Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday:


Snatch:
up to 198x1
208x 4 misses

Clean and Jerk (2 cleans, 1 jerk)
176x1
198x1
220x1
242x3

Snatch Grip Dead Lift to RDL:
242x 3 sets of five
I did a snatch grip dead lift then did and RDL at the top then returned the weight to the platform to begin anew.  One rep = one dead lift and one RDL.

paired with

L-Sit Chins:
3x6

Thursday:


Chain Squat:
up to 315x3x2
Then did two sets of three paused with 225

Bulgarian Split Squats:
3x10 each leg
w/
Banded Glute Ham:
3x12

Weighted Glute Extensions
3x15
w/
Body Saw:
3x10

Two pretty good sessions in a row.  I really wanted that 208 snatch.  Just didn't have it on Wednesday.  My lower back has been really taking a pounding lately.  I may need to lighten my weights for a few days to let it heal up.  I think my piriformis muscles are just tight and are pulling on my sciatic nerve.  Nothing major, just need to be smart with it, like all things.

Tuesday

Chain Bench:
205+30 lbs of chain x 8 sets of three
225+ chain x 1
245+ chain x 1
265+ chain x .99 (I'll explain)

Hand Stand Push Ups: BW x 8,6,4
w/
Pull Ups: BW x 8,8,8

Fat Bar Cheat Curls: x 8,8,12

Fat Gripz Rope Push Downs: 3x12

2" Rope Climbs: I'd guess about 25-30 feet to the top x 3

I think I'm starting to settle in to a more structured routine.  It's going to look like this:

Monday: Heavy Lower
Tuesday: Upper
Wednesday: Olympic Lifts
Thursday: Speed focused Lower
Friday: Upper
Saturday: Body weight stuff, gun show, and auxiliary
Sunday: off

I'm going to play around with this set up for a bit and see how it goes.  I'm sure some tweaks will need to be made here and there.

About that .99 lift during chain bench.  Every lifter has experienced the feeling of grinding, grinding, grinding a lift and needing that 1% help from the spotter.  The actual help that the spotter gives could probably be measured in ounces.  If you haven't ever experienced this it is one of the more frustrating things in the strength world.  To know that you were a half a pound away from completing the lift is like a kick to the nuts.  You know that if you had it to do all over again you could change a thing or two and get the lift.  But you can't give it another go because you just wasted all you energy and busted a few blood vessels trying to get that last one.  Oh well.  Live, learn, keep moving forward.

The New Year's Resolution Solution

Every year it’s the same old thing.  It’s been going on for generations.  New Year’s Day starts getting closer and everyone gets a shot of confidence that this year is going to be the year.  They’re going to make some big changes in their lives.  They are going to lose weight, save money, build better relationships, get ahead in life and the list goes on.  We all know them and many of us have been that person.  They start out with a bang and three or four weeks later they end with not so much as a whimper.  They just fall back into their usual comfortable routine.

Don’t get me wrong, I respect people for taking a shot to better their lives, but if you are going to wait for a certain day chances are you aren’t too serious about its undertaking.  Big significant changes require a lot of things.  Commitment, consistency, and resiliency (maybe the biggest factor and I’ll get to that in a bit) are chief among them.  But using an arbitrary day like New Year’s as an artificial tipping point is a recipe for disaster.  If you want to do something, do it.  Do it now.  Not tomorrow.  Not in 2012.  Now.   

And don’t give yourself the option of failure.  There has to be consequences for quitting.  If you only tell yourself that you are going to lose 20 pounds and don’t what was lost personally?  Nothing.  You failed your goal but only in your eyes.  And human beings are pretty good at self-delusion so chances are there will be a multitude of reasons why it was impossible for you to succeed.   If you’re going to do something tell people you are going to do it and make them hold you accountable.  Don’t let them let you by on bullshit excuses. 

If you say you want to do something and don’t do it, you really never wanted to do it.

If you’re reading this article the day it’s published and you have a New Year’s resolution why wait?  The world is out there.  And it sure as hell isn’t going to wait for you.  Nor does it care about what day it is.  If you want something, take it.  Don’t wait for it to be given to you because it’s not going to happen. 

Abraham Lincoln said, “Good things come to those who wait, but only the things that are left behind by the people who hustle.”

The scroll says, "Seize the day bitches!" source: sharpwriter

You can sit there for four more days and hope that the pounds fall off, or that money magically lands in your bank account.  Or you can go out and hustle and make those things happen.  Write out your goals and do something every day to realize those goals.  And if you have a bump in the road the last thing you should do is fall off and give up.

Resiliency I feel is becoming more and more scarce these days.  I could, and more than likely will, write an article on this one factor but I just want to get this out there: 

SHIT HAPPENS. 

And it happens to those with the best of intentions.  Business ideas don’t pan out, you have a moment of weakness and binge eat, your car breaks down and have to use your savings to get a car to get to work.  That stuff happens.  But it’s those that have the most resiliency to know that having problems in the short term doesn’t mean all is lost in the long term.

This is where a lot of people fail.  They experience a setback and they can’t throw in the towel fast enough.  Setbacks happen and they happen a lot.  But there are two types of people when it comes to setbacks: those that pack it in and quit, and those that learn from the setback and are better for it.  In the words of the wise sage Mike Tyson, “Everyone has a plan until they get hit.”  But getting hit should only be an invitation and motivation to keep moving forward.  You get hit but you learn how to avoid it and other hits like it in the future.

What's your plan for when you get hit?

To summarize.

1. Pick Your Goal- Pick your goal and look at it every day.  Make it specific as possible.  Losing weight is not specific.  Being at 10% body fat by August 1^st is specific.  Let it sink into you until your pursuit of it becomes a part of everything you do and a little bit of who you are.

2. Start Now- Don’t wait for a random day.  Don’t even wait for tomorrow. Do something right now that will carry you towards your success.  Even if all you do is define what your own success looks like.

3. Be Held Accountable- Don’t let yourself fall into the same old rutted routine.  Make there be consequences for failure.  Could something like if you don’t do what you wanted to do you have to donate money to a charity.  But there has to be a punishment for quitting.

4. Be Resilient- You are going to slip up.  That’s a given.  You are going to make mistakes.  No one is perfect.  You are going to find that your journey is hard, and maybe the hardest thing you’ve ever done.  If it was easy everyone would do it.  Concede the small battle but keep winning the war.

There’s your mission.  You only have so many hours left to shuffle around in this mortal coil.  Don’t waste a single one.

The Day After

Clean Pulls
292x2 singles
198x3x2 from the hang

Bottom Up Squats
Up to 405x1

Squat Supports:
600 x 10 singles

I then ran around the block as fast as possible.  Yikes.

My motivation for today's garage gym was that I put it in my head that I binged this weekend and needed to work it off.  Christmas is in all regards National Cheat Day wherein the average person eats 4000-6000 calories during the festivities.  And that's just Christmas Day.  Many people have multiple celebrations over the few weeks before and after the actual holiday.  In any case I was somewhat of a party pooper.

If I had to guess I'd say I stuck to my diet about 90% of the time.  I had a few cocktails and a few unplanned meals but didn't stray too far from what I normally ate.

