April 26, 2013 Lower Body

• Squats: 315*1 335*1 355*1 365*X-lower back folded
• Pin Squats: 275*2 300*1 NEW PR!!
• Bulgarian Split Squats: 185*2 195*1
• Split-Stance RDLs: 135*4 155*4 175*4
• Paloffs: 100*10 110*7
• Sled-Push: 135*4

45 minutes

On squats my legs/posterior chain didn't fail, lower back can't support that much weight, need to bring it up somehow.  Maybe good-mornings? I'll have to figure something out.  Pin squats hit 300 finally. Felt good.  Next did some bulgarian split squats, but what I was really waiting for was Split-Stance RDLs.  REALLY felt these in the belly of my hamstrings. I thought the 135 would be a light warmup, instead it ended up being my first working set.  Crazy good beating of my hamstrings on these.  Couldn't do walking lunges after, no way was I going to be able to go knee to ground and get up after the RDLs. Finished with paloffs, then some sled pushes and was gassed. 

April 25, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench Press (Paused Rep) (Cluster Set): 245*1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Pullups: 70*4 70*3 70*3
• Standing Press: 155*3 165*2 175*1
• Unilateral T-bar Rows: 165*4 175*3 185*3
• DB Flat Bench: 120*4 120*3

44 minutes

Wasn't sure I'd complete the cluster; then I realized I was going too high on my chest, was almost at the base of my neck.  It's MUCH easier the lower on your chest you go.  Last few reps were actually easier than the first few.  Took about 9 minutes total, so had about 45 seconds between reps.  Up weight next week on pullups.  Standing press I'm getting antsy, I know I don't prioritize it but I want to start pushing the weight up more on it.  Unilateral t-bar rows...probably going to go 155-165-175 next week, feel like I was torquing too much on the 185 set.  

April 24, 2013 Sprinting / Broad Jumping & Conditioning

• 100m: 10
• Broad Jump: 8' 2", 9' 1", 8' 11"

Wind was strong again, but it was warmer. Swirling wind, was running straight into it for most of the sprinting.  Didn't bother timing it, wind was probably knocking .2 off my times at least.  Last 4 runs were brutal, just beating myself into conditioned shape.  Had shin splints too, not fun.   What was fun, they have a kids group going so there are 5-10 year olds sprinting and jumping around, watching them have a blast was great.  Finished with a few broad jumps.  Definitely get a little further at Harvard than I do at my gym.  Good times.  I'll do one more set of broad jumps at Harvard, before declaring a PR.   As it is, 9' 1" is the record. 

April 23, 2013 Lower Body

• Deadlift: 315*3 365*1 405*1 435*1
• Hanging Power Snatches: 135*3 145*3 150*2 155*1
• Power Cleans: 185*2 205*1
• Hanging Power Cleans: 185*1
• Sled Pushes: 180*4
• Plank Sled Drag: 45*1 70*1

45 minutes

Felt good deadlifting here after last week off from deadlifting.  Felt really good.  Hanging Power Snatches went great, was pumped for them.  Got double on 150.  Power cleans went well too.  May do regular cleans next week, not sure. In other news...my gym got some indoor astro-turf, and a flat sled! So happy, I'm going to wear that thing out.  Did some pushes on it, felt them more in my quads than i expected.  Then I did some plank sled drags (tie a rope to a sled, extend the rope out, get in a plank at the end of the rope and pull the sled towards you with one arm.  

April 22, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press: 295*1 295*1 305*1
• BB Rows: 225*5 250*5 275*5
• Push Press: 185*1 225*1 225*1
• Neutral-Grip Pullups: 70*3 70*3 70*3
• Landmine Lateral Raises: 45*10 50*7
• DB Incline: 110*3

44 minutes

Started to do a cluster set, but just did not have the energy in my upper body today, so did 3 1 rep sets. Did some BB Rows after, felt good, and then push press, again kind of lacking energy there too.  Going to up weight on NG pullups next week to 75.  I know I've said it before, but Landmine Lateral Raises are ridiculously good.  I'm losing weight on the cut but I actually have added mass to my lateral delts, which does not happen for me, ever, really. Finished with DB Incline for a quick set.  Good times!

I'm going to link to the landmine lateral raise video again, it's worth showing: 

April 22, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 1
• 60m: 3

So I wanted to do a little sprinting in the morning before my PM workout. This was way less than I wanted though, the wind was absolutely horrible and it was only about 43 degrees out. Absolutely froze while trying to sprint.  Should have just walked across the street to the hill by where I live and sprinted up that instead of going to the track. 

