do more conditioning and lifting outside.

The past couple of days Gifford and I have been going back and forth about a wrestling match we've been planning. It started when we were goofing around one day a few months ago and he prevented me from scoring on him for about 30 seconds. After that he thought he could hang with me. Not so much. Today we had an impromptu wrestling match. We kind of felt each other out for a minute with me taking a few set up shots and not really trying to finish them. Giff is a strong guy and doesn't really know what he's doing which actually makes it tough when we are on our feet. I finally picked a good single leg and took him down. He committed the cardinal sin when it comes to being taken down. Never reach back. I tucked my head under his armpit and drove him to his back, got him in a headlock and finished the job. The whole thing lasted about a minute and a half.

Even though he was the challenger he still had to make up some excuses like, "Beating me isn't that big of a deal." Or, "I've never wrestled before." Or, "Let's play basketball or run a 100m dash." Fuck that. I answered his challenge. Now he wants to wrestle again. Probably not. He's just going to have to live with the sour taste of being a loser in his mouth. Sorry brah.

Song of the Day:

These guys used to be a band called Western Addiction and rocked harder than most. Now they are Dead to Me and rock just as hard.

“Our greatest glory is not in never failing, but in rising up every time we fail.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

That's for you Giff. Eat it.

Tuesday- Standing Press

I was a man possessed today. After about two weeks of deloading before the meet I needed to release some energy in the gym. Boy did I ever. All over the place. My spinal erectors are still sore, but not as bad as yesterday and my right hip is still giving me shit. But I wasn't about to let that stop me. Also, here is a video of my 551 squat. Notice the fist pump at the end.



Hang Snatch: worked up to 170x2
I can't even remember the last time I did these. They felt pretty good. The last one got a little loose and almost took my right shoulder with it. I dumped it just in time. No harm, no foul.

Standing Press: worked up to 155x10
Original plan was to just do five. I was feeling good so I maxed it out.

Chins: 40 total
w/ Dips: 60 total

Shrugs: 3x12
w/ Barbell curls: 3x8

Sledgehammer Tabata

10 minutes elliptical

The sledgehammer Tabata kicked my ass. I'm out of shape, unless you count round.

Song of the Day:

These guys kick ass. 'Nuff said, ball in.

“He who lives without discipline dies without honor.” -Icelandic Proverb

And So It Begins

Today is Day 1 of our Biggest Loser Challenge. On the line is dinner and drinks at Hooters of Brookfield. I went there the other week with some buddies from college. There is lots of talent from what I saw. The way it's going to work is that body fat lost is going to be points for and muscle lost is going to be points against. So if I were to lose 3 pounds of fat and 1 pound of muscle I would net 2 points.

I am going to structure my training differently than what I have been doing lately. I am going to focus on the four main lifts: bench, deadlift, standing press, and squat. I am going to train three times per week with this four lift rotation. My first two weeks will go like this. Tuesday=SP, Thursday=Squat, Saturday=Bench, Tuesday=Deadlift, Thursday=SP, Saturday=Squat, and so on. At the end I am going to add a simple four minute Tabata finisher. This protocol is twenty seconds of all out work with ten seconds rest. This is done for eight rounds totaling four minutes.

The non weight training days will focus more on cardiovascular work. Since I'm not too keen on spending hours on a treadmill or a bike I am going to be doing more interval type training like pushing the prowler, sprinting hills, barbell complexes, sled drags, pounding/flipping the tire, etc. The intensity, duration, and what I do will vary based on how I'm feeling, and what I've got coming up the next day.

My diet is going to be relatively low in carbs. I'll get about 30 grams on my non weight training days and about 150 grams on my weight training days. Based on how I know my body reacts to carbs I think this plan will be good for me to keep my energy up, aid in recovery, drop fat, and at least maintain the muscle I do have.

Nic and I did our body fat tests today. I came out at 16.5%. I weighed in at 216.1 lbs which gives me 180.5 lbs of lean body mass and 35.6 lbs of fat mass. In the next eight weeks I'll be looking to shed about 15 or so pounds of fat and maintaining all my muscle. Here's some pics to get you through the rest of today.