This isn't really a good or bad thing.  If I wasn't doing this diet competition then all bets would have been off and I would be in a cookie coma right now.  One story kind of illustrates my mentality on the whole thing:

A little background.  The winner of the diet challenge gets to chose the food that Lance and I are going to eat for our Super Bowl get together.  The loser is going to buy.  My girlfriend's three year-old son was picking at a gingerbread house and eating some of the candies and gum drops off of it.  He was kind enough to share one of the gum drops with me.  Once he walked into the other room I went to throw it away.  My girlfriend's mom then said, "Jeez you can't even eat a gum drop?"  I replied, "The way I see it is that could be a $100 dollar gum drop right there.  I'd much rather win than eat the gum drop."

I'm extremely thankful that everyone that knows that I'm doing this is very understanding and supportive.  I don't have cravings so being around food isn't a problem.  I just don't want to offend anyone by not eating what they have prepared.  But luckily it hasn't been an issue.

The moral of the story is that it is possible to diet during the holiday's.  At the very least it's possible to maintain where you are at without gaining extra weight.  It just takes discipline.  A good support system always is a big help too.

Tomorrow I'm going to lay down some TRUTH about New Year's Resolutions.  To be blunt: I'm not a fan.

Hope everyone has had a happy and safe holiday season with one left to go.

Holiday BEAST Mode

At 8 am this morning I decided to crank out a nice little garage workout.  Here's how it went down.

5 rounds of:
Power Clean: 176x3
w/
Seated Pin Press: 185x3

3 rounds of:
Split Squatsx10
w/
Bent Rowsx8

I then re-installed the bed box on my truck.  All told it took me about 25 minutes.  Oh yeah, it's 20 degrees right now.

The satisfaction of being done only comes to those who have done something.  Do something.  And Happy Holidays from 200 Pounds Is 200 Pounds.

Thursday and Friday

Thursday:

Snatch:
up to 198x1

Clean and Jerk:
up to 242x1, cleaned 264 but missed the jerk

Friday:

Squat:
315x 3 singles
365x 3 singles
405x 3 singles

Fat Bar Bench:
255x1,2,3,1,2,3,1,2,3

Last two days have been pretty good training wise.  I can tell that my ability to recover is a bit diminished with the lower calories.  All about playing it smart and keeping my eyes on the main goal.  I sometimes feel like the rules don't apply to me and it usually bites me in the ass.  Not this time.  Playing it smart and going to keep progressing.

Monday and Wednesday

Monday:

Band Resisted Squat:

up to 405x1

Fat Bar Bench:

265x10 singles

Wednesday:

Fat Bar Overhead Press:

up to 185x1, the 135x5x5

Front Squat:

225x5x2

Pendlay Row:

154x6x3

242x3x3

I was having a discussion with a client the other day who always says that his left side- particularly in his upper body- is underdeveloped compared to the right.  I have the same thing except the two sides are switched.  I was thinking about this a few weeks ago and wondered to myself if it had anything to do with the fact that when I was a freshman in college I got a nasty stinger on my right side.  I had no idea what happened and didn't want to be a wuss and stop practicing so I just babied my right arm through the rest of practice.

If you're unaware of what a stinger is it's essentially a stretching or pinching of the bundle of nerves (brachial plexus) that supply the arm.  The initial symptoms such as stinging, pain, and weakness usually go away pretty quickly.  I'm just wondering if perhaps there is more long term damage that doesn't manifest itself until later.  I don't feel there is a huge difference in strength.  I emphasize "huge" because there is some, but this is normal in most people.  It would make sense that I had a bit of damage to the nerves that supply that side of my body and over the course of years of training I'll accumulate a bit more muscle on the non stinger side due to the fact that it's playing with a full brachial plexus.  The stinger side would then be like the kid that could have been really smart but decided to eat a bunch of paste in kindergarten and turned out average at best.  Maybe we'll never know.

Friday

Clean High Pulls:
264x1x5

Squat:
Up to 385x1, 2 ,3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

Fat Bar Bench:
Up to 245x1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3, 1, 2, 3

Single Arm Row:
4x8 w/ 120s
w/
Inverted Row:
4x8 w/ body weight

Fat Bar Curls:
4x8
w/
Reverse Hypers:
3x12

35 yard sprintsx8

Really good session today.  Squats got a little funky at the end.  I think my piriformi (pl. of prirformis which is part of the gluteal complex near the top and outside of your butt cheek) had had enough by the time I got to the last set.  Since this muscle sits across the sciatic nerve when that little guy gets tight you feel loads of lower back pain.  In fact there are those that would guess that around 90% of low back pain is due to piriformis tightness.  I would tend to agree although I would say it's more just muscle tightness and weakness in general that causes most of it.  I think I've just stumbled upon an article idea.

Wednesday

Clean and Jerk:

198x1x3

10 Rounds of:

Front Squat: 315x1

With

Fat Bar Push Press: 205x1

Front Levers: some sets x some reps

Weighted Slide Board Leg Curls: 3x15

Power Wheel Walks: 30, 20, 20 yards

I apologize for the lack of updates lately.  After I did the meet with Lance and Nic at NX Level a few weeks ago I haven’t really felt like recording my training.  I’ve been training pretty much every day but no two sessions have been the same.  One day I’ll dead lift and bench and the next I might just do seated pin presses.  I’m just going by what I feel like doing when I get started.  I haven’t been going heavy every day and it’s really helped me to keep moving forward without having to take a break.  My light days usually consist of calf raises, biceps and triceps, shrugs, and sometimes neck work.  These exercises require a relatively low amount of motor units to be used and help to keep me fresh.  I’ve also tried to really cut down on my assistance exercises on my heavy days.  I go heavy on 2-3 exercises and get out.  When I do add in assistance it’s usually higher reps with moderate weight.

I’ve also been on a diet since November 14^th.  Lance and I are doing a fat loss challenge and we’ve got a lot riding on it.  The loser has to buy the winner’s choice of food for our Super Bowl get together.  I started at 209 pounds and 13% body fat.  I’m right about 200 pounds now and if I had to guess I’m just creeping into single digit territory.  I’m feeling really well right now.  I’m still as strong as I was before it started and my energy levels haven’t really crashed at all.  I’d post some progress pics but I forgot to take a before picture and bathroom selfies are about the lamest thing a man can do. 

The main reason that we are doing this is that I’m writing Lance’s diet on a week to week basis and I figured he could use some help/motivation to keep him on track during the holidays.  He’s doing really well and it should be a tight race.

With the update out of the way I’m rededicating myself back to the blog.  I’m going to start trying to write everyday even if it is stuff that doesn't end up getting published here.  I’m hoping to be able to consistently bust out 2-3 new articles every month.  I’m also going to shift my Twitter feed back over to training and nutrition tips and info.  Right now it’s just me trying to be funny which doesn’t happen too often.  So click the follow button on the right for some good bits and pieces of advice.  I’ll also be putting up links to some of my old articles in case any new readers haven’t checked them out.

That’s all I got for now.  Stay tuned for lots more content to come.  Keep training hard and if anyone has questions or comments I’d love to hear them.

