December 11, 2013 Conditioning / Dodge Ball!

• Dodgeball: 90 minutes

Had a blast again!  Was way too cold and crappy out for sprinting, but still got a ton of exercise in here.   At one point I had all the balls stashed on my side, as I was the last person left on my team.  Then this happened:

Dirty dog....

As always, some more pictures.  Ridiculous amounts of fun. 

December 10, 2013 Upper Body

• Completely Flat Bench Press / BB Row Superset: 225*8 / 225*6 225*8/225*8 225*6/225*5
• Seated Press: 105*10 120*8 135*4-delts done...VERY intense
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 10, 8
• Landmine Laterals: 50*10 50*8

24 minutes!

So on bench today I decided to do it completely without an arch, with my feet in front of me on the ground, not pulled back (as I would to help with an arch).  Was interesting, definitely harder.  The rows suffered a tad because it wasn't a setup off a rack, I had to pull it off the pins of the bench.  Also...seated overhead press! WOW....my delts were FEELING this.  Way more than on the standing press, even with the strict form I had been using.  Intense!  

December 9, 2013 Lower / Heavy

• Squats: 315*1 355*1 375*1 390*1
• Front Squats: 225*1 255*1 275*1 305*1 NEW PR!!
• Good Mornings: 225*1 245*1 255*1
• Reverse Hypers: 25*7 25*7
• Ab-Wheel: 10

40 minutes

WHOO! First major record to fall this bulking cycle. Was right near it before I started, so I figured it'd come before the new year, wasn't sure it'd be this soon though!  Squats went great too; edging closer to 400.  Did some reverse hypers, again super careful with form on them. Weight still around 202 or so 

December 8, 2013 Conditinoing

• Battling Ropes: 50, 50, 50
• 31" Box jumps: 15

11 minutes

quick like a bunny!  Hadn't done box jumps in forever so I threw them in.  

December 6, 2013 Upper / Light

• Standing Press: 135*7 145*5 135*5
• Cable Rows: 170*8 160*9 160*9
• BB Incline: 185*10 205*6
• Pullups: 60*2-dog tired
• PUPP: 1:00

 29 minutes

I actually went out to eat before this, it was 7:30 by the time I started.  Was pretty tired. Stuck standing press first, and kept form super strict again. 

December 5, 2013 Lower / Heavy

• Deadlift: 405*1 435*1 455*1 475*1 495*1
• Power Cleans: 185*3 205*2 195*2
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*1,1
• Reverse Hypers: 16

46 minutes

Hunched on the 495; haven't gone heavy in a while though, wanted to put some weight on the bar. By the time I got to snatches my hips were just done, for obvious reasons. I'm going go ease in some reverse hypers, being mindful not to over-extend at the top. You see a lot of people go so far back their spine ends up bending in an arc. You don't want this, it's bad. 

December 4, 2013 Conditioning / Dodgeball!!!!

• 100m: 4
• Total: 400m
• Dodgeball: 90 minutes

So did some light sprinting, because I didn't want to tire myself out...for dodgeball!  SOOOO much fun.  Haven't played in probably two decades. Wasn't sure how it would go, but a TON of people showed up to the gym for it. I can't wait to do it again next week!   Here's a few pics:

December 3, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Flat Bench: 245*1 265*1 285*1 305*1 310*X
• T-Bar Rows: 155*3 165*3 175*2
• Push Press: 225*1 225*1 235*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 90*2 90*1
• Landmine Laterals: 70*3 80*1

42 minutes

Would've had 310 if I went 270-290-310.  But it's good to be back over 300 anyway.  Hopefully at 3 plates by new years. Nothing else really of note here, strength continues to accumulate.  

December 2, 2013 Lower / light

• Squats: 315*3 335*3 345*2
• Front Squats: 225*3 245*2 255*2
• Good Mornings: 185*5 195*3
• Lumberjack Squats: 160*5 180*3
• 10 lbs. plank transfers: 4*2 4*2

46 minutes

Loooooooooooooow energy.  Seriously felt like I was in a stupor the whole session.  Kept it light on squats, front squats too.  Did some lumberjack squats, seriously love those things, feel so badass

November 29, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Incline Bench: 225*1 240*1 250*1 260*1 270*1ish
• Pullups: 90*2 90*1 90*1
• Standing Press: 135*4 150*3 160*1
• T-Bar Rows: 145*4 155*3 165*3
• Cable Laterals: 30*5 40*5
• Paloffs: 100*5 120*2

40 minutes

Flew through this one.  Not sure if I got 270 or not, spotter was following it whole way down, forgot to ask if they helped.  Pullups went well, my weights there usually go down when I bulk since I'm adding so much weight.  Standing press I'm still using super strict form, may try seated press and see how that goes too.  It's odd how much I've started to enjoy t-bar rows, used to hate them, but for high weight low rep stuff they're fine. I think it's because I have a tough time breathing while doing them, but on these low rep sets I don't need to worry about that. Also mixed in cable laterals, haven't done those in years. Felt decent. 

November 28, 2013 Lower / Light

• Deadlifts: 315*10 365*10
• Hanging Power Cleans: 185*1 195*1 205*1-starfish errrywhere
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 135*1 done. deadlifting killed me

Early workout on Thanksgiving. Plus I'm doing a bunch of application stuff so I'm incredibly distracted. Decided to do some high rep deadlifting since that usually kills me. It did. 

November 27, 2013 Conditioning

• Rowing:  500m*1:41  NEW PR!!
• 31.5" Box Jumps: 3
• Rope Slams: 15, 20

Wasn't going all out, was somewhat leisurely. Still set a PR, so that's nice. 

November 26, 2013 Upper / Light

• Bench Press: 235*9 225*10 225*6-lactic acid
• Cable Rows: 150*10 150*10 150*8
• Push Press: 195*4 195*4
• Rope Pullups: 6, 4
• Landmine Laterals: 50*10 50*10
• DB Incline: 100*5
• Ab-Wheel: 10

38 minutes

Good session, massive lactic acid hit on that 3rd set of benching.   Cable rows fit really well for me on higher rep stuff, not sure why.  

November 25, 2013 Lower / Heavy

• Squats: 315*2 345*1 365*1 375*1
• Front Squats: 225*2 245*1 265*1 285*1 300*fell on my ass
• Pin Squats: 275*1
• Good Mornings: 225*2 245*1 260*1 270*1 PR? NEW PR!!
• Lying Leg Curl: 90*6 130*1 100*4

44 minutes

IT bands were RIDICULOUSLY tight for some reason.  It felt like they were on the verge of cramping, on the squats & front squats it was like they were about to snap. I kept stretching, foam rolling, etc.  They'd be fine, then as soon as I went for my next set I could literally feel them 'balling up' into knots or whatever.  Very odd.  On the 300 attempt for front squats I got down to the bottom then just fell on my butt, had safety bars in place on the cage so no harm done.  Set a new PR on good mornings!  Kept pretty good form I think too; I need to get a video or two of me doing them though so I can see what I need to improve, if anything.  Threw some lying leg curl in here, since hamstrings are something I'd like to emphasize this bulk as well. 

November 24, 2013 Conditioning

• Rowing: 250*0:40 200*0:33 200*0:34

Went mainly to stretch and sauna myself. Been doing about 25 minutes in there per day. Feels great after a workout.  Did this rowing to get my blood pumping. Good stuff!  I don't talk about it much, but after every workout I do about 5 minutes of stretching / foam rolling.  Usually focus on my IT Bands & Quads, and then throw some chest in every now and then to keep it loose. 

November 22, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Incline Bench: 225*1 240*1 255*1 265*1
• Standing Press: 135*5 145*3 155*2
• Pullups: 95*1-tried on straight bar 95*1 95*1
• Cable Rows: 160*6 180*4 200*3
• DB Flat Bench Press: 105*6 110*3
• Wide-Stance Anti-Rotational Chops: 80*6 90*3

41 minutes

Ok, so again with me trying to focus on shoulders as one of my goals for this bulk I am using uber strict form on the standing press.  Absolutely no knee dip or leveraging the weight up, everything is to be strict and controlled. Tried my first set of pullups on the straight bar...eh, I prefer the wider grip I usually use.   Nice session overall

November 21, 2013 Lower / Heavy

• Deadlifts: 405*1 425*1 445*1 465*1 480*1
• Power Cleans: 185*3 205*2 awful form 205*1 205*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*2-traps are beat 145*2 150*X-traps done

Odd session, my traps were just exhausted.   Otherwise went well.  Uptick in strength on Deadlifts. 

November 20, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 6
• total: 600m

BRRRRRR frigid out...just went out, ran, then got the heck out of there! Barely rested between sprints. 

November 19, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Bench Press: 225*3 245*3 265*2 275*1 285*1
• Unilateral T-Bar BB Rows: 180*1-I always misadd the weight 160*4 170*3
• Push Press: 225*1 235*X 
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 90*1 90*2
• Landmine Laterals: 65*3 70*2
• DB Incline: 105*3

45 minutes

Not bad.  Misadded the weight on the rows, I keep doing that, I forget to add in the weight of the bar, then can't figure out why I only get one rep...On push presses my legs were just dead, sprinting/squatting last two days pretty much finished them off. 