Today's training was pretty light. I'm still sore from Saturday so I did a bunch of rolling out, mobility stuff, and some conditioning.

Prowler:
3 Hi, 3 Lo
90lbs
20 yards

Tempo Sprints:
75%
30 yards
x6

Song of the Day:


“The abdomen is the reason why man does not easily take himself for a god.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

Meet Recap and Future Plans

Meet Recap

To start off the meet went awesome. It was a great venue with a lot of great lifters there. It was ran about as well as a meet could be ran and I will definitely be competing there in the future.

I want to thank Nic for coming with me and being a great training partner through this whole process. He had a great day and I'm sure he'll be posting his own meet recap soon. On to the day. I also want to thank Dom and Brock LaFace for coming and supporting us. Brock took some videos and pics that I may post later.

Before I talk about the meet I'm going to relay a story that happened to Nic and I the night before the meet.

We really wanted to find a buffet to get our bloat on before the meet since we were both a little light. We walked to this place called Mongolian Grill that was right next to our motel. When we got there we were told it wasn't a buffet type place so we kindly showed our way out. We got in my truck and as I was starting the ignition I saw Nic look through my window and say, "What the fuck?" I looked back and here is the guy from the Mongolian Grill at my driver's side window. I rolled it down a bit and here's where it gets crazy...Asian crazy.
"You come back and eat. Girl say it not all you eat but you go through many time."
"No that's ok we're going to go somewhere else."
"No you come here and go through many time. She no work here long. She wrong. You go through many time."
"No, really it's ok we're going to get something else."
"Don't go to mall. It thirteen dolla. You come here it nine dolla."
At this point he reaches into my window and taps my shoulder.
"Don't reach into my car. We're going somewhere else. Leave."
"Ooh ok. Haha."

I rolled up my window and all I could do is laugh. I'm not a racist person, but when someone perpetuates a stereotype to that degree what else can I do? I'm sure if I was in Mongolia people would laugh at the way I talked when trying to speak their language, but really, who the hell runs after customers like that and tries to order them back into the restaurant. Times are tough, but I didn't realize they were that tough.

On to the meet.

Squat:
485: good lift
535: good lift
551: good lift (meet PR)

I took a conservative opener for a number of different reasons. Number one reason being that the first squat is like the first hit in a football game. You are nervous as hell until you get that first one in and then after that it is all business. The 485 opener felt lighter than my last warmup set at 405. Man do I love squat bars and monolifts. 535 I don't really remember too much about. The 551 felt heavy when I took it off the rack and I actually thought I was going to get called for depth on my way up. Once I racked it I looked back and saw two whites and a red and gave a little celebratory fist pump. It probably looked really lame but I don't care- PR baby.

Bench
275: good lift (PR)
284: good lift (PR)
292: no lift

Bench went about as well as I expected it to. This is still my weakest lift and a cause for some timidness when I talk about my lifting. Everyone asks, "How much you bench?" To which I reply, "About285ishitsnotreallymybestliftlet'stalkaboutsquattinganddeadlifting, those are my money lifts." Either way I'll take the 284. PR baby

Deadlift:
535: good lift
586: good lift (PR)
600: no lift (missed above my knee)

Man did I want that 600 deadlift. I got it above my knee but just couldn't pull my hips through. It's probably a weight that I could hit in training, but that doesn't really mean anything. Gotta do it in a meet. I'm still happy with the 586 though. PR baby.

Total: 1421 (PR)

All I can say is...PR baby

Future Plans

I'm fat. Not as fat as some, but fatter than I'd like to be. To that end I'm going on a diet. Nic and Matt and I are doing a "biggest loser" contest. Whoever loses the most body fat wins. The diet is going to last eight weeks and end the Friday before Memorial Day. We are going to set it up so that body fat lost is points for and muscle lost is points against. I'll be talking more about that and how I'm going to set up my diet and training tomorrow so stay tuned. I'll also be posting weekly pics and body fat updates. The only two that count are the starting and ending numbers but I just want a way to track my progress and stay honest.