Exercise and Brain Health

Here’s a hypothetical question for you.  When you get older would you rather A) have a healthy body and have dementia or Alzheimer’s, or B) become extremely physically handicapped while maintaining fully functioning faculties, or C) maintain a robust physical presence while still being as sharp upstairs as you ever were.  The obvious answer is C, but more often than not people will fall into either the A or B column.  The positive effects of exercise in staving off the effects of Father Time on your body are obvious and plentiful.  But the positive effects of exercise on brain health are only recently being recognized.

Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia, affects the areas of the brain that control memory, speech, and thought and can seriously impair a person’s ability to carry out day-to-day tasks.  The CDC estimates that about 5.4 million Americans are currently suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.  The number of Alzheimer’s patients has doubled since 1980 and is expected to be at 16 million by 2050.  In 2011 the total cost of Alzheimer’s disease is expected to be around $130 billion.  About 5% of people aged between 65-74 years are affected by Alzheimer’s with that number jumping to 50% or people 85 years and older.

The exact cause of Alzheimer’s is still unclear.  It probably includes several factors that play different roles in each individual affected by the disease.  Scientists have uncovered several risk factors for the disease with age being number one.  Other factors include family history of the disease and risk factors that are similar to those of cardiovascular disease such as high blood pressure and cholesterol and low levels of folate.  Researchers are also starting to uncover some routes for preventing and slowing the progress of the disease once it is diagnosed.

Many studies have begun to show the positive correlates of exercise to brain health, especially in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.  In one study each patient was assigned to either a walking group or non-walking group.  Each patient was administered a mental state examination.  At the end of the study the walking group, in addition to improving walking times, had a much slower decline on the mental state examination (47% for the non-walking group to just 13% for the walking group.)  Studies have shown that exercise increases a cells endurance and resistance to oxidative stress and has positive effects on neurogenesis (growth of new nerve and brain cells) and memory improvement.

Exercise also seems to help improve symptoms in patients diagnosed with depression.  In a study done on treatment-resistant patients, moderate to intense exercise improved depressive parameters and functioning.  Exercise also contributed to the remission of 26% of the patients enrolled in the study.  Although the effects are promising exercise is still only a supplement to normal treatment measures.  In a study that investigated whether or not exercise decreased the risk of post-partum depression in women the only group of subjects that showed statistically significant benefits were those mothers that were not active prior to being pregnant.  In another meta-analysis of the literature on the role of exercise and depression most of the benefits were not statistically significant and more studies were needed.  But just because data isn’t statistically significant doesn’t mean there isn’t something to be gained from it.

Despite what the literature says I can speak from my experience and from the experience of others that exercise can be beneficial for brain health and mood regardless of age or current mental state.  When things aren’t going your way and you feel the weight of the world on you exercise can be there as a way to exorcise (pun intended) some of your demons.  It can be there to be the one thing in your life that you can control.  It can be like a steady ship in a stormy ocean.  Speaking for myself I know that when life throws me a few curves and I can’t get my normal lifts in I’m not the same person I usually am.  Small annoyances go from being mole hills to mountains.  In other words I get a serious case of the Crabapple McNasties.  And once I get back into the gym and hoist some heavy poundages my worries seem to shrink and oftentimes disappear entirely.

The data on Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, and exercise is compelling to say the least.  If something as simple as walking a few times per week can slow the progression of the disease I would think that being active from an early age on would have a beneficial effect as well.  I would like to see some longitudinal studies done on the protective effects of exercise, but for right now make sure you are getting in some good exercise a few times a week and constantly surround yourself with people you care about.  And don’t forget to break a mental sweat every now and again, too.

Sources:

http://www.cdc.gov/aging/aginginfo/alzheimers.htm

Exercise plays a preventive role against Alzheimer's disease.  Radak Z, et al. J Alzheimer’s Dis. 2010;20(3):777-83.

 Six-Month Walking Program Changes Cognitive and ADL Performance in Patients With Alzheimer.  Venturelli M, et al. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2011 Aug 17.

Exercise-induced cognitive plasticity, implications for mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer's disease.  Foster PP, et al.  Front Neurol. 2011;2:28. Epub 2011 May 6.

Moderate exercise improves depression parameters in treatment-resistant patients with major depressive disorder.  Mota-Pereira J, et al. J Psychiatr Res. 2011 Aug;45(8):1005-11.

Does exercise during pregnancy prevent postnatal depression?: A randomized controlled trial. Songøygard KM, et al.  Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand. 2011 Sep 1. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0412.2011.01262.x.

Exercise for depression.  Mead GE, et al.  Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2009 Jul 8;(3):CD004366. 

A Few Thoughts On A Saturday Morning

Saturday I woke up early (4:30 am early) to train before work.  Since it was just me at the gym I had a lot of time to myself to think between sets.  A lot of times what goes through my head is inconsequential.  But today I actually had some interesting revelations on training in the morning and a few thoughts on the exercises I chose. Here was the workout.

Fat Bar Bench:
worked up to 265x1x5

Zercher Squats from the pins:
275x1x5, 315x1x2

Pendlay Rows:
220x3x5

Wall Walk-Ups:
4x5
w/
Band Pull Aparts:
4x20

If you are someone that doesn't usually train early in the morning getting up and throwing some weight around can be a shock to your system if you don't prepare correctly.  If you are someone that consistently trains early you have probably noticed that your body has become adapted to it.  But if you are someone that only does it once every few weeks here are some things that can help you stay productive when all you really want to do is crawl back in bed.

Get up 1.5-2 hours prior to training: I wanted to start by 5:45 am so I set my alarm for 4:30.  Waking up at least an hour before you start is important to get out of sleep mode and get the nervous system firing.  Getting up and doing some light stretching is a great way to get amped up for the coming lift.

Go through your normal morning routine: Especially if your routine is designed to help you wake up and get ready for the day.  If you get up and have coffee or take the dog for a walk or take a shower try to follow that plan before you go train.  This goes back to the first point in that just getting up and moving is a lot better than rolling out of bed and right into the gym.

Hydrate: If you aren't going to drink at least 24 ounces of water before you set foot in the gym then just go back to bed.  Due to your body's natural rhythm of hormones you are naturally dehydrated in the morning.  This is why you feel stiff and why your morning pee looks like diluted coffee of flat Coca-Cola.  Getting some fluids in will lubricate your joints and get your body's systems going at top speed.

Eat: After fasting for anywhere from 8-12 hours overnight your body is in a catabolic state.  That is it's breaking stuff down, including muscle.  Getting some calories in helps turn off catabolism and gives you some fuel for your workout.  Choose foods that are easy for you to digest and include "white" proteins (egg whites, chicken, fish) and some simple carbohydrates (fruit is my go-to).

Get excited: Getting excited about training the night before will almost ensure that you will get up and get moving and get motivated to train.  Not a lot of people can or are willing to get up and train early while the rest of the world sleeps.  Know that you are doing something that 95% of the population will call you crazy for doing but will get you closer to your goals.  To paraphrase 50 Cent, "Sleep is for poor people."

While I don't think early morning is an ideal time to train, sometimes it's the only time available and I'll be damned if I let some piddly excuse like, "It's too early" get in the way.  With these tips you can make your early morning training sessions as productive as all the others.

