Friday, December 24, 2010

Training Log: First Annual PSI Christmas Eve Squat Party

I had been looking forward to this for a week and it did not disappoint. I had a blast. The action moved pretty fast considering we had six sqautters and four finishing the rest of the workout.

Team Squats

Christan
Box Squats of the 12" inch cooler
45 x 10
95 x 5
115 x 3
135 x 3
155 x 3
175 x 3 PR

Member-at-Large Berry
worked up to 225

Temporary Member Andrew
45 x 8
135 x 8
225 x 4
295 x 4
315 x 4
325 x 4
325 x 4
315 x 4

Danny
45 x 10
135 x 8
225 x 5
295 x 6
315 x 4
345 x 4... ugly form
345 x 4... ugly form
345 x 4... good form, good lifts

Mike
45 x 8
135 x 8
225 x 5
315 x 3
385 x 6
405 x 4
425 x 3
435 x 3... all of his first reps were strong, but he was fading on third reps, but looked strong on 1 and 2

Pete
BW x 12
BW x 12
45 x 10
135 x 8
225 x 5
315 x 3
405 x 1
455 x 6 ... with 3 ct pause...solid
495 x 4... with 3 ct pause... tore it up
525 x 4... with 3 ct pause... never a question, but little slow out of the hole.
Put wraps on
585 x 4... I mean, they were heavy, but I killed them.

Christan
Incline Press
45 x 10
65 x 6
85 x 6
95 x 6
105 x 6... showed me, I figured she would get 4

Speed Pulls
145 x 3 x 2
155 x 3 x 2
165 x 3 x 2

then all her other stuff

Gage
Romanian Split Squats
20 x 10 x ea x 4 sets

DB Push Press
4 sets of 5

Pendlay Rows
95 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5
145 x 5

Team Speed Pulls
225 x 3

Danny and Andrew
295 x 3 x 6

Mike and Pete
295 x 2
365 x 3 x 6

Team RDL
weight: Pete/ Danny, Andrew, Mike
275 x 6/4
295 x 6/4
315 x 8/4... I used the snatch grip

Team shrugs
Andrew
225 x 10
315 x 10
315 x 10

Mike
225 x 8
315 x 8
315 x 8

Danny
315 x 10
365 x 10
405 x 10

Pete
385 x 10
425 x 10
455 x 10...PR

Just a swell time. I felt I was alone in this assessment, though. Regardless, I had a blast. Proud of everyone for showing up. thanks to Logan for his help. My squats felt great. the 585 for 4 with wraps was done with great depth and great form.

Christan hit a PR.
Danny worked out his form issues. Gotta get his head right.
Berry made several jokes.
Mike looked strong on first reps. He will be happy: We have one more week of this crazy shit, a deload, two weeks of lighter stuff, then 4 weeks of only three sets of low reps, a deload and three weeks of 2 sets with really low reps.

Anyway, I had a blast. Nice to have Pokey as a back spotter.

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Meet Write Up

Meet was supposed to start at 9:30. The rules briefing ended at twenty five til ten. Turns out even with my opener I was in the second flight, third from the last. Warmups started at ten, but first flight was taking forever so we started warming up and then slowed down. Warmups felt pretty good.

bw x 12
45 x 10
135 x 8
225 x 5
315 x 3
365 x 2
waited
365 x 1
455 x 1
525 x 1

Got out as the the third flight was finishing and then there was a long lag between flights. Then the first nine lifters took forever. for all the talk about calling depth harshly, the judges proved to be a little more lenient than advertised. Couple of gifts with openers. My openr was 578. i went a little coservative to make sure that i hit depth. The first thing I noticed was the thickness of the bar. But it was an easy walkout, buried and absolutley EXPLODED it up. I was in the meet and the opener was easy.

Went with 628 for my second. Good focus, walk up to the bar and as I duck under the head judge says, "well, it's too late now." this really screwed me up. I figured out what he was talking about: the bar was shifted left and I had to roll it. i think he was telling the loaders to shift it for me, but I was under the bar before they could do it. But my focus was shot and I got pinned. Good catch by the spotters. Not blaming anyone, just giving the reason

Now the third. Retook 628. A weight I was confident in. Walkout was perfect, descent was great, popped up, hit the sticking point and then the bar shifted left. I got thrown and the lift was taken by the spotters. My only thought was that the spotter on my right touched the bar, grabbed it early because of the trouble with the second attempt. The video seems to confirm this, but the image is grainy. regardless, one for three and my total is shot. I was devestated.

My squat was the biggest raw squat by 77 pounds. There were only three squats bigger. two 606 and Joe Norman's huge 942. 942 in single ply suit over single ply briefs. Buddy gave Joe extra time as well. When a record is at stake, an equipment check and following the letter of the rules would add legitmacy.

They went ahead and did the raw bench meet next. another interesting fact: lifters could lift in street clothes, wear their headphones, use padded neoprene belts and the uneven lockout rule was not set in stone. A couple of awesome raw benches though. a 400 plus at 198 and a battle at 220 with one guy hitting 465ish and the other destroying 470ish like it was a toy.