The loser (actual loser, not biggest loser) is going to buy wings and drinks at either Buffalo Wild Wings or Hooters. I will not lose. I cannot lose.

“It is not sufficient that I succeed - all others must fail.” -Genghis Khan (Yes, I realize the irony of the authorship of that quote.)

Song of the Day:

The Loved Ones are an awesome band. I've seen them live a number of times and I would highly recommend them. Especially their first full LP, Build and Burn. Every song on that album is great.

Thursday- 2 Days Out

It rolls out and stretches or else it gets the hose again. I did tons of that today. My right TFL has been bugging me the last couple of days so I had Brad do some release techniques on it. His words, "Holy shit, that f***er is angry." Yeah.

There are lots of things, all mobility related, that I'm going to really focus on next week, which will be a deload. In no particular order they are my right hip flexor group, right TFL, right tibialis anterior, left quad, and both adductors. All of this is, in my mind, related to my right tibia having a slight bow to it. I really fall to my right arch when I walk and the problems that creates is now coming to a head because I haven't done anything to correct it.

This won't be a problem for my meet. My strength and mobility are fine for squatting, benching, and deadlifting. But I need to do more than just those three things, like walk without pain, conditioning, and kick Matt Gifford's ass in our upcoming wrastlin' match. Next Thursday, probably around 12:30 pm. It's gonna be epic.

Now here is a post about some of my least favorite things this country has to offer.

Something that has been on my mind lately is this low calorie beer crap. One thing that many people don't understand is that alcohol has 7 calories per gram. There are only so many carbs that can be taken out of the beer to reduce it's caloric load. The calories that are then taken out are from the alcohol. To me this is useless. This is probably due to the fact that alcohol companies are not required to place nutrition labels on their products. If they did then people would be able to compare different nutrient and alcohol values.

If the alcohol content is reduced then people will just drink more beers. Here is a dialogue from two friends, Lance and Morgan, in college. At the time Lance was thinking about dropping some Lbs.
Lance: I'm going to start drinking Michelob Ultra. You know, drop some pounds.
Morgan: Lance, you defeat the purpose of low carb/calorie beer when you drink 22 in one night.
Lance: You're right. Fuck it.



Bullshit

Not only is it crap that alcohol is taken out, but the taste is also reduced. I can't speak for everyone else, but I would rather drink full flavor/ calorie beer then watered down reduced calorie swill.

This post was originally posted on 12.13.09

Tuesday- 4 Days Out

Just a bunch of rolling, stretching, and mobility throughout the day. Here is an earlier post on two of my favorite foods in the whole wide world.

F+(Pb)or(Ch)=Y

It's a simple equation. It is also the key to making food delicious and/or gaining weight. It breaks down like this: Food + Peanut butter or Cheese = Yummy. The theory states that the addition of peanut butter or cheese to any food will make that food better than it being by itself. Bored of chicken breast? Add some cheese. Like fruit? Add some peanut butter. I've been at the very least husky and, at times, fat my entire life. These are the things that I think about.

Want to give that ice cream a sweet-salty flavor but the peanut butter gets hard when you try to mix it? Melt the peanut butter in a microwave for about 30-40 seconds and drizzle it on top of the ice cream. The peanut butter will return to its original consistency once it cools from the ice cream. Hi, I'm Troy. I create solutions.

Like Manna from Heaven

Now, for whatever reason whenever I posit this theory to people they take it as a challenge to think of a food that disproves the theory. I bet you've already tried to think of one. Have you got one? No? Do you know why you haven't thought of one yet? Because that food doesn't exist. And even if it does, I sure as hell am not going to eat it. People have thrown all kinds of weird food at me, but I put them in their place by explaining the theory. Let's use worms as an example. I'm not saying worms and cheese (or peanut butter) tastes good, but it sure as shit is better than just worms. Bam. That sound you hear is your mind being blown.