November 18, 2013 Lower / Heavy

• Squats: 315*1 335*1 355*1 375*quads quit
• SLDL: 315*3 365*2
• Lumberjack Squats: 135*5 180*5
• PUPP: 1:00

35 minutes

OK, so with the sprinting yesterday my quads are absolutely excruciating today. Not sure why exactly, usually it's my hamstrings. Really gimped the session overall.  Switched to SLDLs since it's not a quad-based exercise really.  Also did lumberjack squats, which oddly didn't hurt my quads. 

November 17, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 1,1,1,1 (13.6 est), 1 (13.8), 1,1, 1
• Total: 800m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 4", 9' 3", 9' 2", 9' 1"

Hadn't sprinted in a while, and the weather was mild so I headed out.  Happy with the speed. I'm definitely faster when I hit mid foot on the ground, which I need to do anyway, lest my hamstring get that weird pain in it.  Another note about sprinting: I set a goal of getting to sub 12 seconds, but then I realized that I'm not starting on blocks. In fact I'm not even starting from a crouch or leaning forward. My times are from a standing position, with a split stance.  So I'm probably losing an entire second there.  Plus I'm only sprinting once per week.  Probably sub 13 is a more reasonable goal.  

Also did some broad jumps, but I was pretty tired after the sprinting. 

Quick house-keeping

Just wanted to say that I fell behind on posting here on account of a massive amount of studying, etc. I had to do. I'm getting close to catching up now, only about 8 days behind finally, that should be fixed soon.  This week I hope to post:

1. Bulking diet 
2. Goals for the bulk 
3. Catch up on all workouts being entered

November 15, 2013 Upper / Light

• Standing Press: 115*6 135*4 125*6
• Pullups: 90*1 90*2 90*1
• Incline Bench Press: 225*1 235*1
• T-Bar Rows: 135*4 135*4 135*4
• Leaning DB Laterals: 15*10 25*8
• 10 lbs. plate-transfer planks: 4*2 4*1

41 minutes

Form was SUPER strict on the standing press, that's how I'm doing it from now on, no knee bend, no twerking the weight up.  I tried leading off with them here; I want to focus on shoulders, among other things on this bulk, so on the 'light' upper body thursdays.  I think I'm going to lead off with the standing presses.  This wasn't really supposed to be a light day, but I figured why not. Everything else went fine. Leaning DB laterals are the ones where you hang off the tower of a cable station or something and do laterals. Not sure if it worked or not...

November 14, 2013 Lower / Posterior Chain / Light

• Deadlift: 365*5 385*5 405*5
• Power Cleans: 135*3 155*3 175*3 185*2 195*1-gassed
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*2-gassed 135*3
• Pull-Throughs: 110*10
• P.U.P.P.: 1:03

42 minutes

Actually did 'high rep' deadlifts for once.  Was actually pretty gassed afterward.  Just finished what I could on the olympic lifting and got out.  Good session though, I don't do much past 3 rep sets ever on deadlifts, but I actually like that stuff more than I realize often. 

November 13, 2013 Conditioning

• Rowing: 200*0:33 NEW PR!! 200*0:32 NEW PR!! 200*0:33
• Battling Ropes: 40, 40

20 minutes

Whoooo!  Wasn't sure if my old record was 34 or 32 seconds, turns out it was 34.  Got the 33 seconds, then really went all out on the 32 second row.  Not sure I can get lower than that.  I was pulling with full force on every single row, there were no hitches, and no pauses when I was fully extended at the end of each pull.  There's no tenths of a second tracker on the C2 rower, it's just whole seconds, and the 32 was barely 32.  Don't know if I'll see 31 any time soon. 

November 12, 2013 Upper / Light

• Bench Press: 225*10 230*9 235*5-lactic acid
• BB Rows: 235*9 235*9 235*9
• Push Press: 185*6 195*5
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 55*4-wtf 55*3..ok
• Landmine Laterals: 50*10 45*10
• DB Incline Bench: 80*8 80*8

45 minutes

Good session, hit a lactic acid wall on benching.  Did some high rep bb rows, which I don't go for very often.  Really focused on letting my lats do the work.  It's common to overcompensate and use your biceps too much to pull the weight up. A great way to avoid this is to think of your arms just as hooks hanging from your lats.  They can't move the weight, or try to imagine that this is so, and the only thing that can is your lats.  I think they were pretty fried by the time I got to the pullups because I shit the bed on them.  

November 11, 2013 Lower / Heavyfront s

• Squats: 315*1 345*1 360*1 370*X-seriously?
• Front Squats: 225*1 245*1 265*1 285*1
• Good Mornings: 225*1 245*1 255*1
• Ab-Wheel: 11

45 minutes

Haven't squatted heavy in a few weeks, since I took last week off. Still though...should have had 370.  Rest of the session went well, real close to my PR on front squats still...hopefully I get it fairly early in the bulking phase. 

November 9, 2013

• Team Sled Pull: 135*40

Well this was going to be a conditioning session....did this and was dead after.  Couldn't grip anything, hands were frozen in claws. 

November 8, 2013 Lower / Posterior Chain/ Heavy

• Deadlift: 405*1 435*1 455*1 405*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 140*3  140*3
• Power Cleans: 140*3 155*3-exhausted 135*7 135*4
• Pull-Throughs: 110*10 120*7
• Ab-Wheel: 12

45 minutes

Awful.  I need to learn to ease back in after off weeks.  My warm up sets on deadlift: 225*1 315*1. That's it.  I literally did less warmups after 2 weeks off from deadlifting than I wold on a normal session.  I always complain about loss of strength on off weeks and the first week back sucking, but really it's my prep and warmups that suck after those off weeks. 

November 6, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 3
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*16.5 (3:00)
• HPS: 135*4
• Broad Jumps: 3

Well that went well.  I've mentioned a few times that a trainer at my gym does challenges every few months. I've never actually tried one of them fresh, most of my numbers on them come at the tail end of workouts, or the day after I batter myself.  This is the first time I ever tried one after a day off (or in this case a week).  Current leader on this.  It's longer than the last time, so you have to go further for each 'rep'.  He also added in a 'halfway' mark so you could tack a .5 onto the end if you were running low on time.  

I have never in my life felt a burning in my chest like when this was done. If I hadn't had a few days off beforehand I would not have gotten this score. I got that acetyline torch being shoved down my windpipe feeling after.  The thing is that usually dissipates over the course of the day, I still felt like that the next morning.  I tried doing some snatches after, I couldn't.  I was done.  Great feeling though. 1st place

October 29, 2013 Upper Body / Heavy

• Bench Press (Paused Reps); 225*3 245*3 255*3 265*1 275*1
• BB Rack Rows: 225*3 245*2 225*3
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1
• Paused Neutral Grip Pullups: 90*3 90*2
• Landmine Laterals: 70*2
• Side-Planks: 1:00

45 minutes

This went well.  Paused at the top on pullups, maybe I need to do that more often.  Also, on rows I tried doing them off the safety bars in a rack to see if it made any difference, not sure if it did or not. 

Last session before week off!  This cut went really well, and I'm excited for the bulk, I'll be posting diet after.  Also will be posting thoughts on this cut at a later date as well!

October 28, 2013 Lower/Heavy

• Squats: 315*1 340*1 365*1 380*Blarg 315*2
• Front Squats: 225*3 235*3 245*3
• Good Mornings: 155*5 175*5
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*3 155*1 135*5+2
• PUPP: 1:30

45 minutes

Just got stuck at the bottom on 380. Not good times.  Rest of the session went well.  Did  some snatches here too. 

October 27, 2013 Lower / Conditioning

• IT/Hip Stretching: 2.5 minutes
• Power Cleans: 95*10 95*8 135*11 135*10 155*6 155*7 155*6 155*4
• Hanging Power Cleans: 155*4
• Power Cleans: 135*6 135*3
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*4 135*4

42 minutes

May have to do this stuff for conditioning more often, it kicked the crap out of me. I will say I was a bit frustrated with my form on the power cleans, but I think I was being too harsh on myself. 

October 25, 2013 Lower / light

• Power Cleans: 185*5 195*5 205*5 185*5 135*5
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*5 145*4
• 2 Plate Deficit Deadlifts: 340*4
• Ab-Wheel: 10

50 minutes

Good session, took several minutes between each set of power cleans, they really wipe me out.  Nothing else of note really here. 

October 24, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Incline Bench: 225*2 235*1 245*1 255*1 265*1
• Pullups: 95*2 95*1 95*1
• Push Press: 205*1 225*1 235*1 185*1
• Unilateral T-Bar Rows: 160*3 170*2
• Landmine Laterals: 55*6
• Dumbbell Bench Press: 105*6 115*3

44 minutes

Not bad...not bad at all.  Nothing really of note, just a nice last upper body session before my week off.  Did some push pressing here, felt good. 

October 23, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 8

Going to take off next week, so this is the last sprint session of the cut/maintenance phase I've been on.  I wish it hadn't taken me so long to figure out the hamstring tugging, I probably could have made a better run at my sprinting goals.  Although this winter I intend to use harvard's indoor track, and also do explosive cardio at the gym, so hopefully I start next season just as fast as I am now. I'll be adding broad jumps back in, my shins feel fine now. 