Hey, How Ya Doin'?

At the same time this question is so innocuous yet so very loaded.  My usual response is, "I've got no complaints."  But on occasion the stresses of everyday life have me saying in my head, "Well, how much time do you have?"  I've come to the realization that my outward response is the truth and my inward monologue is just a bullshit attitude trying to squirm it's way through.

What do I, really, have to complain about?

I've got a roof over my head, I'm in no danger of going hungry, and my furnace is kicking ass as I type this.  I go to work everyday to a job that I love and get to help people.  I've got money in my bank account and a few extra dollars in my wallet.  I've got no major illnesses and haven't been sick in a long time.  I've never worried that tomorrow I might wake up to some crazy madman with a gun that wants to kill myself and all of my fellow villagers.  Shit, just the fact that I'm typing this means I'm doing better than half the fucking people on the planet.  Not too shabby.

So on this day here's a few of life's perks that I'm thankful for:

-Parents that knew when to be parents and when to be friends.

-All of my failures and mistakes and the ability to learn from them.

-Coffee/ caffeine.

-The fact that my dog still loves me even after I give him a bath (which he hates with the intensity of a thousand suns).

-A sister that forces me to hang out with her.

-Family members that have shown me the proper way to be a man and how to treat a woman.

-A wonderful girlfriend who does things like surprise me for my birthday, puts up with me growing a moustache during Movember and then donates to the cause.

-A work environment that values its employees being themselves even if they are jerks (me) sometimes (all the time).

And here's a few of the things that are like icing on this big ol' birthday cake called life:

-Budweiser, Jameson, and all of the other tasty, tasty alcohols
-Nitrous to get me through getting my cavities filled
-Fast cars, loose women
-Huge Beds
-Iron weights
-Books
-Democracy
-The Internet
-Loyal Dogs
-Underwear fresh out of the dryer
-Back Rubs
-Caffeine
-Rock 'N' Roll


There are countless other things that I'm thankful for.  These are but a few off the top of my head.  The point is that I've got it pretty good.  There are very few reasons why I should ever be in a bad mood and the only ones that I can think of involve death.  So on this day think about what you are thankful for and keep it with you every day going forward, not just until the end of dinner.  Speaking of which, I'm going to eat so much fucking turkey.


Song of the Day:

"Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of thanksgiving." -W.T. Purkiser

Who Wants A Ride?

Being that this is Movember wherein members grow moustaches and raise money to help fight prostate and other men's cancers, I think it is appropriate to bring to light some of the most famous moustaches in history and the great men behind them.  The moustache of late has taken on some negative connotations.  One kid at the gym said that I was close to having a "pedo-stache".  This is a moustache that gives the wearer the look of a pedophile.  To the best of my knowledge the kid has never encountered a true pedophile nor grown a single facial hair in his life so he can't be trusted as a knowledgeable authority on either subject.  Regardless, the moustache has been and will always be a symbol of manhood far and wide.  Here are some of the best.

Teddy Roosevelt

Teddy Roosevelt was hands down the most bad assed president ever.  He was a Harvard Boxing Champion in his early years.  He killed people as the leader of the Rough Riders.  He was a cattle rancher in the old days of the Wild West.  Killed all kinds of endangered species in Africa.  And he once started a speech with, “Ladies and gentle I don’t know if you realize this but I have just been shot.”  Yeah, he’d just been shot.


Arthur Saxon

One of the strongest men to ever have lived.  Still holds the record for the bent press and two-hands anyhow.  Don't know what those lifts are?  Google them.  Want to know how he died?  He was supporting a bridge that had cars on top of it.  The bridge failed and collapsed on top of him.  Pretty awesome way to go.

John L. Sullivan

When you invoke the image of a bare-knuckle boxer you think of John L. Sullivan.  He was one of the greatest pugilists of all time.  And boy did he like to drink.  He was the first American athlete to earn over a million dollars and died with $10 to his name.  Like a boss.

Tom Selleck

Since the 1980’s Webster’s Dictionary has had a picture of Tom Selleck a la Hawaii Five-O in place of the definition of the word moustache.  No words are needed.  Only Tom Selleck’s sweet sweet ‘stache.

Hulk Hogan

If you grew up in America in the 80’s you wanted to be just like Hulk Hogan.  I still remember being amazed when my first grade teacher Mrs. Hunt said that we all had the same muscles as Hulk Hogan, his were just bigger.  After the tank top had been ripped off and the bandanna lost all he had was his famous handlebar moustache to beat the likes of the Iron Sheik and Andre the Giant.  The only question that remains is, “What you gonna do when this sweet handle bar moustache runs wild on you brother!?”

There you have it.  Five awesome examples of manliness to motivate you to grow a sweet moustache.  If everyone does their part we can take back the moustache and cast off the negative connotations.  Will you do your part?

Saturday Night Press Fest & Sunday Morning Back Attack

Saturday Night

Bench Press:
225x2x5
25-x1x5

BTN Push Press:
185x3x5

Dips:
BW+50x5x3

Sunday Morning


Pendlay Rows:
242x3x5
312x1x5

Shrugs:
405x8x5
525x3x5
Threw some chins in there as well

Band Pull Aparts:
3x25
w/
Neck:
2x25

Bonnie, my client who had her first powerlifting meet on Saturday crushed it.  She had two PRs and had a blast in the process.  She definitely wants to do another one.  Team Murder Death Kill is now multi-gendered with another one getting bitten by the iron bug.  Great job, Bonnie.

"You don't have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things- to compete.  You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated." -Edmund Hillary

Back In The Saddle

After four days of laying low and recovering I'm back.  The days off felt good since my back was sore until Thursday.  I'm still trying to figure out the exact direction of my training.  This may end up being just a go by feel period.  I've always liked having an unstructured training plan.  The only downside of it is that I, like most people, gravitate to the things that I'm good at or like to do and shy away from the things I need to do.  Mainly mobility work.  I'll try to remember the lessons of the past and stay on top of it. 

Here's what I've done the last two days.

Thursday

Snatch:
up to 186x1, 176x1x2

Military Press:
135x5x3

Squats:
315x5x3

Friday

5 rounds of:
Single Arm Dead Lift: 155x5 ea arm

Push Upsx10

And just a reminder that Movember is still going strong.  I've gotten a lot of nice comments on my sweet 'stache so far.  If you want to donate please visit mobro.co/TroyDequaine.

This weekend I'll be in Dubuque, IA helping out a client in her first powerlifting meet.  My guess is that she's going to kick some ass.

Liftageddon Write Up

Liftageddon was like a cold slap in the face.  I don't really feel the need to go into too much detail on each lift but needless to say it was not my strongest day.   I've got a whole list of excuses I want to make as to why but I'll keep them to myself.

Squat warm ups went well until the last warm up set.  It was a single at 455.  For whatever reason my decent was all kinds of messed up.  I broke at the knees first instead of my hips so I had to quick shift back and waste a bunch of energy to right the ship and bring it back up.  I opened at 500 and got it but it was a grinder.  I went 515 and it wasn't even close.  I had zero pop out of the bottom, said, "nope" and let my competent spotter help me up.