There have been a few close calls though. I was worried about citrus. That was until I tried oranges and peanut butter. For that combo I almost had to change the equation to F+(Pb)or(Ch)= IJCAL (I Just Came A Little). Gummy products were also thrown into the fire (figuratively). One: there are peanut butter jelly beans. Two: Gummy bears are used to top ice cream, just like peanut butter. Three: Tried GBs with Pb. Awesome.

Even I will admit that this theory is just that, a theory. If someone can come up with a food that tastes better alone then I will change my thinking. For all you steak purists: Grow a set and eat some cheese dammit. If you can think of a food that would taste great with the addition of peanut butter and cheese, you're my best friend. If you are a girl, can you make this food? Yes? When can we get married?

The way steak should be

In closing I want you all to experiment and try different combinations. Be curious. Live a little. And for Pete's sake, eat something. You're too skinny.

This post was originally posted on 11.18.09

Monday- 5 Days Out

Bench: Worked up to 250x1

Lat Pulldowns: 3x20
w/ Tricep Pushdowns: 3x15

Short and sweet today. Nothing major, just worked up to my last warmup set for Saturday. I have a feeling that this week is going to go by a little slower than most. I really look forward to my training and when I can't really do much time kind of stands still. Either way, it will be a good opportunity to mentally prepare myself for the challenge. The rest of this week is going to be rolling, stretching, and mobility. Since I won't really be doing much I will be reposting some of 200 Pounds is 200 Pounds' greatest hits. Check back this week for some past posts that some of you new readers may have missed.

Song of the Day:

"There is no strong performance without a little fanaticism in the performer.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Saturday- 7 Days Out

As I type this I feel like absolute crap. Today is my good friend Dave's birthday and Lance, Eric, Al and I celebrated the only way we know how. Drinking a lot, making fun of each other, blocking c's, and making crude comments to anyone in ear shot. Probably not the best thing to do to my body when I'm only a week away from the meet, but I'm not not going to go out with great friends when I have the chance. That would be ridiculous.

Squat: 135x5, 225x3, 315x1, 405x1, 455x1

DL: 265x3, 373x1, 462x1, 504x1

45 Degree back Extensions: 2x10
w/ Weighted Sit-Ups: 2x10

Good training session today. Squats felt fast, deadlift was nothing hard, and got some blood going to the backside. Tomorrow I'll work up to my last warm up set on bench and then the rest of the week will be lots of stretching, rolling out, and mobility drills. I've put in the work now the only thing to do is wait.

Song of the Day:

“Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.” -Sun Tzu

Thursday- 9 Days Out

Did some TBR today. That is, Total Body Recovery. I just wanted to get some blood flowing and not feel like a total sack of goo from not really doing anything lately.

Power cleans: 154x3, 242x2
DB Bench: 3x10
w/ Reverse Hyper: 3x10

Chest Supported Row: 3x10
w/ GH Hypers: 3x12

Shoulder Complex: 2x10
w/ Hammer Curls: 2x10

I noticed yesterday that the front half of the inside of my right sole on my shoe is a lot more worn than the left. I had Brad confirm what I thought was the culprit and he concurred that I am slightly bowlegged on the lower half of my tibia (big bone of the lower leg). Having any bowleggedness can lead to a whole host of problems. Namely, an internal rotation of the same side knee, tightness in the same side TFL (outer hip flexor) and other hip flexors, an internal rotation and anterior tilt of the same side hip, lower back pain, and tightness in the opposite side shoulder.

I have a feeling this has been the cause of some of my previous mobility issues. The only thing I can do about the bone itself is put it into the "Thanks Mom and Dad" file. What I can do is stay on top of the strength and mobility issues that arise with this type of thing. I need to make sure I'm keeping my ankles strong on all sides, keep my hip flexors and glutes open on the same side, make sure my adductors are staying loose, and make sure I'm rolling everything sufficiently. This is all stuff I need to do anyway so it's not that big of a deal.