October 22, 2013 Upper Body / Light

• DB Flat: 90*10 100*8 105*5
• BB Rows: 225*10 245*9 255*8
• HPCs: 135*47 (3 minutes)
• NG Pullups: 13
• PUPP: 1:00

39 minutes

Gym is doing competitions again, decided to try the hanging power cleans event.  I had eaten too soon beforehand and was already taxed from the rows.  Probably should have done it another day, only got 47.  They allow you to use wrist-wraps, and you don't need to actually get your elbows all the way up. It's really like a ballistic reverse-curl competition more than anything.  Tried some pullups afterward, but I was pretty fried.  Here's the video of the HPCs

October 21, 2013 Lower / Heavy

• Squats: 315*2 335*1 355*1 365*1
• Front Squats: 225*2 245*1 265*1 285*1 295*1/2-didn't hit depth
• Good Mornings: 205*1 225*1 245*1
• Overhead Squats: 135*1
• WSARC: 70*10 100*3
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10
• PUPP: 1:00

45 minutes

Good session, didn't feel like hitting my 1RM on squats, wanted to save some for front squats. Narrowly missed 295.  Was about 2" above parallel.  Good mornings felt good, when I focus on making sure my core is tight it really helps hammer the stabilizers, hams, glutes, etc.  Still not sure about overhead squats...I'm just so tired by the time I get to them, maybe put a couple sets at the start, as a warmup since the weight is so light.  Did some red-hawt abbzzzz stuff to finish the session. 

October 20, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: 30, 25
• Unilateral KB Swings: 28kg*15 28kg*15
• Row: 400m*1:21 NEW PR!!
• Bench Plyo Clap Pushups: 5,5,5
• Battling Rope-Rope Slam S.S.: 35-10, 35-10
• Row: 200*0:38

Good session, shins are a bit splinty still from all the jumping recently, going to lay off it for a bit.  On rowing for some reason I notice my ass muscles get sore, not sure why. My hips aren't tight or anything by the time I get to the rowing, I just get this really uncomfortable feeling in my hips, quads, and glutes when I row really fast.  Did manage to set a PR here though, so yaaay, etc. 

October 18, 2013 Upper / Light

• Dumbbell Bench Press: 85*10 95*6-wtf 100*6
• Rope Pullups: 6
• Pullups: 10, 7
• Standing Press: 105*10 115*10
• Cable Rows (W-Bar): 140*10 150*7
• DB Incline: 100*7 105*4
• WSARC: 60*10

36 minutes

Didn't feel like doing a regular incline session today.  Mixed it up a bit. Surprised I only got 6 on the 95 benching.  Rest of session went well.  I feel like cable rows are much more compatible with higher rep work as opposed to barbell rows, where you're bent over, which gets exhausting on my lower back. 

October 17, 2013 Lower Body / Olympic Lifting / Heavy

• 2 Plate Deficit Deadlifts: 315*1 365*1 385*1 405*1
• Power Cleans: 195*3 205*2 215*1 185*5 135*5
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*2 155*X 135*5 135*6 135*4
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10, 10

49 minutes

Good session...hope these pulls from a deficit pay off.  Was pissed I missed 155 on the snatches; I was gassed by then. Did some 135 sets after to punish myself. Finished with some ab wheeling. 

October 16, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 10
• Total: 1000m

Stayed light on my feet for all of them, focused on mid-foot strikes.  Felt much better! Faster too

October 15, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Bench Press: 225*3 245*3 255*3 265*3 280*1 290*1
• T-Bar Rows: 160*3 170*2 160*2
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 90*2 90*2 90*1
• Landmine Laterals: 70*2
• DB Incline Bench: 105*4
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*14 (3:00)
• Paloffs: 90*5 90*5
• 10 lbs. plate transfer planks: 4*2 4*3
• PUPP: 1:00

45 minutes

smorgasbord workout. Got everything in though.  Built up on benching which is more inline of what I want to do on the heavier days.  I really enjoy the heavy t-bar rowing.  Sled push & pull was for the competition at my gym, it's on a longer course this time around. 

October 14, 2013 Lower / Light

• Front Squats: 225*4 225*4 235*4
• Squats: 315*4 315*3 315*3
• Good Mornings: 135*5 155*5 165*5
• Overhead Squats: 45*5 65*5
• PUPP: 1:30
• Sled Pushes: 270*2

44 minutes

On the 'light' days I'm going to do front squatting first, just so it gets some lead-off spot work.  I don't really care what my higher rep back squat numbers are to be honest, and since my quads lag behind this will give them a bit of priority.  Not sure how I feel about overhead squats; I like the movement, it's just that I'm so beat by the time I get to them that I keep falling over.  Finished with some sled pushes.  There were a few 45s on it so I felt like tossing some more on and going to town. 

October 13, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: 35, 50 (2:05)
• Broad Jumps: 8' 7", 9' 0"
• Parallel Battling ropes: 20, 25
• Rowing: 500*1:57, 300*1:00, 200m*0:34 NEW PR!!

So the broad jumping is hurting my knees at this point, I've just done a ton of it lately, and the gym floor even with the turf in the 'cross training' area is still tough to land on several dozen times in the space of a week. Did some parallel battling ropes, where you move your arms out to the side and then sort of clap them together...clap dem ropes.   Finished with some rowing. Broke 100m up into a few bite sized chunks.  I honestly don't know if I can get any better than 34 seconds on the 200m.  That took every ounce I had, and I was pulling violently on every pull.  We'll see. 

October 11, 2013 Upper Body / Heavy

• Incline Bench Press: 225*2 245*2 255*1
• Pullups: 95*2 95*2 95*1
• Standing Press: 155*2 155*2 155*2
• T-Bar Rows: 155*3 165*2 175*1
• Dumbbell Flat: 110*4
• Rowing: 514*1:50

40 minutes

Left wrist sore from jamming it on deficit dl's yesterday.  Otherwise good session.  Did some rowing at the end, no clue why I didn't record my flat 500 time. 

October 10, 2013 Lower Body / Olympic Lifting

• Power Cleans: 135*5
• Hanging Power Cleans: 155*5 165*4 175*3
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*5 145*2 135*5
• 2-Plate Deficit Deadlifts: 335*4 335*4
• Pull-Throughs: 100*10
• Paloffs: 80*10 90*6

36 minutes

Decided to do some more power cleans here, although I prefer doing them heavy. May need to look at form and how I'm doing them. I think my form on snatches is actually better than cleans. I have trouble with the concept of 'rotating myself under the bar' on cleans. It just doesn't make sense to me.  On snatches though it does since it's over my head, and I can think of myself as almost 'swinging' on the bar.  If  I ever figure it out on cleans I'll post about it.  Did more deficit deadlifts. I really hope these things pay off, they're murder on my whole posterior chain, especially my lower back. Not in a bad way, it just taxes the heck out of them.  Also I don't use wraps on them. I've wanted to wean myself off using wrist wraps as much as possible, and since the weight I'm using here is so small it's a great opportunity.  I have to be careful though, when resetting the weight back to the floor those extra few inches really make the bar pick up speed.  Jammed my wrists pretty good. 

October 9, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 9
• Total: 900m

So I'm not sure why my hamstring is bothering me when I sprint, but I did figure out how to stop it. I noticed that with lighter footfalls it hurts way less. Previously I noticed that around 30m or so is when the problem started acting up, and that's usually when I end up going flatfooted when sprinting.  So while it's not pleasant, it's a reminder to stay on my midfoot when sprinting.  Did that here and got 900m in.  Done a ton of broad jumping lately, going to take a bit off from it, only because it gives me shin splints if I do it too often. 

October 8, 2013 Upper / Light

• Bench Press: 245*7 225*10 225*9
• Pullups: 60*5 60*4 60*3
• Push Press: 205*5 205*4
• Unilateral T-Bar Rows: 205*1-oops 180*2-oops 135*5 135*8
• Landmine Laterals: 55*9 57.5*7

42 minutes

I don't really like doing light weight days, I get bored on them. Although throwing around 205 for multiple reps on push pressing is fun. I misadded weight on the t-bar rows, I forgot to add the bar weight in. I think I accidentally set a PR there on the first set. Good times.

October 7, 2013 Lower / Heavy

• Squats: 315*2 345*1 380*1 - would've red lighted at meet
• Front Squats: 225*2 250*1 275*1 285*1
• Overhead Squats: 135*5 150*1 135*3
• Wide-Stance Anti-Rotational Chops: 80*6 90*4

33 minutes

Quick session, studying for gmats. Squats went well, I don't think I'm getting higher than 380 on this cut.  May ease back a bit and just work on reps or something.  Front squats continue to climb.  I don't know what to think about overhead squats, by the time I do them I'm just gassed. It's probably more dangerous than helpful.  

October 6, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: 30, 25 (1:25)
• Broad Jumps: 8' 7", 9' 0", 8' 7", 8' 10", 8' 6", 8' 4", 8' 9", 8' 5", 8' 6.5", 8' 6", 8' 10"
• 20kg MB slams: 20, 20

23 minutes

My shins hurt.  Need to lay off the jumping for a few days. Did some ball slams, because why not? 

October 4, 2013 Upper / Light

• Broad Jumps: 4
• Incline Bench: 205*9 195*9 185*10
• Standing Press: 100*10 110*10
• Ball-Toss: 10
• Cable Rows: 140*10 150*10

Just a regular workout, nothing too exciting.  Tried this ball-toss thing, where you have to hit the opposite wall of a basketball court with a softball, within a certain area.  I was terrible, I kept gripping too tight and letting the ball go too low.  Humiliating. I need to get better at that one, and retry. Also, tried starting with some broad jumps, nothing too exciting, low 8s, but wanted to see if it would prime me up a bit for the rest of the workout. I did feel a bit more energetic.  I don't know if it was actually from that or not though. 