Bench went much the same way.  I got my opener at 265.  Grinded out 280.  Then went for 285 and was close but needed help from Lance to finish it.

Dead lift was the lone bright spot.   My opener was 544 even though I didn't know what it was when I pulled it.  I decided to throw caution to the wind and called for 600.  This lift was probably the ugliest and slowest of my life.  I got it but probably would have been red lighted in an actual competition as I hitched the absolute shit out of the bar.  Oh well, there weren't any judges there.

In hind sight there are things that I would definitely do differently.  One would be to rest more in the couple weeks leading up a meet.  I squatted and dead lifted on Tuesday and benched on Thursday.  Not a lot of down time to recover.  There's some other stuff too.  But it's technical and boring and I don't really feel like thinking about it right now.

Next week I'll be taking things easy.  I'll be heading to Dubuque on Friday to handle a client from the gym who is doing her first meet.  Should be a great time.  After that I'll come back with a renewed sense of purpose and a hunger to smash some weights.

Thursday

I'm writing this post on Friday morning, 11.11.11.  A lot of people are getting married today.  Cool.  But more importantly it's Veteran's Day.  I want to say thank you to all of those that have heard the call and served our country.  Without you I wouldn't be sitting in my heated house, drinking coffee, and game planning for the weekend.  I'd probably be taking a shit in an alley somewhere like some kind of goddam animal right before I got in the bread and soup line or something.  We have it easy peazy lemon squeezy in this country and we have our veterans to thank.  So again, thank you.

It was also the Marine Corps birthday yesterday.  236 years young and still putting boots to asses.  Semper Fidelis.

Yesterday I just worked up to my first attempt on bench (265) and it felt pretty good.  After that it was just some chins, dips, push ups, and arms.  Nothing special, just keeping it light and easy before Liftageddon 2011: The Wreck-oning.

In honor of Veteran's Day here's a link to an article that I wrote about an American soldier who I am eternally thankful was on our side.  This guy's story is the kind of stuff they use in movies.  Oh wait, they did!

http://200poundsis200pounds.blogspot.com/2011/03/guys-id-like-to-have-drink-with-vol-2.html

Tuesday

Squat:
worked up to 455x1

Dead Lift:
worked up to 505x1

Single Arm Row:
3x8
w/
Walking Lunge:
3x20 steps

Glute Ham:
4x10
w/
Band Pull Aparts:
4x25

Standing Abs
4x10

Today I just worked up to my last warm up sets on squat and dead lift.  Squat went fine.  Dead lift I can tell I haven't pulled heavy from the floor in a while so it was good to feel some weight.  Saturday is shaping up to be a pretty epic day.  Got to work in the morning, then Liftageddon 2011:The Wreck-oning in the afternoon, then Medieval Times in Shaumberg, IL at night.  Fuckin' A.

Song of the Day:

"Truth is truth to the end of reckoning." -William Shakespeare

Thursday and Friday

Thursday:


Bench:
95x5x2
135x4x2
185x3
225x2
245x1x2
255x1x2
270x1x2

Weighted Dips:
Body Weight (BW)x5
BW+25x4
BW+50x3
BW+75x2
BW+100x1
BW+50x6x3

BTN Push Press:
135x2
155x2
175x2
195x2
205x2x3

Arms

Friday:


Chest Supported Row:
50x10
55x10
60x10
65x10
70x10
75x10

Meadows Row:
5x8 each arm.

10 rounds of this:
Rack Dead Lift (Bar just below knee):
x1 (reps 1,2 @ 445, 3-6 @ 495, 7-10 @ 545)
w/
Rack Pull Ups:
x6

Two pretty good day this past week.  On Saturday is going to be Liftageddon 2011 at NX Level.  Again, since the meet that Lance and I were going to do is full we'll be having our own meet with some of our other lifting friends joining in.  I'm still game planning what I'm going to do this week.  Thinking I might work up to my last warm up sets on squat and dead lift on Tuesday and the same thing for bench on Thursday.  Then on Saturday it'll be nothing but heavy-ass poundages being thrown around all over the place.  Can't wait.

Song of the Day:

"Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit on his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." -H.L. Mencken

Tuesday- Lower

Squat:
135x5x2
225x4,3
315x2
405x1
445x1x2
475x1x2
500x1x2

Dead Lift:
300x1x3
330x1x3
360x1x9 (one rep every :20 seconds)

Walking Lunge:
3x20 steps
w/
Band Resisted Glute Ham:
3x12

Power Wheel Walks:
3x20 yards

Dip Bar Straight Leg Raises:
3x12

Pretty good session today.  Squats felt really good.  Dead lift went smooth.  Accessory stuff is accessory stuff. And don't forget, today is Movember First.  Check the links below.

Movember- us.movember.com
My MoSpace- mobro.co/TroyDequaine

Song of the Day:

"A man without a moustache is like a cup of tea without sugar." -English Proverb

Monday and Movember

Did a quick little workout this morning...

400 yards as fast as I could (1:25)

Handstand Wall Walk Up
x5,4,4
w/
Chins:
3x5

Box Jumps:
3x5
Single Leg Box Step Downs:
3x8

Band Pull Aparts:
4x20
w/
Vertebrae Situps:
3x10

All said and done it took me about 35 mins with the warmup.  I'm probably going to be adding 2-3 of these little workouts in each week on my normal off days.  I like that they are all body wight which doesn't beat me up at all, gets some blood flowing, and helps with my work capacity.  I'll also be able to focus on some weak points that I alluded to in a previous post.

Like last year I'll be donating my face to the Movember cause for the month of November.  Movember is a cause that benefits prostate cancer and other men's cancer initiatives.  A a sign of solidarity all the men that help the cause grow a moustache during November.  When someone says, "Hey, what's with the 'stache?" we get them learned up on the cause and maybe even pull a donation or two.  If you'd like to donate I would greatly appreciate it.  After all you get hours of amusement for free from this blog so five or ten bucks to a good cause isn't too much to ask I don't think.  At the very least visit the links and check out the cause.  Thanks.  Oh, and Happy Halloween!

Movember- us.movember.com
My MoSpace- http://mobro.co/TroyDequaine

Song of the Day:

"In the old days villains had moustaches and kicked the dog." -Alfred Hitchcock

Saturday

Push Press:
95x5x2
135x4
185x3
205x2
225x1
235x1
135x10

Squat Supports:
245x1
355x1
445x1
535x1
625x1
675x1

Wall Handstands:
3x as long as I could hold
w/
TRX Face Pulls:
3x12

Ab Wheel Hand Walks:
3x20 yards

Gassers:
x3

Pretty good day in the weight room.  Push press was only 10 lbs off my all time PR.  I moved the pins down on the squat supports so I did more of a half squat to stand up with the weight.  675 felt heavy as shit.

I've been thinking about my pressing strength or lack-there-of lately.  Part of it is I feel my triceps are weak. This is a biggie.  Without strong triceps lockout strength is greatly diminished.  Part of it is that my upper body structures feel weak as a whole.  My shoulder girdle is tight and full of knots.  My shoulder joints feel weak and unstable.  With these issues present pressing strength in general is never going to be what it could be.  To that end I'm going to take action to increase the strength of the support structures.  This starts with the wall handstands.  These are tough as shit.  I used the wall to balance and just held for time.  I got about 40 seconds on each one but was shaking after about 20 seconds.  I've never really put a focus on improving body weight strength movements.  But I'm going to go into it in earnest once the meet passes.  Should be interesting.

