Last Two Days

I totally blanked on posting what I did yesterday.  Here goes.

Power Clean: 242x2x3

Dead Lift: 345x3; 395x3; 445x3

RDL: 265x10x3

Glute Ham Hypers: 3x10
w/
Ab Wheel: 3x10

All my dead lifts and cleans felt pretty easy and fast.  Still taking it slow on the deadlift since they beat me up like none other.

Today

Standing Press: 130x3; 150x3; 170x6 or 7 (I forgot)

Log Press: 120 x10 130x10x2

Lat Pull Downs: 3x15
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Tate Press: 3x12

Swimmer Complex: 2x15

Conditioning

Katie and I ran some of the same conditioning drills I did on Saturday.  They felt a lot better for me than they did on Saturday.  My ankles felt stronger and I wasn't at all worried about my hamstrings blowing up.  I was still pretty tired at the end though.  Katie on the other hand wasn't even breathing hard.  At one point I looked over at her and said, "These aren't hard at all are they?"  She just smiled and said, "Not really."  She was cool though and stayed with me and didn't embarrass me too bad.  Even if she beat me by twenty feet on all of them I wouldn't feel bad though.  She was a college sprinter and I played a position in football generally employed by those of a much huskier persuasion.  Apples and oranges.

Song of the Day:

"A man only begins to be a man when he ceases to whine and revile, and commences to search for the hidden justice which regulates his life. And as he adapts his mind to that regulating force, he ceases to accuse others as the cause of his condition, and builds himself up in strong and noble thoughts; ceases to kick against circumstances, but begins to use them as aids to his more rapid progress, and as a means of discovering the hidden powers and possibilities within himself."~ James Allen

Monday and Weekend Recap

Saturday I woke up early-ish and trained.  I benched.  Here's what it looked like.

Bench: 245x7

DB Bench: 3x10 (finished with 95's)

Weighted Pullup: 4x5
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Weighted Dips: 4x10

Conditioning

I did some football type conditioning and I realized real quick I need to run more.  My ankles are so weak I had trouble sprinting up on my toes.  I'm thinking that if I keep my running moderate it will also help my knees.  As long as I don't beat myslef up too much with the running the extra stress will actually strengthen my knees and ankles and hips and help keep them healthy.  Hopefully.

After training I went home and waited for the Fam (Mom, stepdad Pete, sister Stacy, sister's BF Manny) to show up.  We had a date with German Fest.  It was pretty fun.  We didn't really have an agenda so we mostly just meandered and when something caught our attention we stopped.

Growing up my family never really celebrated our heritage.  It's something that I've always kind of regretted.  It was kind of cool to see all the people dressed up in tradtional German clothing, even the kids.  I ended up buying a traditional German dress hat that I feel will be getting a good deal of use.  One thing that I would have liked to see was a little bit more educational stuff about German Heritage.  Perhaps there was and I just missed it.

I was pleasently surprised by Sprecher's German Fest Bier.  It a nice taste, a good finish, and didn't leave a stale beer taste in your mouth.  I bought a plastic Das Boot and drank out of that all day.  I also didn't drink any water and didn't really eat any food.  I felt like a bag of smashed assholes the next morning.  Headache, kind of dizzy, and real achey.

A few hours after my mom and Pete left on Sunday morning Jake, Erin, Katy, and I went to the Brewer's game.  We went a few hours early and tailgated.  For whatever reason the women of the group were all about bonging beers.  If you are unfamiliar with beer bongs it is just a large funnel connected to a few feet of clear plastic tubing.  This allows the beer to flow extremely fast down the drinker's throat.  As long as the drinker knows what they are doing.  If they don't they will sometimes get a faceful of beer and it's pretty funny.  The game was good (although we didn't watch too much of it) with some good friends and a great ending to a great weekend.

Song of the Day:

“It is indeed a desirable thing to be well descended, but the glory belongs to our ancestors” -Plutarch

Thursday- Squat

Power Clean: 3x3 @ 225

Squat: 330x3; 380x3; 430x3

Good Morning: 3x10 @ 155

Glute Ham Hypers: 3x10
w/
Ab Wheel Rollouts: 3x10

Squats felt good up until the last set.  Number three came up slow so I shut it down.  I also got a "little loose in the bottom end" if you catch my drift.  Heavy squats have a way of doing that to you.  Instead of feeling bad about myself I finished like a champ.  I'm pretty sure I hear the tornado sirens going right now so I may make my way to the basement.  I also may not.  I didn't get to where I am today by hiding in a door frame every time the winds of life started a-blowin'.

Song of the Day:

"When you are born, you are set forth to die.  The fact that you live or don't live between these dates depends solely upon you own will, opportunities, and desires.  The weight exerciser, of course, indicates that he chooses to live." -Joseph Curtis Hise

I got this quote from a blog I stumbled across that reprints old-time lifting articles.  I'm talking from the 30's old.  I haven't looked at it to much, but I fully intend to.

Tuesday- Press

Standing Press: 120x5; 140x5; 155x7

Log Press: 3x10 @ 120; 1x15 @75

Lat Pull Down: 3x15
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Tate Press: 3x12

Keg Cleans: 4x5
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Tire Flips: 4x3

Tempo Runs: x6

Nothing to get too excited about today.  Press is still my weakest lift, but steadily improving.  I did a little bit more conditioning than I normally do.  My conditioning is a little weak right now so I'm going to be bringing it up in the next few weeks.  I'm not going to be running or biking or any of that other stuff for distance.  Nope.  Way too boring for me.  All sprints and fun stuff for this guy.  I also wouldn't mind getting rid of a little of the fluff around the middle.  A  certain someone likes to shake my belly.  Not in a mean way, more playful, but it's still kind of embarrassing to me.