October 3, 2013 Lower Body Heavy

• Deficit Deadlifts (2 plates): 365*1 385*1 405*1 425*1 445*1 - back bowing
• Power Cleans: 185*3 195*3 205*2 215*1 225*X 185*7
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*2 145*2 150*1
• Pull-Throughs: 120*10 150*4
• Paloffs: 100*4 90*5
• P.U.P.P.: 1:30

1:01-extended session

Really hammering on the deficit deadlifts now.  Felt great.  After that did power cleans. Not hanging power cleans, but actually from the floor. Did a lot more reps than I'm used to as well.  After the deficit deadlifts the weight was flying, until I got to 225 and realized my hips were exhausted.  Did some snatches after, and some pull-throughs, and then did a few core sets as well. Felt really good after this one. 

October 1, 2013 Upper Body Heavy

• Bench Press: 225*3 265*3 275*2
• T-Bar Rows: 160*3 160*3 160*3
• Timed Bench Press (3:00): 135*56 
• Landmine Laterals: 70*3 70*2
• 1000m Row: 3:39

Gym is doing the competitions again, and I kept getting lured over, decided after benching & rowing to give it a shot. Fun times.  Can definitely do better on the benching & 1000m row.  It's going through the end of October, so we'll see what I can do. 

September 30, 2013 Lower / Light

• Squats: 315*4 335*3 345*2
• Front Squats: 235*3 245*3 255*2
• Good Mornings: 165*5 170*5 180*5
• Overhead Squats: 135*5 145*4 150*noope
• Battling Ropes: 50
• Rope Slams; 15
• WSARC: 50*10 60*10

I was hungry hungry hippos for this whole workout, not sure why, I ate my usual amount and at the same times.  I probably want to go a bit lighter on these things if this is going to be a true 'light' session, maybe 4-5 reps per set should be my aim.  Tried some overhead squatting again, going to rotate it in normally from now on, I enjoy the challenge. 

September 29, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 8' 5", 8' 4"
• Broad Jumps (turf): 8' 4" 8' 7" 8' 4", 8' 7"
• Row: 750m 2:50
• Battling Ropes: 55, 40

For the competition at my gym the broad jumps are done on the field turf area they have set up for cross training stuff.  Definitely nicer to land on.  Did a practice row, one of the events is a 1000m row, going to see if I can win it.  

September 27, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Incline Bench Press: 245*2 250*2 255*1
• Pullups: 95*2 95*2 95*1
• Standing Press: 165*2 175*1 155*2
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Rows: 170*2 175*2
• 10 lbs. plate transfer planks: 4*3 
• Broad Jumps: 8' 5", 8' 6", 8' 7", 8' 7"
• 10 lbs. plate transfer planks: 4*2
• Broad Jump: 8' 7"

44 minutes

Good session, getting up there on pullups. Did some plate transfer planks too.  On the standing press my wrists were just exhausted.  Traps & rhomboids sitll sore from deadlifting & o-lifting on Tuesday.  Gym is doing the competition thing again, one of the events is the broad jump so I recorded some jumps in lieu of the usual last couple exercises in the session. I felt like switching things up a bit anyway. 

September 26, 2013 Olympic lifting, posterior chain / light

• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*5 155*5 175*5 185*2, 1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*5 145*3 135*5
• Deficit Deadlifts: 315*5 335*3 335*3
• Pull-Throughs: 100*10
• 10 sec paloff iso holds: 80*3
• 90 lbs. sled pushes: 8

Good session here, on the light days I'm going to put the o-lifting first, and on heavy do the dls first.  Going to do several weeks of deficit deadlifts then pull from the floor again, see if it helps me hit new highs.  Finished with some sled pushes, haven't done just pushes without the pulls in a while. 

September 25, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 2
• 50m: 4
• Total: 400m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 4", 9' 5", 9' 5", 9' 4"

F'ing left hamstring still has that weird tug/pressure in it. No idea why. Going to try taking next week off from sprinting, see if that helps.  It was pretty annoying today, and got worse after the first sprint.  The first 30m or so I'm fine, then after that it starts to hurt.  Oddly it doesn't hurt on broad jumps. Or anything else really, just sprinting for some reason. 

September 24, 2013 Upper Body / Light

• Bench Press: 235*9 225*9 215*8
• Pendlay Rows: 155*10 175*8 17587
• Push Press: 205*5 205*3 - gassed
• Neutral Grip Pullups:  75*4 75*3 75*2
• Landmine Laterals: 55*9 55*8
• Wide-Stance Anti-Rotational Chop: 60*10 50*9
• P.U.P.P: 1:00
• Arm-Forward PUPP: 0:10 0:10
• P.U.P.P.: 0:40 - abs cramping

45 minutes

Good session, was exhausted on the push presses.  Tried a few different things for core work today, the arm-forward pupp I just put an arm straight out in front of me like I was doing a bird-dog.  

September 23, 2013 Lower Body / Heavy

• Squats: 315*1 350*1 365*1 380*X
• Front Squats: 245*1 260*1 275*1 285*1-nailed it
• Good Mornings: 205*1 215*1 235*1
• Overhead Squats: 75*6 95*5 115*5

45 minutes

I think I'm bumping up against my limit for strength at my current weight on this cut, finally.  What was holding me back the past couple years was lower back strength, and core strength. In my past sessions you'll see me refer to getting 'folded over' on squats, an indicator that the core/stabilizers were not up to par. The good mornings took care of that, as did rotating heavy/light workouts week to week. That ensured I was still getting the heavy work in, but that I was also not burning out, and putting in good reps at lighter weights. I think the 375-380 range is my posterior chains' max right now. I'm not getting folded, I just can't get out of the hole if I try to put more weight on the bar. Hopefully that changes this bulk.  Front squats are going great too, definitely helping matters. I'm only 20 lbs. away from my squat PR, and 15 away from front squat PR.   

I added in overhead squats here to help with balance issues, hit my core more, and hopefully have some carry over to snatches.  Tough exercise, almost fell on my rear when warming up with the bar. 

September 22, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: 50, 50 (1:50)
• Broad Jump: 8' 8", 9' 2" NEW PR!!, 8' 9", 8' 11", 8' 10", 8' 10", 8' 11.5", 8' 7", 8' 10", 8' 7"
• 500m Row: 1:49

23 minutes

Good session, brief jump rope then shattered my PR for broad jumps, at the gym anyway.  Highest average I've had by far.   Four months ago every one of these would have been a PR.  So that's good.  Good session overall, finished with a row.  This coming competition at the gym will feature a 1000m row for time, going to build up to 100 over next couple weeks and then hopefully start shaving time. 

September 20, 2013 Lower / Posterior Chain Heavy

• Deadlifts: 400*1 435*1 450*1 475*1
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 165*3 185*1 195*1
• Hanging Power Snatch: 135*3 155*1 165*1 NEW PR!! 170*X
• Sled Push & Pulls: 90*16 3:00
• P.U.P.P.: 1:20

So first; I rotate heavy/light sessions on my upper body workouts week to week. I also do that with squats, but don't for my dead/o-lift days. Going to start doing that. It's really helped propel my squatting quite a bit. Went heavy on deads here, going to use deficit deadlifts the next few weeks on both heavy and light days, then retest.  Cleans went well but I was somewhat burn out from the deadlifting. On snatching, I think my grip had been a bit to narrow, the bar was hanging a tad below the hip crease which is where you want it to be when in the hang position. I'm not sure if that contributed to the PR here, but it couldn't have hurt. Been trying for 18 months to get past 160 and finally did it.  Finished with some sled work and some core stuff and called it a day. 

September 19, 2013 Upper Body / Light

• Incline Bench Press: 200*10 205*7 195*8
• Pullups: 70*4 70*3 70*3
• Standing Press: 95*10 105*10 115*9
• Cable Rows: 150*9 130*10 130*8
• DB Flat - 100*6 gassed.

39 minutes

Good session, nothing particularly stands out.  I enjoy the cable rows on these higher rep days; I have trouble finding a row that I'm comfortable with at higher reps, but cable rows fit the bill quite well.  Other rows I feel like lower back stabilizer fatigue sets in at higher reps.  Plus I don't like doing T-Bars at higher reps because I have trouble breathing.   

September 18, 2013 Sprinting / Broad Jumps

• 100m: 8
• Total: 800m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 4", 10' 1", 9' 4", 9' 8"

left hamstring is still bothering me, it's weird, it's fine when I walk, deadlift, or squat. But about 20m into any sprint it starts feeling like I'm getting stabbed in it, fairly high up in the hamstring, and feels like it's about to cramp or tear.   It's not super-intense, but bad enough to slow me down a bit.  Powered through here, then went to jumping, really threw myself into the 10' 1" and 9' 8" ones here, almost face planted on the 10. Good times though, best jumps I've had in about a month. 