Song of the Day:

"You must have the devil in you to succeed in any of the arts." -Voltaire

Thursday- Upper

Bench:
230x1x3
235x1x3
250x1x3

Shoulder Press:
4x8
w/
Dips:
4x8

Pendlay Rows:
4x8
w/
45' Pull Downs:
4x8

DB Curls:
3x6
w/
EZ Bar Reverse Curls:
3x8

Db Skull Crushers:
3x10
w/
Push Ups:
2x20

Bench actually felt pretty good today.  A big part of it was that I felt really locked in on my technique.  Not sure why today felt so great but I'll take it.

I got some disappointing news earlier this week.  The meet that I was planning on doing in November is full. The meet director capped the full power entries at fifty and by the time I went to register there was no more room at the inn.  So instead Lance and Eric and I and whoever else wants to join in are going to have our own little meet at work the Saturday before.  If I get some PRs they won't be official lifts, but something to hang my hat on nonetheless.  I'm still going to go to the actual meet to handle a woman from the gym who is doing the meet.  This is her first one and she is going to kick some ass.

Song of the Day:


"If we will be quiet and ready enough we shall find compensation in every disappointment." -Henry David Thoreau

Tuesday- Lower

Squat:
135x5x2
225x4x2
315x3
405x2
445x1

420x1x3
435x1x3
455x1x3

Rack Pull (mid shin):
510x1x3
600x1
630x0

Walking Lunge:
3x20 steps
w/
Banded Leg Curl:
3x12

Ab Wheel Rollouts:
3x10

Today was tough.  Squats went well but by the time the 455's rolled around I was starting to fade.  Got through them like a champ though.  Pin pulls were a different story.  Where I set the pin is essentially the toughest spot to do a dead lift from.  You get zero leg drive and therefore zero momentum to pull back and clear the knee.  At its core it's a very heavy RDL.  The 600 pin pull felt harder than when I pulled it from the floor a few months ago.  I gave 630 a few tugs but by that time I was shot.  This one might take a while to recover from.

Song of the Day:

"By persisting in your path, though you forfeit the little, you gain the great." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thursday and Friday

Thursday:


Bench:
95x1
135x4
185x3
225x2
245x1
250x1
265x1
275x0
225x1x3

DB Bench:
4x8 w/ 80's
w/
Dips:
4x8 @ BW

Sternum Chins:
4x8
w/
45' Pull Downs:
4x8

Drag Curl:
4x10
w/
DB Skull Crushers:
4x12

DB Laterals:
4x8
w/
Band Pull Aparts:
4x25

Friday:


Good Mornings:
135x5x2
185x5x3

Squat Supports:
I set the pins so they were about 4" below the top of my squat lockout.  So I was essentially doing a 4" squat.  Each rep was held for 10 seconds at the top.
265x1
355x1
445x1
535x1
625x1
715x1x3

Push Press:
95x5
135x4
175x3
195x2
205x1
185x3x3

Single Arm Row:
4x10
w/
DB Pullovers:
3x12

My pressing strength continues to be a fly in my ointment.  I know it's because in the past I haven't put as much focus into it because I was bad at it.  Well getting strong doesn't happen by accident.  After my meet I'm going to back off on the squatting and dead lifting and really hammer on the presses.  If that doesn't work then I'll just start doing Zumba or something.

With Halloween coming up I'll be sampling mostly Misfits songs.  This song was actually written about my dog, Saxon.  GOT A HELLHOUND DOG!  THAT HELLHOUND'S GONNA RIP YOUR FACE OFF!

Song of the Day:

"There is something haunting in the light of the moon; it has all the dispassionateness of a disembodied soul, and something of its inconceivable mystery." Joseph Conrad

My First Training Partner

I still, very vividly, remember the first place I ever trained at.  It was a basement gym with minimal equipment.  There was an old treadmill and jogging trampoline for cardio.  There was only one set of dumbbells and they were covered with blue plastic and only five pounds.  The center piece was an old-school selectorized weight machine that looked like an old torture rack.  This wasn’t one of those modern machines with a leg press, chest press, a lat pull down bar and a half dozen bar/handle options.  Oh, no.  The one weight stack was bolted into whichever wall you had chosen.  It came with a flat bench that could be put in front of or moved away from the weight stack.  The bar is difficult to describe.  It was essentially a metal square with a prong on one side that was inserted into the guide rails that could be moved up and down.  On the other side were handles that could be used for bench presses, squats, overhead presses, shrugs and anything that fancied your imagination.  There was also a horizontal row handle at the bottom.  In my mind it was the first failed attempt at a Smith machine.  Needless to say, the gym was pretty bare bones.

My first training partner had taken a weight training class in college where he had worked his bench press up to (at the time I thought this was astronomical) 275 pounds.  I don’t remember much of what we did but I know he probably put up with a lot of whining and a short attention span.  I didn’t make a lot of progress.  In fact, I think he once pitted my sister and I against each other in a test of strength and she came out the victor.

I was about six or so when I finally understood what that equipment in my basement was used for.  My first training partner was obviously my dad and I like to think he just enjoyed my company and so was willing to put up with my whining and being weaker than my older sister.  Neither of us knew it then but those sessions in the basement ignited the spark that lit the flame that has led me to my passion for strength training.  Even though I didn’t take training seriously until high school I look at those moments when it first piqued my interest.

Fast forward to middle school.  Being a chubby kid growing up I’d always been self-conscious of my weight and the way I looked.  I decided that for my birthday I wanted a weight bench and some weights and that I was going to get into shape.  My parents delivered and I got a small weight bench with a bar and weight set. (I once took an informal poll at work to see who had owned a similar set-up when they were kids and every single trainer had the same thing I did.  Definitely more than mere coincidence.)  The weight set had a hundred pounds of weight and a one inch standard bar.  The weights were the old cement weights that were covered with hard plastic.  I had absolutely no clue what I was doing.  I’m pretty sure I benched every single time and more than likely gave squatting a few rides.  I’m fairly certain I was completely ignorant of the Olympic lifts, which was probably a good thing since I more than likely would have hurt myself.  

Down in my basement by myself with absolutely no direction or instruction I remember being beside myself when I had maxed out the amount of weight I could get on the bar with 135 pounds on the bench press.  Sprinkled between the time I started and up to that point there were also a few close calls where I failed on a rep and either had to roll the bar to my waist and stand up or tip it to one side and let the weight fall off one side and then the other.  This is where my survival instincts were honed.  It was either, finish the rep, not get the rep and look like an idiot getting out from under the bar, or perish with 100 pounds on my neck.  It was one of the first two every time.  I don't go quietly just like that.

