lifting and cooking

Thinking "Reborn" will be a great song for a posing routine! Found this one on my ipod while training today.

So I found out what it takes to make yourself sore while doing DC training...Learning to do the reps properly. Last few workouts have been brutal and I can not only feel it but see it. Measurements changing in the right directions for all bodyparts. Weight is down too with just a lil extra cardio and some cleaning up of my diet.

Not going into too many details as far as my last few workouts but I have found doing a ham exercise as the widowmaker is really nasty! Last 2 leg sessions were like that and I really felt them. Another thing I found is that too much pressing in one workout is not really smart. I did inclines for chest and then close grip for tris...stupid! Got buried with 315 and then 275 on the close grip press. Of course my mindset has to get away from the amount of weight to performing the exercise properly.

Have to work on finding the right stretches to do between exercises. So far the standard leg stretches work along with hanging from the pullup bar. I use dumbbells to stretch the tris and bis, which can be awkward and painful, but who wants small arms anyway?

Diet is cleaned up nicely and going well. Added a lot more protein from good sources, my freezer is loaded up with about 20lbs of chicken breasts. Limiting my carbs helps a lot. Finding my body responds better to rice than anything else. I still throw in pasta just because I can make some good pasta! My favorite is to make pasta then add 3 whipped eggs along with parmesan.

Well that's all for now...

 

oh Henry...

He was speaking to me today through my ipod. No I have not lost it, well not completely, but I heard the same song from The Rollins Band twice in the last two days. Both times it powered me through some wicked training.

Hit my second and third day back to back due to an interview and training at work. Good thing about that is I did get in an hour of cardio riding my bike. Because of the interview I will be getting in that cardio as I head into the office twice a week. Can't beat that...

So yesterday I did biceps, forearms, calves, hams and quads...very brutal! Today I hit chest, delts, tris, back width and thickness...even more brutal! Feeling a bit sore, a lot tired, and seriously famished. Time to eat some good food and snack on some bacon jerky...yes bacon jerky!

8/8/2012
barbell curls 100x8, 5, 5, 2
wrist curls 205x10, 6, 4
calf raises 250x8 with 10 second pause/stretch at bottom ----feeling this today!
standing leg curl 150x12, 8, 12
squat machine 540x8 rest, then the widowmaker 20 straight reps with 540
----stretched deeply after each exercise

8/9/2012
dumbbell flyes 50x10, 6, 4
machine shoulder press 250x8, 4, 3, 2, 3
pushdowns 100x20, 20
machine row 290x8, 7, 6, 4
kelso shrug 220x10, 8, 10 ---what are these you ask? i shall explain...


The Kelso shrug...sit at a pulldown station, grab the bar underhand, then shrug back as if starting a row. just try to squeeze the shoulder blades together. thrus me you will feel the middle of your traps!

After both lifting sessions I got on the treadmill for 20 minutes.

Now I think I will take a nap....

making changes

Thought long and hard about where I want to go on my next adventure in the world of iron...debated powerlifting, crossfit, physique, and bodybuilding.

Why the change? My joints are beat, my brain not in it, and I discovered who my real friends are. Imagine a person you called a friend and training partner completely ignoring you not once but twice!
Worst part is if I did anything to offend him I am clueless, but he has no balls to say what his beef is with me. And with that i just have no desire to be around people like that in training or competition. Sad to say I have seen a lot of that in strongman lately and will not be part of it. ---rant over---

Powerlifting was on my mind but again it will be brutal on my already beat up joints and it is really boring. Like watching paint dry boring. No offense to powerlifters out there, it is just not for me...

Crossfit? Yeah...that went in and out really quick. And as someone posted in a discussion on my facebook page "Why do I want to be the best exerciser out there?" Nuff said on that.

Physique and bodybuilding...here is a challenge I like. Something I have never tried and a place I have not gone yet. My enemy in this is the diet, can I put myself through it and get shredded? Physique crossed my mind because I can wear shorts, beats the banana hammock a bodybuilder wears, but as a friend pointed out I have a lot of mass and bodybuilding might suit me better. Either way I have to do something I dread, eat clean and do a lot of cardio. But if I didn't dread those things then it would not be a challenge now would it?

So what is my plan? First I need to work my chest, something not needed as a strongman. I also need to add size to my arms. Digging through notes and articles I opted on DC training. Simple high intensity designed to add mass. Why not? One thing I am doing that is a no-no for DC is high intensity cardio. But I know my body and the lo intensity stuff doesn't work for me. 20 minutes on the elliptical is about all I need. Diet for now will be high protein, but damn I discovered I need a lot more than I have been consuming. Other than that I plan to eat clean, no junk! After about 12 weeks I plan to start a cut and see what I look like under the fluff.

so i got in the gym today after 2 weeks off. here is what i did...
HS chest press 270x11,4---was very easy
Smith Wide Upright Rows 205x10,3,4,3
Rolling Extensions 40x12,6,7,5
Neutral Grip Pulldown 200x10,5,5
Good Morning 275x6,6
Elliptical 15 minutes---that kicked my ass!

That's it! In and out in one hour.

Hitting the reset button

Been gone for too long, maybe I was on a Rocky Mountain High or maybe I was just in a lazy mood and had nothing important to say. Either way I am back and looking at some interesting changes in my life.
A few are personal and will remain from the blog others are going to be discussed here...

First up is competing as a strongman. Eight years have taken their toll on my joints, I need a serious break. And with everything that has happened over the last 2 years competing is not viable. Travel and fees are not something I can afford. So I am semi-retiring as a competitive strongman. Looking at digging out the old fun stuff though. Working on my grip so I can bend, tear, and crush stuff. Stay tuned for that!