Song of the Day:

Augustus was a chubby lad
Fat ruddy cheeks Augustus had
And everybody saw with joy
The plump and hearty healthy boy.
-Heinrich Hoffman

Saturday- Deadlift

Deadlift: 320x5; 370x5; 420x5

RDLs: 3x10 @ 245

Bent Over Row: 3x10
w/
GHR Sit-Ups: 3x10

Minute Runs: x2
Contrast Shower

Trained at West Allis Barbell and it was a scorcher.  There is absolutely no air movement in the garage so the heat was even more stifling.  I had to go outside between sets to get some oxygen to my brain.  I really need to get a fan in there.

In other news, I'm going to be taking it slow and easy with my deadlift.  Since I'll be pulling from the floor on a semi-regular basis I want to make sure I don't beat myself up too bad.  All of today's reps were pretty easy.  I won't be going for max reps like on some of my other lifts.  Slow and steady and keeping myself fresh.

Song of the Day:

I'm so glad I'm not a Marlins fan.  Or live in an area where I would be susceptible to hearing that song on a daily basis.

"He who wishes to be rich in a day will be hanged in a year." -Leonardo da Vinci

Thursday- Bench

This heat is really taking a toll on me.  I don't feel tired or fatigued during the day, but when it comes to lifting in the afternoon my work capacity is definitely a bit lower than normal.  It's usually a little bit warmer in the gym than it is outside since there isn't a whole lot of air movement.  But to be honest I like working out in the heat rather than the cold.  I warm up quicker and I like the feeling of sweating.  Win/Lose I guess.

Bench: 175x5; 205x5; 230x10

I'm pretty sure I had at least two reps in the tank.  If I had ground them out it would have tied my PR at this weight.  On my last sets I'm supposed to go for max reps.  I'm always going to keep a rep or two or three in the tank to help keep my CNS fresh.

DB Bench: 70x10; 80x10; 90x10

Chins (various grips): 3x8
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Dips: 3x10

Some prowler and some tempo runs

Bench feels pretty good.  No elbow or shoulder pain to speak of.  Chesticles got a good pump from the DBs.  Chins and dips could have been a little bit better, but that will come.  Time to eat.

Song of the Day:

"Do you want to know who you are?  Don't ask.  Act!  Action will delineate and define you." -Thomas Jefferson

Tuesday- Squats

Sorry for the lack of posts last week.  I was deloading and didn't really do anything worth writing about.  And to be honest to try and remember what I did would be a waste of mental energy.

I've figured out how I'm going to plan each training session.  I went in somewhat blind today but figured the way I want to go about things.  Here is how each session is going to go.

Main Lift

Main Accessory

Supplemental One
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Supplemental Two

The main lift is pretty obvious.  These will include squats, deadlifts, press, and bench.  The main accessory is a lift that I feel will directly impact the main lift.  These will include RDLs, Good Mornings, dumbbell variations of the main lifts, etc.  Supplemental exercises are lifts that don't directly impact the main lifts, but bring up weak points or build a little muscle where I need it.

Here is how today went.

Squat: 310x5, 355x5, 405x7

Good Morning: 3x10 @ 135

Glute-Ham Hypers: 3x10
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Ab Wheel Rollouts: 3x10

This workout took me about an hour which is how I like it. 

Song of the Day:

“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.”          -Benjamin Franklin

USA! USA! USA!

Happy Fourth of July weekend everybody.  Quite possibly one of the finest weekends in the entire year.  Thank you to all the service men and women who make times like these possible.  Without you we couldn't get drunk on our friends boats and eat nothing but grilled foods all weekend.  Here is a recap of the weekend so far.

Thursday

Squat: 525x1

Walking Lunge: 110 lbs; 1x30 yds, 2x20 yds

Glute Ham Hypers: 3x12

Keg Carry Series: ~30 yards, x4

Saturday

Standing Press: 205 x 1, 215 x miss

Log Press: 3x10

Chins: 4 x 10

Abs and shoulder prehab: 3 sets

I'm pretty happy with how both days went.  My absolute strength right now is close to as high as it's ever been.  I'm going to deload hard next week and switch up my program the following week.  Hopefully I've got my recovery issues squared away and I can get back to the business of getting huge and strong.

After training on Saturday Katie and I attended Jake and Erin's pre-Summerfest Cookout.  For my money there is nothing better than a holiday weekend cookout.  Lots of beer, lots of food, and lots of good friends.  There was bocce ball, bags, flip cup, burgers, brats, fruit salad, beer bongs, dogs, America giant cookies, and a whole hell of a lot of good times goin' on.  My two favorite parts were Lance telling stories about his dad Doug, and Erin puking in the parking lot at State Fair. 

The way Lance tells stories about Mr. Barilow is downright hilarious.  My all-time fave is when Lance was nine and his younger sister, Kelly, was seven, and she broke his arm with a croquet mallet.  Mr. Barilow heard Lance's screams and came sprinting out of the garage and speared Kelly before she could take another swing.

Erin puking in the parking lot was made all the better by Jake who tried to pull her up by her arm while loudly saying, "I don't want you laying in it!  Look it's in your hair!"  She recovered like a champ and from what I'm told totally rocked a Counting Crows concert.  Awesome.

Song of the Day:

“The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission.” -John Fitzgerald Kennedy