September 17, 2013 Upper / Heavy

• Bench Press: 265*1 280*1 290*1 300*1
• T-Bar Rows: 160*3 170*2 180*1
• Push Press: 230*1 240*X 240*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 90*2 90*2 90*1
• Landmine Laterals: 70*2 80*1
• Dumbbell Incline: 110*3

42 minutes

on the push press press my forearms were quite sore.  Going to drop neutral grip pullups to 85 next time I go heavy on them.  Same with 80 on landmines, going to pull it back to 75.  Rep at 80 felt sloppy. 

September 16, 2013 Lower Body / Light

• Squats: 315*4 335*3 340*2,1
• Front Squats: 230*3 240*3 250*2
• Good Mornings: 155*5 165*5 175*5
• O.H. Squats: 45*10 55*10
• Bird-Dogs: 10

Messed up 3rd rep on 340 squats, so I reracked and did one more.  Tried overhead squats, going to start low on weight til I'm used to balancing.  Solid session.  Turned 32 yesterday.   Don't feel like I'm slowing down at all, in fact I'm improving still in pretty much every area fitness wise.  I think the stretching/foam rolling helps with that. Plus not making common mistakes such as pressing way more than rowing helps keep my shoulder joints fresh.  I also make sure my hips/quads are thoroughly stretched as well so that the joints in my hips & knees don't end up going.  Still, I wonder how many more years do I have before I experience some sort of descent, or some sort of increased effort to maintain the level I'm at now.  Hopefully not for a long time. 

September 13, 2013 Upper Body / Heavy

• Incline Bench Press: 235*2 250*1 260*1 270*1ish
• Pullups: 95*2 95*2 95*1
• Standing Press: 165*2 180*1 155*3
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Rows: 175*2 180*1
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*10, 1:40

43 minutes

good session, not sure if on the 270 the spotter helped me, they were pretty zealous..decided to toss some more weights on pullups, went great.  Standing press....I always wonder how much weight I could slap on if I lead off with it on this day for a couple months.  The thing is I just love incline benching so much, I feel like it's so much easier to maintain tension throughout the lift, as opposed to with flat bench.  The sled pushing & pulling went well, love gassing myself out at the end with those

September 12, 2013 Lower

• Deadlifts: 405*1 435*1 455*1 475*1
• Deficit Deadlifts: 405*1 425*nopenopenope
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 155*3 175*1,1 185*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 145*3 155*1
• Pull-Throughs: 110*10 120*10
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10

44 minutes

Someone actually broke my deadlifting record (again, they use 5 rep max as the record), so I feel somewhat obligated to reclaim it as quickly as possible, I think 455*5 was what the guy got. There can only be one king.  I was going to keep focusing on squats but now I don't know...maybe do both?  Added in deficit deadlifts here, stood on 2 45 lbs. plates, so about 2".  Wasn't sure it would make a huge difference..yeah it does.  Going to work these in from now on.   Cleans & Snatches went well, I'm focusing on snatch form right now, it's going good. Pull-Throughs were nice again too. 

September 11, 2013 Sprinting / Broad Jumps

• 50m: 2
• 100m: 1
• 200m: 2
• 100m:2
• Total: 800m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 1.5", 9' 2.5", 9' 3.5", 9' 4.5"

My left hamstring was still a bit tight, couldn't hit top speeds again.  Kind of annoying.  Was taxed by the time I did broad jumps after fighting through the leg irritation.  Lacked explosiveness. 

September 10, 2013 Upper Body / Light

• Bench Press: 230*10 235*8 215*7 - lactic acid
• Cable Rows: 140*10 150*9 160*6
• Push Press: 195*5 195*6!
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 95*1 95*1
• Lat Pulldowns: 120*15-these are still dumb
• Landmine Laterals: 50*10 55*8
• DB Incline: 110*1 - gassed
• Paloffs: 100*10 110*9

45 minutes

Mixed in some heavy stuff on the db incline and NG Pullups.  Good session though, hit 10 on 230 wasn't sure I would, could've had 11 actually.  Did some cable rows after, I like them for high reps, may add them in on high rep days.  Tried lat pulldowns just for fun, they're pretty dumb. Just do pullups.  Rest of session went well.  Bumping up LM Lateral weight in two weeks to 55 & 55 

September 9, 2013 Lower Body / Heavy

• Squats: 315*1 340*1 355*1 370*1 380*X-juuust missed 1/2 way up
• Pin Squats: 315*1 PR? Yup. NEW PR!!
• Front Squats: 225*1 250*1 275*1-yup 285*X-nope. Quads are done for the day
• Good Mornings: 205*1 215*1 230*1 GREAT FORM here
• 28kg KB Swings: 30
• Side-Planks: 0:30

37 minutes

TORE through this workout. Really happy, just missed 380. Kind of pissed I didn't try harder, think I gave up to soon. Doing great taking big air before I drop, and getting to the bottom of the squat quicker and more explosively.   After I failed on the 380, I peeled the excess plates off and left the 3 wheels on each side, and inadvertently set a pin squat PR for myself.  Front squats I'm increasing the loads on as well. My record there is only 300, so I'm right in range.  Good mornings, I nailed the form, again taking a big breath beforehand helps with bracing my abs.  Did great.  Finished with some KB swings because I couldn't do kickbacks on account of being unable to find the ankle strap.  Ended session with side-planks.  As always stretched after, and foam rolled. 

September 08, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 8' 2", 8' 3", 8' 4", 8' 5", 8' 6", 8' 5"
• Air-Dyne 1/2 Tabata
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*12 (2:20)

21 minutes

Crappy jumps.  Calves were sore for some reason, and I just wasn't feeling it.  Did a 1/2 tabata on the airdyne...that thing kills me.  Finished with some sled push & pulling. 

September 6, 2013 Upper Body Light

• Incline Bench Press: 200*9 205*8 195*8
• Pullups: 65*4 65*3 65*3
• Standing Press: 85*10 956*10 115*7
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Rows: 155*8 165*5
• DB Bench Press: 100*7
• P.U.P.P. 1:00, 0:35 -done

43 minutes

Nothing magical here really, good session. Was tired by the end. 

September 5, 2013 Olympic Lifts & Deadlifting

• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*5 155*3 175*1, 1 185*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*2 155*1 135*4
• Deficit (2 45 lbs plates) Deadlifts: 275*2 315*1 365*1 405*1-whoah crap that's intense
• DL: 415*1
• Pull-Throughs: 100*10 110*10
• Ab-Wheel: 10

47 minutes

Hamstring still tight here, also last 3 sessions I've felt dead, I think I'm fighting something off. Not good times. The cleans went well though, nothing too extreme here since the hamstring is tight. Snatches went well too. Form is really coming around on them; without letting myself starfish out with my legs, I have to dip down a tad as you're supposed to, to hit the rep.  Next up, I did deficit deadlifts. I somehow have NEVER done them before. It helps with breaking from the floor on standard deads.  That's my sticking point, so it makes sense to try them, not sure why I took so long. Wooowhee are they hard, I can't believe standing on a couple of 45 lbs. plates can make that much of a difference. Was going to use one of those step-up platforms, but not sure if it would support the weight. Tried a regular deadlift after, not sure if it felt any different.  I don't know why I expected it to. Probably have to do deficit pulling for a couple sessions at least to notice a difference.  Finished with more pull-throughs, I'm really piling the weight on now, not sure if it's contributing to my recent surge in squatting, but it can't hurt, and then finished with some ab-wheel. 

September 4, 2013 Sprinting / Broad Jumps

• 50m: 1
• 100m: 2
• 200m: 1
• 50m: 1
• 100m:1
• Total: 600m
• Broad Jump: 9' 1", 9 '2", 9' 1"

My left hamstring was super tight this whole time and just would not loosen up.  It wasn't cramped, but it felt like it was about to.  I couldn't hit top speed at all, and it actually got worse as the session went along, so I cut it a few hundred meters short, and tried broad jumping. Couldn't get off the line evenly so I kept ending up landing diagonally and screwing up my distances.  I'm sure it'll be fine within a day or two though. 

September 3, 2013 Upper Body / Heavy

• Bench Press: 250*1 265*1 275*1 285*1 295*1
• BB Rows: 250*2 270*3 285*3 300*1
• Push Press: 225*1 exhausted
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 90*2 90*2 90*2
• Landmine Lateral Raises: 65*3 75*1
• DB Incline: 110*3

42 mintues

Exhausted for some reason, just had no energy whatsoever. I think I went to sleep too late last night. Nothing much to talk about here, just ground it out and then went home. 110*3 on incline was nice though, I'm happy with that portion. 

September 2, 2013 Lower / Light

• Squats: 300*4 315*4 335*3 335*3
• Front Squats: 225*3 235*3 245*2
• Good Mornings: 145*5 155*5 165*5
• Wide-Stance Anti-Rotational Chops: 70*10

42 minutes

Good session, happy with the 335 triples I hit back to back.  A little over a month ago I was having trouble hitting it for 1 without folding. Taking big gulp of air before reps, and the focus on getting down into the hole faster, along with good mornings bring up my lower back has helped immensely.  

September 1, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: 35, 15, 30 (2:30)
• Broad Jump: 8' 3", 8' 8", 8' 6", 8' 5", 8' 7", 8'6"
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*12 (2:20)
• Rowing: 500m*1:42 NEW PR!!

29 minutes

Broad jumps went well, jumped to sled push & pull after that, then decided to try my hand at doing a 500 of rowing. Turned out well, new PR. Although the caveat there is that I do not do 500 rows very often, I do 100s & 1000s much more often.