Song of the Day:

“There is more wisdom in your body than in your deepest philosophy.” -Friedrich Nietzsche

Tuesday- 11 Days Out

Worked up to my opener on bench today. I tried to simulate how I would do my warmup next Saturday. I tried to guesstimate how I would plan all the rolling out, stretching, activation exercises, warmup sets, and time. In any case it went pretty well.

Bench: Barx5,5; 95X5; 135x3; 185x3; 205x1; 225x1; 250x1; 275x1

Once I got to 225 my mind brain was telling me I was pressing slow. I think this is just nerves and not being super confident in the lift. I just need to block this out, clear my head, and do the damn lift. This killed me at my last meet. I missed 265 twice because I was focused on the wrong things when I was lifting.

Once I got to 275 I brought it down good but got just a bit relaxed at the bottom after the "press" call. "Tight" is going to be the only thing going through my head on all three lifts come meet day. If I can do this I will block out all the negative stuff and just lift.

Lat Pulldowns: 3x12
Face Pulls: 3x12
w/ Tricep Pushdowns: 2x15

The rest of this week and next week are going to be some of the slowest in my life. I'm not nervous, just anxious. I'm excited to see what I can do and to see all of the training pay off.

Song of the Day

“Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” -Aristotle

Monday- 12 days out

Today was a very easy and light lower body recovery day. Rolled out a bunch, stretched a bunch, and did some light lower body accessory lifts a bunch. Nothing really worth writing about. Sorry for wasting your time. Tomorrow will be better. I promise. Here's Hulk Hogan to divert your attention away from my shitty post.

Song of the Day:

“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” -Thomas Jefferson

Saturday- 14 Days Out

Today I worked up to my openers on squat and deadlift. I'm planning on 500 for both of them. The squat didn't feel hard, but felt a lot slower than I would have liked. The deadlift was easy peezy lemon squeezy. No problems. I think the meet is going to go a lot better then today's session went. At the meet I won't have 5+ hours of work behind me, I won't have to walk my weights out, and I'll be jacked up due to the atmosphere of competition. Plus, I'm going to buy some ammonia caps. You know, to, uh, help with the sinuses.

Squat: 135x5, 3; 225x3; 315x1; 405x1; 455x1; 500x1

Deadlift: 155x5; 265x3; 375x1; 485x1; 505x1

Now it's time to eat and get some work done. Karaoke later tonight.

Song of the Day:

“Persist and persevere, and you will find most things that are attainable, possible.” -Lord Chesterfield

Thurs- Upper Accessory

Today was an upper body recovery/accessory/get-my-swell-on day. Nothing too heavy. I did keep the volume consistent with where it has been through my training, I just dropped the intensity a bunch. Also, I stretched and rolled out a bunch. I'll probably roll out again tonight before I put my jammer-jams on and go to bed.

DB Bench: 3x10
Inverted Row: 3x15
Arnold Press: 3x10
Rope Pull Down: 3x20
Band Pull Aparts: 3x20

In case you haven't been reading the NX Level Blog I've been posting what I've been doing with a couple teams that I train on Tuesday and Thursday nights. The two teams are a U-11 girls soccer team from SC Waukesha and The Wauwatosa Spartans, a local semi-pro football team. On Tuesday night as I was finishing up the soccer girls I asked them something about school and what they've been learning and what-not. I got the usual answers of, "history is boring", "we don't learn anything fun", "I hate math" etc. That is until Katelyn exclaimed, "I like slavery. Slavery is cool!" She immediately caught herself and said she like learning about slavery and that particular time period. A poor choice of words, but at least she likes learning. And it's funny as hell.

Song of the Day: "So What'cha Want" -The Beastie Boys

“Those who think they have no time for bodily exercise will sooner or later have to find time for illness.” -Edward Stanley

Tuesday

Today was a very light lower body assistance day. I'm still feeling pretty beat up and I think today will really help my recovery going into the meet. I focused a lot on mobility and making sure my squat technique is solid.

Wall Squat: 3x6

My toes and nose were right up against the wall. I then squat down. Doing it right up against the wall really forces my knees out and my hips back. It's not a true-to-form squat since I don't get any forward lean, but it helps to open up my hips.

