June 10, 2012

June 10, 2012 Conditioning


  • 34.5" Plyo Box Jump / 34.5" Seated Plyo Box Jump Superset: 15-15
  • Shoulder-Rolls (per side): 5, 5
  • Cart Wheels (to left): 10, 10
  • Roundoffs (to right): 10, 6
  • Getups (per side): 10kg*3 

ok now this was fun. I've decided to add more tumbling into my conditioning work. I started with shoulder rolls. They seemed easy at first, but at the end my pulse was really high.  May do them again tomorrow after benching and stuff.  Then I moved to cartwheels. Quick note, I haven't done cartwheels in about 20 years, but I immediately remembered how to do them.  Here's the thing though...I always do them to my left, never to my right. So obviously I want to do them both ways this time.  At this point when I go right it's essentially a roundoff.  A bad roundoff.  Here's video proof.  First the cartwheels, to the left, pretty much decent:





and now the roundoffs...going to my right.....what has been seen, cannot be unseen (check out the dude scoping me out between sets on the teeter-totter thing):


Finally I thought I'd finish with something cool I saw on 4chan's /fit board a few days ago.  There was a thread where you post pictures of your "cave" and see what people could notice about you. It's not really fitness related, but I always preach about being well rounded and not letting the gym define you as a person, so here's a few snaps of my room. , the door.  This is mostly my roommates doing, though the Santa has hung on many of my doors over the years. 

Next a view of one of my walls; that's my degree from BC, as well as a picture of my favorite bird.  I also have a lava lamp that never gets used, a fantasy football trophy I'm way too proud of, and over in the corner some nostalgia in the form of my mom's height board. 

That vulture pinata you see below is probably older than most people reading this.  My mom got it for me in 2nd grade and immediately knew I wasn't going to want to bash it.  I ended up saving it, and getting a donkey instead.  To the left is a bird Sanctuary sign I got for Christmas one year.  As you may have noted, I love birds. I actually have another blog exclusively for bird photography that I need to update (http://birdinginboston.blogspot.com/


 This is my wall of sports, I used to have more stuff up there, but I have souvenirs from both Sox world series' titles up there.  
Another wall shot...I guess this is superfluous really.  My sash from BC and a glow in the dark spider I've had up on every wall I've ever had (along with this blue color).  If my room says one thing about me it's that I hang onto my past :) 

and nothing says that more than this last shot.  I love these things. I started collecting them when I was a small child, they glow in the dark. They were only supposed to glow for a few years, I guess NASA made them or something. Instead they've glowed for almost 3 decades.  I think the Saturn was first, and then the rest followed shortly after.   So there you have it, a look inside my own cave, and proof that I do more than just hang out in the gym and bang out blog posts on here.  



June 08, 2012 Lower


  • Squats: 320*3 330*2 340*1
  • Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*3 155*3
  • Unilateral Deadlifts: 175*6 195*4 215*4
  • Battling Ropes / Rope Slam S.S.: 55-10 50-10

I think I need to box squat again for a while, I'm losing hamstring & hip drive again. I may just cycle in box squats every 6 weeks or so from now on, and do a TON of them when I do them.  Snatches went well.  On unilateral deadlifts as the weight goes up I'm dropping reps; this will allow me to move up quicker through the weights.  Finished with some rope work. 

June 07, 2012 Upper


  • Incline Bench: 255*4 260*3
  • Pullups: 65*4 70*3 65*3 65*3 
  • DB Flat: 100*8 105*6
  • Kroc Rows: 105*12
  • DB Goblet Walk: 110*0:45 110*0:45
  • Ab Wheel: 12

I forgot I wanted to do pullups first :( , but other than that good session. I decided going in I was only doing a couple sets of incline, wanted to work some flat dumbbell work in as well, which I did.  FINALLY got Kroc rows down, the key for me is to have both feet on the floor, instead of a knee on the bench, it stabilizes my lower back much more, and eliminates the torquing.  Upped weight on goblet walks.  If you've never tried them, I highly recommend them.  By the end when the weight is pressing against your upper stomach and making it hard to breathe you'll start seeing your ancestors.   

June 5, 2012 Lower


  • Deadlift: 410*3 430*3 450*2
  • Hanging Power Cleans: 145*3 165*3 185*2 195*2
  • Paloffs: 50*10 60*10

Deadlifting was very hard this week, my lower back is quite sore, even typing this 5 days later. Going to do trap bar this coming week to take some of the load off it. 

June 4, 2012 Upper


  • Bench Press: 285*1 300*3 305*2 275*4
  • BB Underhand Rows: 195*9 225*6 245*4 205*10
  • Push Press: 215*2 225*1 235*1 

Was in Maine for a few days so I wasn't able to workout on Friday, or do Sunday conditioning.  This session went very well, benching felt easy.  Really loving underhand rows.  I feel like I could do more on push presses if I could get deeper on the dip, but it just feels weird going lower than a 1/8th squat. 

May 31, 2012 Upper


  • Incline Bench: 255*3 245*3 235*3
  • Pullups: 60*4 60*3 60*3 60*3
  • Standing Press: 135*5 155*4 165*3

Going well; pullups fit in well on this day, may start supersetting them with the incline bench.  Actually I want to do the pullups first, before inclining. Hopefully I remember next week. 

May 30, 2012 Sprinting


100m Sprints: 6
 60m Sprints: 4
100m Sprints: 1


whooooooooooooooo.  Wasn't sure how I'd feel. Quads felt tight throughout, I needed to stretch after each run, but I still got 940m total in!  Really happy.  I could've done a 200 on the first sprint, probably will next time.  Great running!

May 29, 2012 Lower Body



  • Deadlifting: 410*3 430*3 450*2 470*1
  • Hanging Power Cleans: 145*3 165*3 185*3


Was wondering how my body would respond the week after doing the higher rep deadlifts last week. The answer? Well.  I actually felt recharged, not worn down; all the reps were smooth and easy.  Same with the hanging power cleans. Good clean form on everything.  Still a tad sore from sprinting, but I'll live

May 28, 2012 Upper Body



  • Bench Press: 285*1 300*1 275*3 275*3
  • BB Underhand Rows: 175*8 195*8 215*6 235*4
  • Push Press: 215*2 225*1 235*1
  • Feet to Hand Hanging Leg Raises: 4, 3
  • Ab-Wheel: 10


Great session, really loving the underhand rows.  They really put you in a better position to activate your lats; it's more of a natural motion.  Push Press going well again too.  Not sure what to call the hanging leg raises where you hang from the chinup bar and bring your feet up to your hands.

May 27, 2012 Sprinting


  • 100m Sprints: 5
  • 60m Sprints: 2


So I felt bad for missing this past Wednesday, so I went here on Sunday instead.  We'll see how it effects the rest of the week!