August 30, 2013 Upper Body Heavy

• Incline Bench: 225*3 235*2 245*1 255*1
• Pullups: 90*2 90*2 90*2
• Standing Press: 155*3 175*1 165*2
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Row: 180*2 190*1
• DB Flat Bench: 115*3
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*12 -sled went sideways. 

Great session, really close to my PR on incline benching, and I'm cutting, so that's good. Pullups are going well too, close to the PR there.  Standing pres is somewhat static, but I'm not prioritizing it really. I've kicked around the idea of leading off with it, then putting incline bench 3rd here, but I love incline benching.  Rest of workout went great.  On the sled work the sled was sideways, so that hurt the numbers. 

August 29, 2013 Olympic Lifting, Posterior Chain

• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 145*3 155*3 165*1,1 175*2, 1 185*1,1 135*8
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*1
• Deadlifts: 365*1 405*1 435*1
• Pull-Throughs: 90*10 100*10
• P.U.P.P.

40 minutes

whoops, thought I had updated this last week (it's september 9th), apparently it's been longer.   Went hard this workout, going to go harder next time too I think.  Deadlifting felt great, really getting good on pull-throughs.   Loving cleans lately. Can't wait to bulk and throw some serious weight on.

August 28, 2013 Sprinting & Broad Jumps

• 50m: 1
• 100m: 13.97, 13.43 PR? PR!!
• 50m: 11
• 100m: 1
• Total: 900m
• Broad Jump: 9' 3", 9' 4", 10' 1.5" NEW PR!!  9' 3", 9' 4"

Well then...did a 50 for warmup, then decided to time myself. Didn't feel particularly fast on the 13.97, then the 13.43 felt pretty good. I thought my record was like 13.2 so I haven't been timing myself lately, because I didn't think I was that fast. Turns out my record was slower. I've probably been hitting it every week.  Did some 50s after; I want to focus on my acceleration.  Finished with broad jumping.  Was pretty tired, so I took a few minutes off after my 2nd attempt and then uncorked a new PR there too.  Was pretty much toast after that though. GREAT session

August 27, 2013 Upper Body Light

• Bench Press: 230*8 225*10 225*6
• Pendlay Rows: 135*10 155*10 165*8
• Push Press: 185*6 185*5
• 1.5 Pullups: 6, 4
• Landmine Laterals: 50*9 50*8
• DB Incline Bench: 100*5-gassed
• Wide-stance Anti-Rotational Chops: 60*10

42 minutes

Last time I did 230*9 on bench and 225*7, I mean when you get higher on reps there's more variation. I was actually pretty low on energy today, not sure why.  I did well on push pressing though, I need to up the weight next week. Everything else went fine. Starting to fall into a pattern with exercise selection; pendlay rows on the light upper body days, etc.  Not a bad session at all. 

August 26, 2013 Lower Body Heavy

• Squats: 315*2 340*1 355*1 365*1 375*1
• Front Squats: 225*2 250*1 265*1 275*NOPE
• Good Mornings: 200*1 210*1 220*1
• Cable Kickbacks: 120*4
• Ab-Wheel: 10

40 minutes

Getting better with breathing on squats, and rep pace. I was descending way too slow before. I'm really happy with the weight I've been putting on here lately.  I've been very good with bracing my abs, making sure my lower back was engaged, and also sticking with the good mornings to strengthen my lower back.  Good times.  Front squats went well, would have had 275 if I wasn't fatigued. Not bad, as 300 is my PR there. 

August 25, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope (2:27): 50, 50
• Broad Jump: 8' 8.5", 8' 8", 8' 6", 9' 0"(!!), 8' 6", 8' 9"
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*20 (4:15) 90*10 (2:30)

Quick session.  Really uncorking some good broad jumps, I think I've got the form of it down pat finally.  If I hit less than about 8' 6" at this point I'm disappointed.  Going to keep working on the patterning of it, and making sure I throw my legs forward before the landing. Sled Push & Pull did a couple sets and was absolutely finished afterward.  

August 23, 2013 Lower Body / Posterior Chain / Olympic Lifting

• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 165*1 165*1 185*1 195*1 205*1-straps
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*2 145*2 150*1
• Deadlifts: 275*1 315*1 365*1 405*1 425*1
• Pull-Throughs: 80*10 90*6
• Bird-Dogs: 6

39 minutes

Didn't realize this til later, but I did upper body on T & Th.  Didn't even notice any soreness. I think because T was heavy with fewer reps.  May do that on the weeks I go heavy on Tuesdays from now on, give myself an extra lower body rest day after sprinting Wednesday. 

Wiped out from all the heavy carrying. Lower back, hips, forearms, hamstrings, all of it is just exhausted. Need a day off tomorrow.  On the 90 lbs. set of pull-throughs I felts a stabbing pain in my forearms so I stopped.  On deadlifts the first several sets I focused on making sure my hips were low in the pull.  Still staying light here, no reason to go super heavy since I'm working on my squat right now.  Don't want to be dead-legged for that!   On HPCs still progressing, no star-fishing really, tried straps on the heavy set again.  Not sure I'd go that heavy every week right now though, basically just want to keep drilling good form. I can tell my form has been so much better these last few months just from how much thicker and bigger my traps are.  All that explosive pulling is paying off.  Snatches are going well too, no star-fishing on them either.  

August 22, 2013 Upper Light

• Incline Bench: 195*10 205*7 190*7
• Pullups: 60*5 60*4 60*4
• Standing Press: 95*8 95*8
• Unilateral BB T-Bar Rows: 145*10 150*6
• DB Flat: 105*6

39 minutes

Exhausted from moving all these boxes and stuff around.  Still wanted to get a session in, after skipping sprinting yesterday for more box related stuff. Did surprisingly well on pullups here. Also, on the unilateral t-bar rows, I'm doing them out of the landmine now.  Not really a change, just safer since before the end of the bar was just jammed in the corner of a squat rack. 

August 20, 2013 Upper Body Heavy

• Bench Press: 255*3 270*3 280*1
• T-Bar Rows: 160*3 185*2 145*4
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1
• Neutral Grip pullups: 75*3 75*3 75*3
• Landmine Laterals: 60*3 70*1
• DB Incline Bench: 105*1 105*5

43 minutes

Tired, been moving heavy boxes last couple days.  Was a bit off on account of that here.  Not a bad session though, hit 70 on the landmine laterals, progressing steadily on them. If you ever do them, make sure you clamp down your core, and keep your arm straight (no elbow-bend) through the whole movement.  Incline bench had trouble getting weights into proper position, grabbed spotter to help and banged out 5. 

August 19, 2013 Lower Body / Light

• Squats: 275*5 315*3 315*2 325*2 315*3
• Front Squats: 185*3 205*3 225*3 240*1
• Good Mornings: 155*5 165*4 -back tired
• Side-Planks: 0:45, 0:30

Somewhat abbreviated session; moving squats to mondays, and just squatted heavy on Friday.  Doing it for a couple reasons; A) I don't like squatting Friday and then being dead-legged for Friday & Saturday night when I go out.  I'll be deadlifting Thursdays, and the doms I get from that is much less anyway. B) Monday is international bench press day.  It's too crowded in that part of the gym on Monday and I don't like benching when there are tons of people around me.  C) It let's me prioritize squatting.  Sundays are my somewhat easier conditioning day, and I haven't sprinted yet so my legs are fresher.  

Rotated in some front squatting here, going to be doing more of that from now on too. Great core movement in addition to the obvious primary lower body effects.  Finished with some good mornings and side-planks. I need to get a video of me doing good mornings to see how good my form is. 

August 18, 2013 Conditioning

• Jump Rope: 44, 40, 28 3 minutes
• Broad Jump: 8' 4", 8' 9.5"(!!), 8' 7", 8' 7", 8' 7.5" , 8' 6.5", 8' 7.5", 8' 6", 8' 8.5"
• Rowing: 500m*1:43 (0:35 200m split)
• 1/2 tabata spin bike: 0.51 miles

31 minutes

Went great, warmed up with jump rope...uncorked some really long jumps here, just getting into a good pattern of kicking my legs forward, keeping them tucked, leaning forward, putting it all together. Feels great. Did some rowing since it's been a while, and then did a 1/2 tabata on a spin bike, want to work up to a full one. 

August 16, 2013 Lower Body Heavy

• Squats: 315*1 340*1 365*1 375*1
• Good Mornings: 185*3 195*3 205*3
• Rack Hip-Thrusts: 405*3 425*3
• Sled Push & Pull: 90*20 (3:20)
• Wide-Stance Anti-Rotational Chops: 60*10

43 minutes

Went heavy, got another high on squatting.  Can't wait til I'm bulking again, want to see if I can get 450.  Good mornings went well, I need to make sure I'm using good form and not straining my lower back on them, feel like I go too low sometimes.  Did some hip thrusting, haven't done it in a while. Hips are exhausted after this week really.  Did some sled push & pulling, got to 20!  

August 15, 2013 Upper Body Heavy

• Incline Bench (Paused Reps): 225*1,1,1 230*1,1,1 235*1
• Pullups: 90*2 90*1 90*1
• Standing Press: 155*2 175*1 165*2
• BB Unilateral Barbell T-Bar Rows: 180*2 190*1
• DB Flat Bench: 110*5 115*3

42 minutes

Good session, wanted to get back to doing paused reps..really love those things.  Figured if I'm going heavy on pullups I should actually go heavy instead of doing like 80 or whatever. on Standing press my left wrist started to hurt. The unilateral t-bars were fun, just piled weight on to see what I could do. Finished strong on flat benching.  Not bad numbers considering I'm cutting, or finished with the cut. 