First flight benches took forever. My warmups felt terrible.

45 x 10
95 x 5
135 x 3
185 x 2
225 x 2
275 x 1
315 x 1... this had me wondering if I should lower my first attempt.

I wound up being fourth from last in flight B, a couple of guys opened up raw before going to their shirts. I still wound up with a respectabel bench in comparison. Opened with 347. It was a little harder than I wanted and my shoulder was killing me. Second attempt, Iwent conservative with 363.7 Easier than first. Still conservative at 374.5 on third. I simply ran out of gas at the top. God this meet was sucking it up.

Meet was rolling along at this point. Time to deadlift. My training sucked, but I had a good feeling goin into the meet. Warmup felt awesome. I followed the herd and warmed up fast. Had to watch the third attempts of flight A. Got to see a 71 and 72 year old man lift. Just awesome.

225 x 3
315 x 2
405 x 2
495 x 1... I was only going to warmup to 475 but it was a pain in the ass to unload, so i went with it.

Opened with 529. Oddly enough, I smoked it. Lemme tell you something. The Oki deadlift bar is something else. A lot of bend, feels like you are grabbing a bar made of gravel and it slices the knees like a cheese grater. Was an easy lift, so I took a pretty good jump to a personal best, meet best sumo 563. In a strange twist, this was the prettiest deadlift of my 20 year lifting career. As I am coming off the platform, Christan looked at me wide-eyed and said, "who ARE you?" she knows my problems with pulling.

Gathered my brain trust: Mike and Logan. My best pull ever is 600 @ 270 in a meet, conventional. My idea in this meet was to eke out 550-565 and take a weak shot at 584. Mike had been saying all day I was going to go for six. i told him all day to shut up. Logan opted to go somewhere between 574 and 595. Heck with it, I went for broke. 600.

Pulled it solidly. Never a doubt in my mind. Could not belive it. with all my issues with pulling sumo, I tied an all time pull in my first meet going sumo. I have the action down now. Just have to replicate it.

So, a disappointing 1542 total. Thanks to Christan for being there and giving me impetus in my deadlifts. Logan for doing everything. Mike, Danny and Bev for showing up.

Good to meet some nice folks: Tom, Mitch, Justin, Tim and Ronnie.

Time to train for March. Redeem that squat.

Link to meet vids:

http://www.youtube.com/user/snootchon4

Friday, November 5, 2010

Weigh In

Woke up today at 240. Cleaned house, had a LIGHT brunch and took a nap: 238.8. Drank a 12 oz slim fast shake and went potty: 238.8. Chris got home and we headed to Adel.

Official Weigh-In: 237.5

Went to Roadhouse where I ate:

6 rolls
a handfull of peanuts
4 diet Cokes
a salad
16 oz Cowboy cut Sirloin
Steak fries
half a "Big Ol' Brownie"

Start up at 8:30 tomorrow morning.

Openers in Kilos:
262.5 ... 578.5
157.5 ... 347
240 ... 529

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Christan's Training Log

Leg Press... counting thr sled as 45
135 x 10
225 x 10
315 x 10
365 x 10
385 x 10 ... sandbagging

DB Press
15 x 10
20 x 10
25 x 10
30 x 10
35 x 8

Seated Calf Raise
50 x 10
70 x 10
90 x 10
45 x 10
45 x 10

Shrugs
135 x 10
155 x 10
175 x 10
135 x 13

Dront, side Delt raises, with bd set on last of 3
Face pulls, with bd set on last of 3

Good Mornings
45 x 8
65 x 8
95 x 8

Leg Extensions

Step ups... each leg
Back Extensions
Cable Flexors... 3 sets of each

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

First Breakdown of Bodyweight Data and Deadlift Ruminations

Been checking my BW before bed and in the morning to get a determination of what my real BW is. Checked from the night of 9/30 until the morning of 10/12.

Average Night Weight: 248.25

Average Morning Weight: 245.53

Average BW: 246.9

Average overnight loss: 2.72

Range of Night Weight: 243.8 to 251.4

Range of Morning Weight: 241 to 248

Range of Overnight Loss: 1.4 to 3.8

Adjusting for low end removal due to skewed data (weight loss for making weight)
Avg: night: 248.65
Avg. morning: 245.94
Avg. BW: 247.3
Avg. ONL: 2.71

All told, I am happy with my BW even though I have not been eating as cleanly as I would like to. Should be able to be at about 246/247 for the Sunday before the meet. Will do all my warmups on Monday and will weigh myself again then as well. Will start the drop Wednesday or Thursday, depending on BW.

My deadlift was interesting last night. I was able to remain focused and calm even while everything was feeling heavy. Usually I start freaking out inside if my warmups are heavier than usual, but even when 405 felt like 505, I kept my focus. I think having to train someone aids in this. Even when I am not lifting I have to focus on something. I remeber 485 feeling terrible, 515 feeling terrible and 545 feeling terrible, but I was able to complete all three sets. There was no doubt in my mind with 545. There should have been, but there was not. I told myself it was only thirty pounds over 515 and if I only pulled it once it was a PR, but was able to pull three.