Squat: 3x5 @ 135
Leg Press: 3x12
Reverse Hyper: 3x12
GH Hyper: 3x10
Walking on Curve Treadmill: 15 min.

Everything else was just to get some new blood to my legs and help with the recovery and rebuilding process. Very unsexy, but hey, a tiger's gotta earn his stripes.

Song of the Day:

I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom.” -Thomas Carlyle

Monday

I came to the realization today that I'm on the cusp of being over trained. My sleeping sucks, my recovery is horrible, everything feels heavy, and it's right where I want to be. Being over trained a few weeks out from a competition is actually a good thing, as long as you manage it properly. I am going to severely limit my volume and intensity over the next 2.5 weeks. In a previous post I outlined my plan heading into the meet. I may tweak it a bit depending on how I'm feeling.

The reason over training at this point is a good thing is called "supercompensation." Supercompensation can happen in many forms. In this case my body is worn down and not recovering very well. As I give my body the proper rest from training and eat a good diet (increased protein, slight increase in carbs and fat) it is going to recover to a state that was better than before. Here is an example: lets say at the end of a hard training cycle I can squat 455x5 with the last rep being an absolute grinder. I then take a deload week to recover. The next week I come back and do 465x5 with the feeling that I could have done another rep or done five with an even greater weight. My body recovered and built itself back stronger to accommodate for the stress that I was putting it through.

This is one reason why some people never progress in the weight room. They never give their bodies a break to rest, recover, and build back up stronger than it was before. The body is an amazing machine and if you treat it well it will do amazing things for you.

That said here is what I did today.

DE Bench: 8x3 @175 w/ 5 chains/side
Standing Press: 3x5 @ 135
Weighted Dips: 3x5 w/ 45#
w/
Weighted Chins: 3x5 w/ 453
Internal/ External Rotators: 2 sets each

Song of the Day:

“Rest when you're weary. Refresh and renew yourself, your body, your mind, your spirit. Then get back to work.” -Ralph Marston

My Manifesto

Who I Am

My name is Troy Craig Dequaine. I was born and raised in Green Bay, Wisconsin. My family is by far the most important aspect of who I am. These people have had more influence on who I am than anyone else. Everything that is good in me can be traced back to one of them. I love all of them with all of my heart and will fight to the death for any one of them.

As much as I have tried to be my own person these people have shaped who I am today. I've never intentionally tried to be unlike them, I just always thought I was somehow different. I'm not. Whenever I recognize one of their traits in me I just smile and am thankful that I've had such great people in my life to support me and guide me along.

What I Believe

I am an agnostic. I believe that there may be some kind of higher power that set everything in motion. What the higher power is, I have no idea and neither does anyone else. I don't subscribe to any organized religion. I'm not what anyone would call spiritual. No one cares what we do on this planet. I believe in making the most of the time that we have with each other. When I die the things that I have done and the influences that I've had won't go away. I do not want to be on my death bed and regret things that I didn't do. I want to fully ready and willing for whatever is next, whether that's anything at all.

I don't think I am better or smarter than other for what I believe. Everyone has an equal right to believe what they feel is right. I live and let live.

What I Do

I work as a sports performance coach. I train athletes from the ages of 10 to 60. I love what I do. My work dress is shorts, a t-shirt, and sweatpants if it's cold. There is no way I could work in an office all day with a tie around my neck. I appreciate the people that do, but it's just not for me. I hope to do this until it is time for me to retire.

What I Do In My Free Time


In my free time I train. When I say that I train I mean that I "workout" or "lift weights" or whatever you want to call it. I want to be as physically strong as I can be. I have certain goals for myself and no one is going to get in the way of them. I also want to be as mentally and emotionally and educationally strong as I can be. I like to read, conversate, and learn as much as I can. If you can teach me something, you are someone that I can get along with.