August 14, 2013

• 200m: 2
• 100m: 3
• 50m: 3
• Total: 850m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 1", 9' 2", 9' 2"

Really tired after the session yesterday.  May try lower body on M & Th, see if that helps sprinting.  Was exhausted; jumping didn't go well just too tired. 

August 13, 2013 Olympic Lifting, Posterior Chain

• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 155*2 175*1 185*2 175*1 175*3 (straps) 175*1 175*1 155*4
• Hanging Power Snatch: 135*3 140*3 - not a lot of starfishing, good look.
• Deadlift: 275*2 315*4 365*2 315*3
• Pull-Throughs: 70*10 80*10 
• Ab-Wheel: 10, 10

44 minutes

On deadlifting I focused on getting my hips really low, since I feel like I've been pulling high lately.  Tried straps on a set of HPCs...definitely helped with grip. Not sure I'd use them more than on highest set of day though. Snatches are actually looking better, I'm doing better dipping a tad on the catch.  On ab-wheel I focused on using my abs to pull the wheel back, I have a tendency to get lax with that. 

August 12, 2013 Upper Body Light

• Bench Press: 230*9 225*10 225*7
• T-Bar Rows: 135*7 115*8 115*7
• Push Press: 185*5 185*6
• Thick Rope Pullups: 5, 4
• Landmine Laterals: 50*8 50*8
• DB Incline: 95*7 95*6

39 minutes

Took off yesterday to rest.  Session went good, bench numbers accumulating some on these light days.  I prefer heavy T-Bar rows to the light version.  REALLY much harder doing rope pullups with the thick rope.  

August 9, 2013 Lower Body

• Squats: 275*5 300*5 315*5 315*3 -lower back tired
• Walking Lunges:170*6 180*6
• Good Mornings: 155*8 175*8 195*6
• Straight-Leg Cable Kickbacks: 110*10 120*10
• 90 lbs. sled push & Pull: (3 minutes) 16

45 minutes

Well that was interesting. My lower back was just really tired.  I think I jumped in too fast on deadlifting on Tuesday because it's been tired since then. I think deadlifting may be interfering with the weights I'm squatting.  May use this as an opportunity to tweak my deadlifting. I think I've been too high at the start of the pulls recently, may drop the weight and focus on pulling with my hips lower and pattern that for a couple weeks, and see if that helps my lower back as well.  Need to lower weight on good mornings, if this is really going to be a light day...maybe 145-155-170 or something.  Murdered some sled push & pulls.  

August 8, 2013 Upper Body / Light

• Incline Bench Press: 190*10 195*9 185*9
• Pullups: 55*5 55*4 55*4
• Standing Press: 135*3 135*3 - tris done
• Unilateral BB Rows: 145*10 165*8-form was decomposing here, lower weight.
• DB Flat Bench: 105*5 100*5 super gassed now
• 90 lbs. sled push & pull: (3 minutes) 14

45 minutes

Good session!  I think my body is actually adapting to the rotating heavy/light days finally.  Pullups I'm doing medium weight here, as I mentioned before. On Standing Press my triceps were just done from the incline benching. Need to lower weight on unilateral bb rows, at least the second set. My form was garbage at the end.  Finished with some sled push & pulls.  Really liking these. 

August 8, 2013 Incline Walking

• Incline Walking: 10% incline / 20 minutes / 1 mile

fasted, in the morning

August 7, 2013 Sprinting & Broad JUmps

• 200m: 4
• Total: 800m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 1", 9' 5", 9' 2", 9' 5", 9' 6"

Wanted to see if doing 200m less on sprinting resulted in longer broad jumps, it did, slightly.  Wasps were back at sand pit, I jumped around them though. Didn't catch any in the face.   Not sure what I'll do next week...maybe a few 200s, a couple 100s, and some 40s? 

August 6, 2013 Lower Body / Posterior Chain / Olympic Lifting

• Power Shrug: 405*5 455*5
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 155*3 155*3 175*3 185*1 195*1 -tired, starfished 155*3
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*2
• Deadlifts: 405*1 425*1 315*5
• Pull-Throughs; 60*10 70*10
• 90 lbs. sled push & pull: 14, 3:25

Good session, got a bit tired while cleaning.  Actually really tired for some reason.   On deadlifts my back was extremely sore, I never really rested after Friday & Saturday. Forgot how much that day off helps.  Did some sled pushes & pulls for fun after.  

August 5, 2013 Upper Body / Heavy

• Bench Press: 250*3 265*3 275*2
• T-Bar Rows: 135*4 145*4 160*2 185*1 NEW PR!!
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 60*4 60*3 60*3
• Landmine Laterals: 57.5*3 65*1

42 minutes

Rare heavy day that I didn't do a bunch of 1 rep stuff on. REALLY fatigued from the friday/saturday stuff still.  T-Bars went well, I usually have trouble breathing when I do them, but doing them heavy the sets are over quicker so I don't mind as much. Landmines went well.  

August 4, 2013 Conditioning

• Bench clap pushups: 6,5,5
• TRX Dismount: 46"
• Battling Ropes: 60, 40
• TRX Dismount: 47"

Just a quick session, lower back is exhausted after yesterday, and so are my legs.  For battling ropes was using the thicker ropes they have now. 

August 3, 2013 Conditioning

• TRX Dismounts: a bunch.
• Sled Push & Pull: (3 minutes): 17
• Box Squats: (3 minutes) 135*55

last day of the challenges at my gym, for the summer anyway, so I wanted to see how I would do fresh.  Got 17 on the push & pulls, still tired from yesterday. Lower back was almost spasming on the box squats.  Good times.  3rd place on box squats, 3rd on the push  & pull.  Barely missed 2nd place by a half inch, repeatedly on the dismounts. 

August 2, 2013 Lower Body

• Squats: 315*1 345*1 365*1
• Good Mornings: 225*2 240*1 NEW PR!! 250*1 NEW PR!! 260*1 NEW PR!!
• Sled Push & Pull: 3 minutes, 16
• Sled Push & Pull, Team (5 pushes, 5 pulls each): 1:57
• Sled Push & Pull, intergender, Team (5 pushes, 5 pulls each): 2:28

My lower back wasn't feeling fabulous, kind of tired. Still I got 365 on squatting so I'm happy. Then I destroyed my record for good mornings on 3 consecutive sets.  Probably don't want to go that high again anytime soon, but I did get the job done. Next I decided to do more of the challenges.  First I did a sled push & pull. Basically pull a sled from a 3 point stance, then push it back to where it started.  Each time you pull the sled all the way to you counts as a rep, then each push back counts.  By the end of this it felt like someone was sticking a blowtorch down my throat and lighting my lungs on fire. Here's a video!

Then I did it again, but in team form, you take turns, do a pull then a push, then next person does so.  5 of each, as fast as you can. Me and another guy smoked the previous record by 2 minutes, finished with 1:57.  Then I did it with one of the ladies from the gym as well. We were both gassed at that point though, ended up with 2:28.   Also did some TRX dismounts, basically swing from a trx and then hurl yourself as far as possible. I got 55", so 3rd place, narrowly missing 2nd place by a half inch. Here's a vid of the final sled push & pull I did with the girl. 

Hard to explain how tired I was after all this, I could barely stay awake. Good times

August 1, 2013 Upper

• Bench Press: 3 minutes: 135*53
• Incline Bench: 185*1 205*1 yeah...gassed
• Inverted Rows: 3 minutes 67
• Standing Press: 145*3 157.5*2 170*1
• Pullups: 90*1 90*1

More events from those competitions, I'm actually having fun with it this week. Was kind of tired on the benching, should have had closer to 70.  Did some inverted rows as well, happy with the results.  Finished with standing press (forgot to put a 2.5 on one side of the bar on one of the sets...) and pullups. Fun times. 

July 31, 2013 Sprinting & Jumping

• 200m: 5
• Total: 1000m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 3", 9' 4", 9' 5"

Good times!  The 200s were slightly easier this time.  Broad jumps are still at the lower end, I'm just exhausted by the time I get there. At some point I'll do a 600m day and then see how far I can get. 

July 30, 2013 Lower Body

• Hanging Power Cleans (3 minutes): 135*32
• Hanging Power Cleans: 155*1 175*1
• Trap-Bar Deadlifts: 405*1 495*1 545*X 505*1 
• PUPP: 1:00

41 minutes

My gym is doing some competitions, I've mentioned it before. One of them was most reps on 135 hanging cleans in 3 minutes. Got 32. Going to do it again in several days, should have had way more than that.    Was pretty gassed after, just did some trap-bar dl'ing and some ab stuff then went home. 

July 29, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press: 225*10 225*9 225*8
• BB Underhand Rows: 225*10 225*10 245*10
• BB Push Press: 185*5 185*5
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 45*8 45*5
• Landmine Laterals: 50*10 45*10
• DB Incline: 90*9 90*6

44 minutes

I wasn't sure if I'd get strong on light weight workouts only doing them every other week, but compared to last time, my bench numbers here went WAY up, so that's good. Also on PP I don't know if doing sets higher than 5 or 6 is a good idea, form tends to break down. Same with pullups; I just hate doing high rep sets on them.  I don't feel comfortable doing them at all above 5 or 6 reps.  

