Let No One Say You Can't

Training

2011-07-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Today was light squat day. Still, I was sore from being a wuss and not squatting for so long. Here's how the session went.

Squat-
225x5x5

DB Row-
80x5,5

Weighted Pullups-
45x5,1
90(almost)

That's it. Did a bunch of shoulder work hoping to balance out my right shoulder and clear up the pain. It's improving, so I plan to just keep plugging away.

Zuuuuuuuuuuubaz. Now if he just had a rat tail.

Jiu Jitsu

2011-07-12T20:24:00.000-07:00

Rolled tonight for a couple hours. Worked on escapes from mount and learned a new variation on a head and arm choke. Finding that my lack of strength is really hampering me right now, but I did manage to get thru tonight without shoulder issues on my right side. That's a win. Excited to get back on top of the strength and come back better than ever.

Forpliktet Inntil Døden

2011-07-11T20:10:00.000-07:00

Had the chance to break the fast and start training today. Felt good. Here's the meager start.

Squat-
275 x 3,3,3,3,3,3

DB Row-
50 x 10,10,10,10

Rack Pull-
315, 405, 495, 585

Hormone blast. Feeling better than I have in weeks.

I Blodet Ditt

2011-07-11T19:57:00.000-07:00

We all have desires in our deepest heart of hearts, things that often reach beyond reason or smack of complete absurdity to others. Passions that need no why; an internal high road. These are things that we are often made to feel guilty for or discouraged from. Common sense is valuable, but a starched, broken heart is no price to pay for it. Keep a piece of your dream with you always; God-given ambitions may be one of the only great things we get in this rat race of so-called normalcy. Not everything needs a "why" just this second. It's in your blood, and its probably there for a reason.

Undead

2011-07-06T20:57:00.000-07:00

Back from the edge. It's been a while! After several injuries and a lot of personal priority changes (buying a house, finding out I'm gonna be a dad, etc.), my strength training has taken a back seat. Figured I needed some new objectives to get the fire going again.

I've been doing some jiu jitsu with a few guys from the local wrestling club and I'm thinking of competing in the fall. I've been working with some MMA clients and started doing the JJ training to help me better prepare programs for these athletes. The cons of this are weightloss, strength loss, and lots of tweaks and dings. The pros are better conditioning, flexibility, and the joy of choking out another human being.

So I'll be kicking things off this week by getting my strength training back in full swing as well as a more organized grappling schedule. I still have a nasty shoulder but my back is better, so I hopefully won't have to compromise too much on my lift selections.

So here's to bigger squats, better conditioning, and some cauliflower ear.

Check It Out

2011-04-27T13:59:00.000-07:00

Give it a look. This is where I'll be posting for now. www.alexnss.com

See what our powerlifting team is up to, how we train, as well as lifter profiles, events, etc. Stay strong!

Accumulation Week

2011-04-06T06:17:00.000-07:00

New approach for a while. I'm too beat up to be working heavy singles all the time. 16 weeks is a long time, but that's the cycle I have written up. That doesn't mean I'll follow it to the letter. I've just gone way too long without an actual training schedule and it shows. This will be a big change for me but should help recovery and allow me to build up a base again. Box Jumps- 43" 3,3,5 Squat- 205 x 10,10,10,12 Hip flexor felt decent for a change. Much narrower stance as well. Yoke Bar Good Mornings- 132 x 5,5,5 Rev. Hyper- 90 x 12,12,12 Abs- Straight leg situps, situps on Roman chair a bunch Neck Work- Extension 3 x 20,12,8 (25lbs.) Flexion 3 x 15 (25lbs.) And here's Benedikt breaking the world deadlift record with ease. Incredible.

Video Updates

2011-03-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Deadlifts and Yoke Bar Box Squats

2011-03-24T04:37:00.000-07:00

Worked off a 13" box for yoke bar box squats last night. I'm working on switching max effort lifts much more than before, but still training them frequently. I'm hitting a max effort squat/deadlift variant 3 times a week along with weak point assistance work. It's keeping me much more pain free and I can see I'm still getting stronger, so no complaints there. Plus it's more fun to have the variety.

Deadlift- No Belt
130x5
220x3
310x2
400x1
420x1

Yoke Bar Box Squat- 13" box
332x1 (PR baseline)

Squat Mornings-
135x3x8

Swiss Bar Bent Rows-
4x10

Light foam rolling, mobility, rev. hyper. Feeling better than I've felt in months, other than my shoulder, which feels like it has a knife in it. Rows did help quite a bit, so I still have hope that it's just a stupid impingement.