Who I'm All About


I am the type of person that can be funny and hurtful in the same breath. I never mean to be hurtful, I am more or less looking for a playful comeback. I am at my best whenever someone is calling me on my bullshit. Sometimes I take things a bit too far and get a little too personal, but I mean the best of intentions. I'm kind of like a puppy that bites a little too hard in play. They don't mean it to hurt they just go a little to heavy. If I ever go too far tell me and I will apologize with all of the sincerity in the world in front of whomever is listening. I will fight for what I believe is right, but will also back down when I know I am wrong.

I like to have a good time where ever I am. I prefer to be in the company of people I care about more than I like to be alone. Me time is great, but laughing my ass off with my friends and/or family is better.


Sometimes I feel that I am emotionally distant. If someone asks me, "What's wrong?" Many times I will only reply with, "I'm just tired." I'm sure my mother is yelling, "I KNEW IT!" She could always tell when something was bothering me. I constantly have a lot on my mind. If I don't share it with you please don't take offense. I prefer to deal with my problems in my own way. I'm not above asking for help though. Sometimes it takes me a while to realize that I need it.

Why I Train

I train for pure strength plain and simple. I want to be as strong as I possibly can be. I want to be able to walk into any room and be 99% sure that I am stronger than everyone else in it. I want to recognize and bring my weaknesses to the front. I then want to turn them into strengths.

Being strong takes discipline, consistency, patience, and balls out hard work. If I can practice these traits in the weight room I can practice them out of it. Life isn't about skating by. Life is about shaping and transforming your environment into something you can be proud of. Much like physical training is about shaping and transforming your body into something that enables you to enjoy the life you want. Whether you like to run marathons or deadlift cars or just live an active healthy life, weightlifting is something that will make those activities much more enjoyable. I am on the right track.

There are a few things in my life that I consider weaknesses. I'm not going to get in to what those things are. I would consider them minor at this point. Whether or not I am taking steps to turn them into strengths doesn't matter at this point. They will be taken care of.

What I Want From You

I want everyone to read and enjoy this blog. I want you to comment on it. Positive, negative, neutral, whatever. I want you to ask questions. I want you to learn something new when you read it. I want you to take your training to a place you never thought it could go. I want you to be inspired. I want you to take action and do.

"I am what I am, and that's all that I am" -Popeye

Hold On To Your Butts

At Waukesha we are hosting the AAYFL (All American Youth Football League) youth coaches clinic today. Coaches from the old alma mater (Carroll University) are the speakers. In attendance are about 150 overweight guys who all waited until today to make a twosie. Hopefully I won't be doing damage control today. Still was able to train this morning. Here we go.

DE Squat: 8x2 @ 280 w/ black bands
DE DL: 5x1 @ 308 w/ 2 purple bands
RDL: 3x6 @ 308
Weighted Situps: 3x10 @ 60

Pretty good session today. Short and sweet. I've been feeling some IT pain in my right leg as of late. Need to roll it more and keep my psoas and glutes more open. I know what I have to do to keep myself healthy, but it's such a pain in the ass to do it. Correction, it's not a pain in the ass, I'm just lazy. No other excuses. I'm going to do it. I gots to do it. I gots no choice but to do it.


Song of the Day: "Let Them Eat Thomas Paine"- Dillinger Four

"Lead, follow, or get out of the way." -Thomas "Motherfucking" Paine

Friday

Didn't really do any real training today. I just walked a mile on the Curve treadmill. I also realized today that I havn't been taking my Joint ProMotion all week. Man do my knees and hips feel like shit. Joint ProMotion is a combination of Glucosamine and MSM. I'm telling you right now this shit is awesome. Shit. A while back my knees were bothering me every single day. To the point that it hurt to stand in one spot for more than a few minutes. I started taking a glucosamine and MSM supplement and within 3 weeks I was pain free.

Glucosamine is one of those products that you won't feel right away. It takes a few weeks of supplementation to work its way into the system. But once it does, you'd never guess that you had a problem. I'm only 25 and I know that I'll probably be taking this stuff the rest of my life. It's a little pricey, but I'd rather pay a few bucks a month than hate life because my knees, hips, and back are killing me. Here is a website with some facts on glucosamine. Regardless of what the website and/or studies say I'm hooked.