July 26, 2013 Lower Body - Medium

• Squats: 250*5 275*5 300*5 315*5 325*2
• Good-Mornings: 175*5 195*5 215*5
• Pull-Throughs: 50*10 70*10
• Swiss-ball Bridges: 78
• Paloffs: 100*7 110*5

39 minutes

Tapered this workout a bit shorter, my legs were exhausted coming in, I guess from sprinting & broad jumps 2 days ago.  Maybe exhausted is too strong of a word, but they were fatigued, almost cramping on squats. Rest of workout went well, getting the hang of pull-throughs.  Not sure if the swiss ball bridges are really working or not, end up feeling them in legs and core as I try and stabilize. 

July 25, 2013 Upper Body - Heavy

• Bench Press: 250*1 270*1 280*1 295*1
• Pendlay Rows: 205*4 225*2 230*1
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1 -forearms
• Thick-rope Pullups: 5, 4
• DB Incline: 110*3 110*2
• Landmine Laterals: 60*3 65*1

39 minutes

Not a bad session, after doing the lighter weight stuff it's a breeze doing the heavy workouts, my rest time between sets is about 30% shorter.  Pendlays I feel like are better suited to light/medium weight.  Too much temptation to start bucking back on them when they're heavy, which defeats the purpose. Tried thick-rope pullups...much harder than with thinner rope.  Also, on push pressing, my forearm gave out completely so I had to drop it after lockout. Hence the note. 

July 24, 2013 Sprinting, Broad Jumps

• 200m: 3
• 100m: 4
• Total: 1000m
• Broad Jumps: 9' 3", 9' 4", 9' 4", 

Good session, didn't feel like doing 5 200s again.  Wasps seem to have vacated the sand pit so I could actually do broad jumps again. although doing a full 1000 meters beforehand definitely cuts into my ability on them.  

July 23, 2013 Lower Body / O lifting

• Rack Power Shrugs: 405*6 455*6 515*6
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 145*3 145*3 155*3 155*3 165*3 175*1 - hips are done
• Hanging Power Snatch: 135*3 135*3 135*1
• P.U.P.P. 1:30
• 90 lbs. sled pull: 1

 41 minutes

Whoops...forgot to update this blog for like two weeks...HPCs are really improving.  Going to be cautious with upping the weight until I'm sure I really have the form down.  Did some snatches after because I'm obstinate. Even if the form wasn't great I wanted to do them. Also took a week off from deadlifting. 

July 22, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press: 250*1 270*1 280*1 295*1-dirty
• Pendlay Rows: 205*4 225*2 230*1
• Push Press: 225*1 235*1
• Thick Rope Pullups: 5, 4
• DB Incline: 110*3 110*2
• Landmine Laterals: 60*3 65*1

39 minutes!

The reps on bench press besides 295 were really smooth.  Guess fears of losing strength from heavy benching every other week were exaggerated.  The 295 was dirty, but whatever.  I was going a bit lower on my chest too than I usually go, I've wanted to get into that habit for years, I think I'm going to use my next session with the light weights as an opportunity to pattern that.  Pendlay rows aren't a really good choice here I don't think, probably regular BB rows are more suited to the heavy workouts.  The new ropes at the gym are really thick, could barely grip them.  Pause.    Good session, quick too! I'm noticing the heavy workouts go by faster since the light workouts are so taxing on my recovery this stuff feels like a breeze. 

July 21, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 8' 6.5", 8' 7.5", 8' 10", 8' 5", 8' 7.5", 8' 7", 8' 8", 8' 5", 8' 8", 8' 5"
• Plyo Bench Clap Pushups: 5, 5, 5
• 90 lbs. sled speed pushes: 5, 4

23 minutes

Light session. Absolutely killed the broad jumps. Felt great.  I need to go back and figure out what my averages were for sessions, it must be moving up.  Good session.  Felt good. 

July 19, 2013 Lower Body

• Squats: 315*3 340*1 355*1 365*1 (High for year!) 340*1
• BB Split Squats: 185*3 205*2
• Good mornings: 215*2 225*2 235*1 NEW PR!!
• BB Walking Lunges: 170*5 170*5
• Paloffs: 100*10 110*4
• Swiss-Ball Bridges: 5, 4
• Swiss-Ball Lateral Bridges: 3, 2

41 minutes

FINALLY got past 350 without my lower back folding on me. I think the good mornings are having a good effect, plus switching up reps every other week maybe?  Finally.  Threw in split squats after since I like doing them heavy as opposed to with more moderate weight.  The good mornings went well, I prefer them with the medium weight but I want to make sure I'm staying consistent with the theme of the workout.  I'm about 95% certain I've never good morninged that much before, so that's good.   Did some lunges to finish things off, then moved to paloffs.  Finished with some swiss-ball neck work. You can see a video of them here, for some reason the video finder on here couldn't find it.    

July 18, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench Press: 225*2 235*1 245*1
• Pullups: 85*3 85*2 85*2
• Standing Press: 145*3 155*3 165*1
• Unilateral T-Bar Rows: 180*3 190*2
• DB Flat Bench: 120*3
• Landmine Laterals: 55*4 60*3
• TRX Pushups; 4, 4 -straps cut into arms. 

38 minutes!

Heavy week after a light week.  Felt good, didn't feel like I really lost any strength. Bumped up weight on the t-bar rows since I usually do them for medium weights.  Same with landmine laterals.  Tried TRX pushups but those things slice into my arms while I'm pushing myself up. Not good times.  Looking forward to next Thursday to see if my high rep session goes any better than the one last week. Also, did landmines here since I forgot Tuesday. 

July 17, 2013 Sprinting

• 200m: 5
• Total: 1000m

I thought on the 4th & 5th 200s that I might actually die.  Couldn't do broad jumps because there were about a dozen wasps buzzing around the sand; I didn't feel like jumping face-first into a wasp.  Great session though, pushed myself extremely hard the whole way, didn't let up for a single meter on any of these 5. 

July 16, 2013 Posterior Chain / O-lifts

• Rack Power Shrugs: 365*6 425*6 500*5
• Hanging Power Cleans: 135*3 135*3 145*3 145*3 155*3 155*3 155*3 165*3-wrists & forearms done
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3
• Deadlifts: 315*1 365*1 405*1 425*1
• Pull-Throughs: 45*10 60*10
• Push-Up Position Plank: 1:30

45 minutes

moving up on power shrugs.  Hanging power cleans are progressing, going to keep moving up slowly through the weights. Need to make sure I'm doing the small dip allowed for it to still be a power clean.  Last rep on 165 started to starfish but I was just beat.  Did token snatches again.  Deadlifting went well.  I'm getting better on pull-throughs.   Finished with some brief ab work. May take next week off from deadlifting.  

July 15, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press: 225*9 215*9 210*8 205*8
• BB Rows: 225*10 235*10 240*10 245*8
• Push Press: 185*4 185*2-forearms done
• Neutral Grip Pullups: 45*8 45*5 -back is done
• DB Incline: 80*10 85*5 - chest done
• KB Preacher Curls: 10kg*10

44 minutes

Yup, light weight training was definitely missing from my training recently. For perspective, several months ago I hit 250 for 10 on bench pressing.  I just haven't done any high rep stuff at all recently, it's shocking my system quite well; hopefully my max bench numbers don't suffer though.  As I went along my body parts starting checking out one by one from exhaustion.  Happy I found a weak-link, it's kind of revitalized my training. I'm not sure how long I'll stick with the every-other week light workouts for specific days; I may end up doing 3 heavy and 1 light every 4 weeks as a happy medium.

Also, hadn't done curls in a few years, so I grabbed a kb, and palmed the round part and curled it over a preacher bench.  

July 15, 2013 Supplements

I'm taking two new supplements; zinc picolinate, as well as melatonin, at least on a trial basis.  I did some research on Examine.com (seriously check them out), and decided to give these two a shot.  Examine is basically an aggregator for scientific research into supplements, and then breaks that research down into basic English so it's easier to understand.  If you're taking supplements give it a read.  Anyhoo, I'm taking the melatonin because I haven't been sleeping great lately; I fall asleep easy, but then I seem to wake up around 3 or 4, and I doze, but the sleep quality probably isn't there.  I have a lot of things going on right now so that could be why.  I'm trying the melatonin, even though it seems to be mainly indicated for problems falling asleep. We'll see.  

As for the zinc, it's lost in sweat and is frequently deficient in athletes.  I already don't get that much; mean typically need 14-15mg per day, and I was around 8 or 9 mg.  Couple with the athletic activity that I'm doing 6 days per week and I was probably a bit low.  I chose zinc picolinate as it appears to increase serum levels better than Citrate or Gluconate forms of it. 

Zinc Picolinate (bound to picolinic acid, a metabolite of tryptophan), at 50mg elemental Zinc (144mg) in healthy persons appears to increase urinary and serum levels greater than placebo and the other two forms tested (Citrate, Gluconate).[1]

It can increase testosterone in those that were defficient in zinc beforehand, and can also aid the immune system.  I'm not sure if I'll feel any different taking it, but it's worth a shot, at least during the summer when I'm sweating so much when sprinting and doing my conditioning work.