Once I got into high school my dad pretty much stopped exercising besides the occasional cross country skiing outing or roller blading around our subdivision.  I had been in the high school’s weight program and trained with a buddy’s uncle who was a former bodybuilder and had made some pretty good progress.  I’ve never been the strongest person on any team, but I’ve always described myself as above average in strength.  I took it seriously but never really gave any thought to continuing to train once I went to college.  That changed when I decided to play football at Carroll College.

            

I had my summer workouts that I did and enjoyed seeing the progression from one phase to the next.  I was also going through the student guidebook trying to decide what I was going to do with the rest of my life.  When I showed up on campus I was ready to play and ready to begin my journey to being the most awesome high school English teacher you ever saw.  I ended up playing football all four years and had a pretty good career.  My majoring in English lasted a semester.

            

When I was mulling over the decision to switch my major to Exercise Science it was my dad who took the stance that I may be making a poor decision.  He took the side that I should really figure out how the job market was going to look once I graduated.  I’m eternally thankful that I have a dad that is willing to do this.  Even though strength and conditioning had become a passion of mine he was ever the pragmatic.  Could I make a career out of it?  Would I always be struggling with money issues?  Those were the tough questions that I had to answer before he’d be satisfied with my decision. 

           

Back then I had plans of continuing my education beyond my undergrad and working at a university or for a professional sports team.  Instead I found a great job working at a sports performance center working with kids who are just as hungry as I once was but now have a much better resource for their strength training other than a magazine or their own imagination.

           

I sometimes ponder what my life would look like if I hadn’t been introduced to the physical culture by my dad all those years ago.  Where do I work?  Who are my friends?  Where do I live?  I’ll never know but I wouldn’t really want to.  I owe a lot more to my dad than just starting me on a path to a career that I enjoy.  He set me on a path towards a life worth living.  One filled with hard work, determination, setting and accomplishing goals, and being a useful human being.  Everyday I’m thankful for the attitude towards life and the work ethic he’s instilled in me.  I just wish he’d exercise more and eat better.

Tuesday- Lower

Squat:
135x5x2
225x3x2
315x1x2
405x1
455x1
485x1
510x1

Dead Lift:
352x3
372x2
420x1x3

Walking Lunges:
3x20 steps w/ 88 lbs
w/
Back Extensions:
3x12

Leg Press:
5pps 4x8
w/
Leg Curl:
4x8 w/ 75 lbs

Whoowhee!  This one was more of a grinder than the slutty girl at a high school dance.  For starters I had some "stomach issues" on Monday and hadn't drank my Pedialite.  So I was a little dehydrated going in and at a body weight of 206 I was lighter than I had been in a while.

Warm ups on squat went well.  Little bit of pain but nothing out of the ordinary.  Once I got to 455 that all changed.  As I was going down with it I could feel the pressure in my head building.  Vision was getting blurry and I almost passed right the hell out as I started to come up.  I had to step back to keep from falling back but was able to stand up.  Could have been a lot worse.  Thoughts of packing it in crossed my mind but I hadn't gotten all dressed up for nothing so I pushed on.  485 was OK.  A little easier than the last time I had it on my back but nothing to get worked up about.  I was having some serious doubts about the 510 but knew I had a competent spotter so I decided to give it a ride.  Slow as the kid that ate glue in grade school but it was a good lift.

I'm glad I went for it.  That weight is probably going to be my opener in November depending on how the rest of the training cycle goes.  In the words of Ice Cube, "...today was a good day."

Song of the Day: 

"There is no way to success but to take off your coat, grind, and work like a digger on the railroad, all day and every day." -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Friday- Wait, what?

Good Mornings:
135x8x3
185x6x2

BTNPP:
Up to 215 for a single

Leg Press (pps=plates per side):
2ppsx10
3ppsx10
4ppsx10
5ppsx10
Drop Set:
5ppsx10, 4ppsx20, 3ppsx30

Calf Press:
3ppsx 15, 20, 25

Ab Wheel Rollouts:
3x12

I trained Friday morning due to the fact that I'm a busy man and have many going's ons this weekend.  When  it comes to throwing iron around I'm not usually a morning person but today was a pretty decent session.  My shoulder is a little jacked up from the presses but other than that I couldn't be happier than a pig in shit with how today went.  Booyah.

Song of the Day:

"Early morning hath gold in its mouth." -Ben Franklin

Thursday and Saturday and Tuesday

You can call me Dr. Cheeks because when it comes to this blog, I'm a little behind.  Horrible joke I know.  Deal with it.

Thursday


Bench:
95x5
135x4
185x3
230x2
245x1

Dead Bench:
225x3 singles
235x3 singles
245x3 singles

DB Low Incline:
4x8
w/
Dips:
4x8

Bent Row:
4x8
w/
Neutral Grip Chins:
4x8

Saturday


Squat:
worked up to 405x1, 315x3x3

Military Press:
95x5
135x4
155x3
175x2
185x1x2

RDLs:
4x8
w/
Single Arm Row:
4x8

DB Curls:
3x12
w/
DB Lateral Raise:
3x10

Tuesday


Squat:
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
445x1
420x3 paused
445x3 paused
455x3 paused

Speed Dead Lift:
352x3
396x2
421x1x3

Walking Lunge:
3x20 steps
w/
45' Back Extension:
3x12

Trap Bar Carry:
After warm up sets, 505x25 yards x2

Training has been going pretty well lately.  I haven't had any bottom 10% sessions in a while and I haven't missed any weights.  Just how a meet prep should go.

I saw these guys at RiotFest this past weekend and they put on a hell of a show.
Song of the Day:



"You either reach a higher point today, or you exercise your strength in order to be able to climb higher tomorrow." -Nietzsche

Tuesday- Lower

Squat:
135x5x2
225x4
315x3
405x2
455x1

405x3 paused
435x3 paused
445x3 paused

Dead Lift (3" deficit)
265x3
352x3
392x2
420x1x3

Single Leg Step Downs:
4x8 ea leg

w/

45 Degree Back Extensions
4x10

Trap Bar Carry:
255x25 yards
345x25 yards
435x25 yards
505x25 yards

Pretty decent session today. I'd definitely put it in the 80% range. The trap bar carries lit my hips up big time. I like them though. I can see myself doing them in the future.

"A great man can bend and stretch." -Chinese proverb

Thursday and Saturday

Thursday:

Bench:
95x5
135x4
185x3
230x2
245x1

Dead Bench:
215x1x3
230x1x3
240x1x3

Low Incline DB Bench:
70'sx8x4

w/

Dips:
BWx8x4

Bent Rows:
154x8x4

w/

V-Grip Chins:
BWx8x4

Arms

Saturday:

Squat: 315x1x10

Military Press:
95x5
115x4
135x3
155x2
175x1
135x8x2

Single Arm Row:
120's x8x4

w/

RDLs:

220x8x4

Thursday was one of my better upper workouts in a while.  The dead bench is where I set the rack pins a few inches from the top of my chest and press the weight from a dead stop.  This takes away the benefit of a stretch response and will build strength from my chest, which is where I've always had trouble.

I'm still trying to find a direction for my Saturday workouts.  Truth-be-told I never really feel that great squatting on Saturday's as I usually have some lingering soreness from my Tuesday workouts.  Doing another bench workout on Saturday has also really lit my shoulders up.  That's why I brought back the overhead work.  Plus, it's the weekend and I don't really feel like doing shit either way.