Song of the Day:

“To reach a port we must sail, sometimes with the wind, and sometimes against it. But we must not drift or lie at anchor.” -Oliver Wendell Holmes

Thursday

2-Board bench: 265x1; 285x1; 300x1; 315x1; 325xmiss
Arnold Press: 3x10
Chest Supported Row: 3x8
Band Pull Aparts: 3x20

Bench felt good today. I was pausing my singles and felt like I was getting good drive off the board. The 315 felt easy. I lost the 325 forward. Brad was spotting me and pulled it back into my groove and I finished fine. I need to do a better job of trusting my technique, especially at heavier weights.

Time to start turning down the volume on the supplemental and accessory stuff. Kickstart some recovery up in here. Here is my plan for the next three and a half weeks.

(Sa) 3.6.10- DE lower body
(M) 3.8.10- DE upper body
(Tu)3.9.10- Lower body accessory
(Th)3.11.10- Upper Body accessory
(Sa)3.13.10- Work up to openers on squat and DL
(M)3.15.10- work up to opener on bench
(Th)3.18.10- total body recovery day
(Sa)3.20.10- work up to last warm up sets on squat and DL
(M)3.22.10- work up to last warm up set on bench
(Tu)3.23.10-(F)3.26.10- lots of rolling out, stretching, and recovery exercises
(Sa)3.27.10- GET IT ON! SFW!

So that's how I'm going to plan my next few weeks. I'm admittedly inexperienced in this area. I've only got two full meets under my belt. I know for a fact that I'm going to really have to keep myself in check during the recovery days to not do too much. It's going to be hard to throttle down since I've been going hard for near on two months and feel like I could keep going. Got to have the big picture in mind.

I booked the hotel for Nic and I yesterday. Motel 6, you won't know what hit you. I just hope they clean out any rat carcasses before we check in.

Song of the Day:

“Death tugs at my ear and says: "Live, I am coming"." -Oliver Wendall Holmes

Toosday

Squat: 315x3; 405x2; 480x1; 515x1; 550x1
Pull Thrus: 3x10
GH Hyper: 3x10
Fall-Out Abs: 3x10

Everything felt heavy today. Even the 405 for a double felt like it was going to bury me. I think I may have gotten too much sleep last night. Went to bed around 9:30 and got up at 7. Way more sleep than I am used to. I will take it where I can get it though.

Despite the weights felling like they were I grinded out 550. I'm pretty sure this is a raw PR for me. It's hard to tell on the video if I got my depth. My head says that if a judge were there he would have called it high. My heart says that it would've been three white lights. I'm gonna go with my heart.



Being A Badass

My friend Lance told me this story about what it means to be a badass this past weekend. Mark Schlereth is a regular on the sports radio show Mike and Mike in the Morning with Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. Mike Greenberg is an admitted metrosexual and all around non-badass. One day in the studio bathroom he asked Mike Schlereth, "What's it like being a badass?" Schlereth proceeded to drop his pants all the way to the ground and begin his business. Her turned to Greenberg and said, "If anyone walks in here, they aren't going to say shit." Awesome.

Song of the Day:


“You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count." -Winnie the Pooh

Shit Charles, You Goin' In The Women's Bathroom!

DE Bench: 8x3 @160 w/ 5 chains/side
Standing Press: (190x1)x3; 205x1 PR
Dips: 5x5 w/ 70#
Bent Over Row: 3x6 @ 218
Band Pull Aparts: 3x20

Had a pretty good session today. I don't usually get PRs on my dynamic days. It's only a 5 lb jump, but I'll take it. I've been thinking a lot about how I am going to plan out my last two weeks before the competition. This coming Saturday I'll be three weeks out. I think I've got a pretty good plan put together based how I know I recover.

I've also been thinking about my plans after the meet. I've got it all laid out, but I'm going to keep it under wraps until after the meet.

Not much else is going on in my world. I'm just living the dream, trying not to wake up.

Song of the Day:

"The best way out is always through." -Robert Frost