Mike wanted to know if i was going for six wheels next week. Part of me wants to, but I have been able to get to this point sticking to my percentages. So far, they seem to be dead on. 575 is the goal for next week. Have to rememeber that it is only 30lbs more than this week and if I only pull it for one it will be a PR.

I, of course, want two.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

Training Log: Squat and Top Chef: Just Desserts

Met up with the guys in blackshear for a great workout

Dynamic Stretch... should have stretched lowe rback, it was tight the whole night

Squat
BW x 12
Bw x 12
45 x 10
135 x 8... really tight in back, trouble getting depth
225 x 5
315 x 3 add belt, loose
405 x 2
465 x 5 loose belt
510 x 5 loose belt, buried
545 x 5 tight belt, buried... very good focus

Speed Dl
135 x 2
225 x 2
315 x 2
335 x 2
355 x 2
335 x 2
315 x 2 x 2

ABGM
275 x 6
315 x 6
365 x 6
315 x 8


Danny hit 405 on the squat tonight. 2 singles. First was tentative, second was all him. Mike hit 495 x 2 again. It was nice to see them do stiff legs afterward.

545 for 5 on a night where everything felt heavy. I am right where I need to be. Next week will be the most important week. 585 for a triple.

Top Chef: Just Desserts
Damnit, I should be a judge on this show. I been training for 37 years to be part of this. Me and Johnny C giving everyone what's for about their hot fudge remalade. Pisses me off that noone contacted me. Seriously, I would eat everything on this show.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Random Thoughts on Training and a mini Proto-Mechanic entry...

I feel as if my training has hit a pretty good place. Even my assistance Sunday day is making me feel stronger. My back is definately getting B and S. Now that I have a meet to shoot for and a total in mind with the possibility of Raw Unity on the horizon, I am getting nervous and jerky. I couldn't sleep last night thinking about numbers and percentages.

My training got better once I was able to focus and calm down a bit, and that is what I need to do this week. this will be a true deload week for me, perhaps the first I have ever actually taken. I do not want to break the momentum, but I have tended, in the past, to just keep hammering away until I get hurt or things started to go badly.

Concerned about my left shoulder and wondering if overhead pressing is working for me and I am not sure what to do about kick starting my bench, but overall I feel pretty good. Abs and back are nice and sore this morning. It is about time to mix things up a bit, I can feel some stagnation setting in.

In addition to being deload this week, I am also using this week as a weight test. I was at 247.5 on Sunday and want to be at 242.5 or less on Friday. Will take in my usual gallon plus of water a day until Thursday and then limit water to meals. Will watch my eating and while still back-loading on training days, will try to show some restraint. If this works this week, I will use the same plan week of the meet.

Goals for the last few weeks of heavy training:

want to hit 545 x 5 on the squat, then follow that with a 585 triple and a 615 double. That should put me about where I was when I hit 645 @270.

Bench: 330 x 5, 350 x 3, 370 x 2

Deadlift: 515 x 5, 545 x 3, 575 x 2

If I can hit these numbers I want to go:

585 625 650
345 365 385
545 590 605
1475 1580 1640

Will tweak at the meet or as we get closer. RUM qualifier is 1554. Raw "elite" outside of RUM is 1607. I really want 1600+ and anything over 1625 would be a meet PR regardless of weight. Can't decide if I am shooting to high or not, but it feels doable. But it all starts with this deload, and we will go from there.


Mini Adventure of Proto-Mechanic
The Place: Highway 84, 1/2 mile from Trudie Road
The Job: Flat tire on the Frankenfocus
Time: 15 minutes

I have known for weeks that the front tires on the Frankenfocus were less than ideal, but there was nothing I could do about it... unless my hand was forced. When the blubbada-blubbada started, Proto-Mechanic senses told me the hand had been forced. Once I got pulled over, it was a sure thing: flat tire.

I had this fear that there was either no-jack or tire iron in the Frankenfocus. That would have been "Balls Nasty" as I forgot to pick up my cell that morning. We in luck, everything is in place. The jack will not go under the car because it is now too close to the ground. Enlist the help of Gage, Gajo, Joe, Joe-Joe the dog-faced boy, Havahd Joe to pull up on the body so's I can slip the jack under. EPJ, kids.

A side note: the county needs to mow the grass out there, the jack handle kept getting wrapped up in the long grass. It was at that point that I decided to stay calm and just get to it. Holy crap! But my shoulders were talking to me. Never a good idea to do back and shoulders the day before tire changing.

I had a horrible vision of getting the old tire off and then the car falling because the jack slipped in the grass. No dice, we were on our way in about fifteen minutes. Need to get two new front tires: $120 bucks mounted and balanced at the Guitar player for the Band, Robbie Robertson Ford, where Proto-Mechanic gets all the poop done he is too lazy to do himself.

Now, to come up with $120 bucks for mounted and balanced tires.