"When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." -Will Rogers

Hard To Kill

These days you can’t watch TV or listen to the radio for more than a couple of minutes without hearing about the latest thing that causes this or that chronic disease such as cancer or Alzheimer’s disease. All you really ever hear is about how this or that environmental factor or dietary practice or supplement reduces or increases your chances of acquiring said disease. The list of things goes on and on ad infinitum. But the real message is essentially, “Do this and not that so that you don’t die earlier than you were supposed to.” But maybe there is something simple you can do that reduces your chances of early death without all the contradictory evidence of environmental factors and food choices. There is. It’s called being strong.

Many studies have been performed on the old (age 65-80) and the very old (85+) that look at strength levels and mortality rates. What the researchers basically do is test the old people’s strength levels (most often hand-grip or leg extension maximal efforts) and then follow them around for a specified period of time and see who dies and who doesn’t. This is science at its most complex, folks. What they’ve found a lot of the time is that the people that were the strongest at the beginning were more likely to still be alive at the end. These studies are compelling but do have their drawbacks. First of all are the confounders. Are people stronger because they happen to be in good health or are they in good health because they are stronger? And on the flip side, are older people weak because of their failing health or is their failing health due to them being weak. It’s hard to separate and show causality of the strength level from the health level. But the proof is still in the pudding. The strong survive.

So that’s the old people. But what about young, robust characters that are in the prime of life? A huge study was performed at The Cooper Clinic in Dallas, Texas in the 80’s. If you ever had to do the Pacer (beep) test in gym class you can thank the Cooper Clinic. This study was a longitudinal study like the ones done on the elderly, but on a much bigger scale. When it was all said and done there were over 8,000 participants. And when the researchers controlled for variables that would skew data they found much the same thing. Those that were in the strongest third of study participants lived longer. For all the runners out there they even controlled against cardiovascular fitness and found the same thing.

In fact, muscular strength has been shown to be a great predictor of risk of cardiovascular disease in young adulthood. In two studies done on younger Swedish men, baseline levels of strength were assessed and were then followed up on later in life. Researchers found that muscular strength was inversely associated with risk of fatal and nonfatal heart disease and stroke, meaning that the stronger you were the less likely you were to have incidents of fatal or non-fatal cardiovascular disease or stroke. But why is that?

The studies, to my knowledge, didn’t take into account current levels of physical activity. They just made the association between current health statuses and where they end up. This means that someone who is just naturally strong has more protection against these diseases than someone else. This is my theory and I may be off, but it makes sense to me. In order to lift a heavy weight you must have a high tolerance to elevated blood pressures. Normal resting blood pressure is around 120/80. When lifting weights, that pressure can sometimes get to around 200/75. This is dependent on the weight lifted and the intensity of the weight relative to the trainee’s strength level, but that’s a lot either way. The same goes for heart rate. I was once working with a client who was wearing a watch with a heart rate monitor on it. During her squat workout I would glance at the watch to see how much her heart rate had climbed and at one point it had gone up about 45 points in a span of about 15 seconds.

What the studies seem to indicate is that it’s not so much that you do this on a regular basis, but that you have the ability to do it. They only measured strength levels at the beginning, waited a specific amount of time, and checked to see who was alive, who was dead, and who had had any instances of heart disease or stroke. The protective effects lie in the ability, not so much the doing. Now this is not to say that if you belong to the strongest third of the population you can put things on cruise control and ride in the easy lane until you kick the bucket at a robust 112 years old. It doesn’t work that way. Very few people have the ability to maintain a lot of strength and cardiovascular fitness if they all of a sudden stop doing the things that got them strong and fit in the first place. You still need to train and you need to maintain some type of cardiovascular fitness. Because if those things aren’t a big part of your life then what’s the point of living anyway?

Sources:
Association of body size and muscle strength with incidence of coronary heart disease and cerebrovascular diseases: a population-based cohort study of one million Swedish men. Silventoinen K, Magnusson PK, Tynelius P, Batty GD, Rasmussen F. Int J Epidemiol. 2009 Feb;38(1):110-8.

Muscle strength and body size and later cerebrovascular and coronary heart disease. Shrier I. Clin J Sport Med. 2010 Mar;20(2):131.

Physical fitness and 6.5-year mortality in an 85-year-old community-dwelling population. Y. Takata, et al. Arch Gerontol Geriatr. 2011 May 16.

Objectively measured physical capability levels and mortality: systematic review and meta-analysis. Cooper R, Kuh D, Hardy R; Mortality Review Group; FALCon and HALCyon Study Teams. BMJ. 2010 Sep 9;341:c4467.

Association between muscular strength and mortality in men: prospective cohort study. Ruiz, J.R. et al. BMJ 2008;337:a439

Tuesday- Lower

Squat:
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
455x1

395x3 Paused
420x3 Paused
435x3 Paused

Speed Dead Lift:
340x3
360x2
380x2x3

Single Leg Step Down:
4x8
w/
45` Back Extension
3x12

Glute Ham Hypers:
3x12
w/
Leg Press Calf Raises:
4x10

Not sure what it was, but squats felt pretty awesome today. Everything felt strong and explosive out of the bottom, nothing hurt, and my technique didn't break down at all. Just got to keep it going.

"Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they've got a second." -William James

Thursday- Upper

Bench:
85x5
145x4
184x3
150x2
275x2 singles

225x8

DB Low Incline Bench:
55x8x8

Pendlay Rows:
154x8
242x5x3

Swimmer Lat Pull Downs:
3x12

Push Ups:
3x12

Arms

Finisher:
Log Clean and Press x10
Farmer's Carry x60 yards
Tire Hits x15 each side
all x3

Bench felt ok. The first single at 275 was pretty awful. I came back and got mentally in the game and the second one went much better. That's always been my problem on bench, not being intense and attacking the rep.

"I never did anything worth doing by accident." -Plato

Tuesday- Lower

Squat:
160x5
265x4
340x3
455x2 singles
490x1

Speed Dead Lift
340x3
360x2
380x2x3

Leg Press:
4 plates x8x4
4 plates +25 x8x4
:30s rest on all sets

Single Leg Step Downs:
3x10

Leg Curls:
3x15

Ok session. 490 was a grinder. Felt like the up part of it took 20 seconds. Still got it though. Need to get stronger.

"Only the mediocre are always at the top of their game. -Anonymous

Saturday

Squat:
225x8x8 w/ :30s rest

Chain Bench:
145x3x6

Single Arm Row:
110x8x6

Decent session today. I think I've figured out why my right side is so tight and gives me so much pain. I have a feeling that my glute medius (smaller glute muscle to the top and outside of your buttcheek) on my right is weak and relatively inactive. When I walk and palpate at the same time my left side is much more developed than the right. So today and the last week I've been focusing on using it more. Today on the squats I really focused on pushing through my left heel to squeeze my glute medius. I'm hoping as this muscle develops more the pain and tightness on my right side will go away. Only time will tell.

Song of the Day: Smoke or Fire- Goodbye to Boston

"Human behavior flows from three sources: desire, emotion, and knowledge." -Plato