April 21, 2013 Conditioning

• Broad Jumps: 8' 4", 8'5", 8' 6.5", 8' 4.5", 8' 5", 8' 10", 8' 3", 8' 4.5", 8' 3.5", 8' 8", 8' 8"
• Plyo Bench Clap Pushups: 6, 6
• Jump Rope: 8 minutes, 37, 24, 46, 52, 60, 60
• 10 lbs. Plate Transfer Planks: 4*2

Well last week was not supposed to be an off-week for my legs completely, but since some assholes bombed my city, and then put the city on lockdown my gym was closed Friday. It's ok, my lower back & hips were getting tired anyway, I actually feel much fresher.  Plus I still sprinted.  I was curious how jumps would go.   Well, they went well. Very well.  I feel like I'm zeroing in on form on them, really exploding forward.  I could still stand to do it more forcefully, but it's definitely getting better. Plus most importantly to this session, I don't let my feet trail behind me.  I threw them forward as I landed which resulted in the longer jumps, previously my body would almost always be 'ahead' of my feet, costing me several inches off the jumps.   

Jump rope is coming along great, I found a rope I really like there.  Now that I'm doing longer sets I can start recording them, since there will be fewer overall.  On the 46, 52, 60, and 60 I actually did not stop because I messed up, I was just gassed.  I also get shin-splints on the last few sets, I need to land softer.   Finished with some plate transfer planks, which also went great.  They are REALLY taxing for some reason, I think because your arm is crossing the median line of your body.  Here's a video of Lee Boyce doing them.  Check out his site here and his articles on T-Nation here.  A great deal of my core work, as well stretching/diagnostic stuff that I don't record on this blog are from him.  

April 18, 2013 Upper Body

• Incline Bench (Paused Rep) (Cluster Set): 240*1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Pullups: 75*3 75*3 75*3 75*2
• Standing Press: 145*4 155*3 135*5
• Unilateral T-Bar Rows: 145*6 165*4 175*2
• DB Flat: 120*4 120*3

43 minutes

That cluster set was tough! Got it done though.  They're definitely working.  People have been commenting on how large I look lately.  That can usually come from cutting. Paradoxically the more cut you are the larger you look, since better defined angles & cuts between muscles makes them look larger than if there's a layer of fat over them.  But I notice it in my shirts & pants lately.  Especially my pecs & shoulders, most likely from the land-mine laterals, and cluster sets I have been doing.  My body has had to adapt.  My shirts are tighter now than at the start of this cut, and even though I have lost several pounds (mostly off lower body where I store fat) my pants actually feel tighter around my legs & ass. Unpostable pictorial evidence suggests it is most definitely not fat.  

Anyway, rest of workout went well, got another 3 rep set on pullups!  Did standard standing press today as well, felt good.  Used wraps on the unilateral t-bar rows, definitely lets me pull more weight. I want to concentrate on the stretch at the bottom on them next week, to make sure I'm getting all the way down.  Lost a rep on each set of db flat, but not surprised since the paused rep set was heavier, as well as the t-bars. 

April 17, 2013 Sprinting

• 100m: 1, 1 (13.88) NEW PR!!, 1 (13.66) NEW PR!!, 1 (13.87), 1 (14.13), 1 (14.32),1,1
• Total: 800m
• Broad Jumps: 8' 2", 8' 10", 8' 7"

Well then.  When I do well sprinting I can always feel it, there's this sort of tightness in my whole body, I just feel like everything is pulling in the same direction, I feel more compact and less like my limbs are flailing about, if that makes any sense.  I knew I had set a new PR on the 13.88 run.  Then the next one, when I got to the 80m mark which is where I usually slow down a tad, I just willed myself to actually speed up, and my hamstrings almost cramped.  Great run.  The next one I was feeling a bit gassed, and then my times trailed off.  I can always tell the run on which I completely run out of energy.  It was the 14.32 one;  my legs just felt.."empty" that's the only way I can describe it.  I feel like I'm pushing off the ground with such force when I'm doing my first few, but then afterward they just feel hollow when I run, like there's no pop in the step.  Any one of the five timed sprints here would have been records even yesterday.  

I did 800m and then stopped since I'm not conditioned enough for a full 1000m all-out.  Next week I'll probably be ready.  Definitely starting off better this year, even though I didn't get a chance to sprint really in February, I was doing it much later into the winter this year, and that helped a lot I believe.  So to finish off I did broad jumps into the sand pit.  I'm going to track those records separately on my records page; it's different than doing it in my gym, I'm landing on sand, plus from where I'm taking off, it's about a 1" dropoff into the sand-pit, so that probably adds an inch or so onto the jumps.  

April 16, 2013 Upper Body

• Bench Press (Cluster): 295*1,1,1,1,1,1,1
• Landmine Laterals: 50*10

So obviously everyone is aware of what happened in Boston yesterday, I don't post about my location often, but it's in Boston.  I go to the Sox game in the morning, then go out and watch the marathon.  I usually work my way right down to the finish line, and where the first bomb went off is pretty much exactly the point I get to every year.  Slept like shit last night, will probably sleep like shit tonight too.  Didn't have a ton of time here at all, and the cluster set dragged.  Plus my right trap muscle felt really tight/pulled and when I would arch my back it would hurt.   Did some landmine laterals after, and called it a day, as I had to get on my way.  Taking the week off from deadlifting, had done 7 straight weeks of it, will probably do sumo again next week since it was so much fun last.