Next up is my weight. My job keeps me chained to a desk and my appetite is strong so I have porked up nicely to 265lbs. So my focus now is to drop the weight and lean out. Right now my goal is to be 225 by December 31st, 2012. I even thought about trying to step onstage in a year. That inspiration came from a friends success on his first competition and the amazing changes he made. The dedication and determination he shows is inspiring, give me half of that and I could take on the world.

So now where do I go? Well I  have cleaned up my diet and ramped up the training. In the last couple weeks I have dropped to 257, two pounds of that was from cutting most of my hair off...haha! The rest have dropped from my HIIT cardio and kettlebell complex. I still hit the gym hard and heavy but I have increased the volume which has me training more like a bodybuilder than a strongman. One other thing I have added is yoga. i try to get it in every morning just to stretch the muscles and keep the joints flexible. So far so good!

That's about all I have...stay tuned for the crazy ride!

what the hell just happened?

Something I said in the gym Sunday! Was a great workout until something went pop... was going to embed "Pop Goes the Weasel" by 3rd Base but I can't, anyway... Sat down and was doing machine presses hit 320 for 5 sets of 2 and was thrilled to get that. Went over to the squat machine and warmed up to my working weight of 720. On my 4th set of eight something popped! Not in my quad, lower back, groin, or knee but in my upper ab right below the rib cage. Felt like I got punched...but I finished my last set and then checked it out. Nothing bruised or lumpy just pain. So I did cardio and that sucked. A few days later it is tender but not painful, guess I could call it a strain.  Oh well rest it and adjust my training, possibly need to add more ab work and not eat as much before training.

Now lets jump into the time machine and head back to the weekend prior....it was a blast to see my friends and spend some time with them. We hung out, ate, drank, and trained. I could go into the details but we signed blood oaths not to divulge the midgets name or whereabouts of the sheep...oops I have said to much! Just kidding on that. we did have a blast hanging out at Downtown Disney and eating our way around Orlando. Let me recommend The Brickhouse on I-drive!

We trained Sunday with another friend of ours...which always makes me work harder. I was set to go for a PR push press. After watching Rich nail a 250 PR I was set to go...my 250 felt like a ton, but for me that is a good thing. I managed to push it out. Next was 265...I nailed that easily. 285 was up next, a 10 lb PR if I could nail it...I was jacked walking up to the bar, music blaring and head focused. I went throught the lift in my mind...then I grabbed the bar. Had the bar high on my collarbones..way too high...I pressed and immediately was bending backwards. Instead of trying to readjust I dumped the bar, which was really loud. But my cussing and swearing was probably louder.



Thinking about the lift I knew what went wrong, the bar was too high. In that position I was too far back to get under the bar. BUT...the weight felt light and I know would have gone up. Oh well, next time! After this I moved on to dumbbell clean and press. Worked up to the 120's and was drained...

After that I spent the rest of my weekend hanging out. Was enjoyable to have a crazy time with my good friends...something I treasure. Thanks...

worship

while some people head to church on sunday i prefer the gym. gods of iron and steel are much more forgiving than those in churches. they are also more believable and real. you cannot be a timid or halfhearted follower of the iron, although there are a lot of those out there. you have to give all your soul to these gods. somedays you must offer up blood...when you do the gods of iron and steel will reward you, not with pearly gates or 72 virgins (i would take one if offered)  you are rewarded with much more...the ability to lift more, feel better, and even look better. no amount of praying has ever done that, just hard work!




split press
180x2 5 sets

front squat
180x3 7 sets

machine press
250x3 5 sets

treadmill
35 minutes

went easy today which was not easy to do. i was feeling strong and wanted to do some dumbbell presses. decided to save it for next week. planning a PR session with some of my dudes. so far i have not decided if i will layoff this week or do light training.

so let me say i don't know if i should be disappointed or ecstatic. gym got a new scale so i jumped on and was pushing 260! my clothes fit better than ever...i still see some veins and actually a few new ones. shoulders and arms look bigger and my legs feel like they are stretching my shorts. guess i have to chalk it up to the osta-rx from ironmaglabs...

this one time at band camp...

So I was too tired to type last night, blame the insanity of training deadlifts. I did manage to get out to BW3's have some wings, watch some baseball and then head over to the theater and watch American Reunion
I was in tears the entire time...




But you aren't here for my movie reviews..

Deadlift on 2" box
300x3, 360x3, 420 2x2, 450 5 singles ---the 4th rep I had to do twice, came up halfway, regrouped and nailed it!

Deadlift for reps
450x4 430x4 380x4 330x7 280x10 ---drop sets on these, explains my soreness and pain today!

Wrist Curls
185x10 5 sets

Hammer Curls
50, 60, 70, 80 5 strict reps each arm  90x4 each arm, 50x24 rest pause reps

But wait there's more!!

Today I went in to work my lockouts, back and tris....seriously disappointing! Maybe the late night got to me, maybe the lack of food...I do know my head was not in it

Lockouts on Smith
135 185 225 5 reps, 250 3 reps, 295 2 reps ---I knew something was not right, these all hurt!
315 1 rep!---I struggled to get a second but that was not happening so drops sets were in order...
245x8 225x8 205x8 185x6 135x6

HS row
270x6 5 sets ---Could have done more but the energy was not there

Pushdowns
100x10 7 sets

Facepulls
100x20 5 sets

Treadmill
25 minutes