Box Squats

2011-03-21T19:48:00.000-07:00

Box Squats today. Adductors and hams were tight on the right side so these felt a little better than full squats.

Box Squat-
135x3
185x3
225x2
275x1
315x1
335x1
365x1

Rack Pulls from mid shin-
135x3
225x3
315x3
405x1

Ukranian Deadlifts-
3x20x70lbs.

Video Update

2011-03-20T19:06:00.000-07:00

Here's video of Friday's 365 squat. This is not a great squat for me, but coming back from all the little set backs, I'm pretty happy with it.

Training

2011-03-18T22:21:00.000-07:00

Training today went well. Felt a little weak but things actually have started to come around strength-wise again. Gotta keep things rolling!

Squat-
135 x 3
185 x 3
225 x 2
275 x 2
315 x 1
335 x 1
355 x 1
365 x 1

Speed Squat off low box, narrow stance-
185 x 3 x 3

Vogelpohl Back Extensions- small black band + 70lb kettlebell
3 x 5

Bodyweight is way down, around 152 most days. Not a good thing for strength, but will put me back in the 148 lb division for competition again without a hard weight cut. Im also experimenting with a few different options as far as bench goes to see if I can work around the shoulder to at least get a total at a meet. More on that as it develops.

Speed of Movment in Training

2011-03-16T20:38:00.000-07:00

This is a repost of an old piece I wrote a few years ago. Still valid. This illustrates my thoughts on potential benefits of dynamic effort work in training, something I have neglected as of late. With my slightly more fragile state at the moment, I'm sure to be doing more of this to keep loads more reasonable until I'm more fully recovered. Enjoy.

Zatsiorsky talks in his book "Science and Practice of Strength Training" about the three basic methods of strength improvement: max effort, rep effort, and dynamic effort (1). One of the most neglected in most training regimes is the dynamic effort. The principle behind dynamic effort is to train the CNS to increase rate of force development. This is typically done by using a sub maximal load and moving it at a maximal rate. For the squat, for instance, perhaps a 75% load is placed on the bar and three reps are performed at an explosive pace. Probably one of the most effective uses of the dynamic effort is the method utilized by Louie Simmons of Westside Barbell. The actual load on the bar is in the 45%-60% range (typically) and jump stretch bands or chains are added as accommodating resistance to make up the rest of the load. The advantages of accommodating resistance are that at the bottom of the lift, the load is light enough to move rapidly, but as the lift reaches completion, load increases. This allows a you to challenge yourself even through the strongest portion of the lift and prevents deceleration of the bar. For instance, if you have a max squat of 400 and you only have 135 on the bar, you will be forced to slow down at the top of the lift to avoid throwing the bar. This is prevented when the load continually increases. The other advantage of the use of bands particularly is over speed eccentrics. When the eccentric portion of the lift is faster, the concentric portion increases as well because of stretch reflex. In a test done on powerlifter Matt Smith, this was particularly evident. At the time, he was using 550 lbs. for his dynamic effort work. The concentric and eccentric portions of his lift were taking him approximately .9 seconds each. Bands were added, making the bottom of the lift 550 lbs. and the top 750 lbs. (200 lb. increase!). The bands helped pull Matt into the hole, making the eccentric portion of the lift .5 seconds in length. At the same time, his concentric time improved to .5 as well, and with 200 more lbs. at the top! As a point of interest, Matt's squat went from 930 to 1141 after implementing band work (2).

Any good strength trainer knows the value of power for athletics, but at times I don't believe it is applied in the most logical sense. It's nearly impossible to find a high school or college sport (aside from cross country) that doesn't require high power output at some point. Slow, controlled movements are rare. This leads me to believe that tempo work (slow eccentrics, paused exercises, etc.) has very little place in athletics (there's always an exception, so I won't say never). More "work" (power output) can be done with faster movement; the key is to balance load and speed of movement. If the load is too heavy, it cannot be moved fast enough, if it is too light, it has little resistive value. Now, as I said there are always exceptions. Max effort work cannot be fast in relation to a lighter load, but it is a necessary training modality. Rep effort work is where speed of movement is most often overlooked. We'll use the RDL as an example. If an athlete can RDL 200 lbs. for 8 reps at a speed of roughly .5 seconds per concentric effort, moving the bar 12" (these are just example numbers, I didn't actually measure), their power output is 3200 (P=Fd/t) whereas an athlete who does 300 lbs. in 1 second moving it the same distance and repetitions hits only 2400 (3). Since the point of rep effort is not maximal strength, the weight does not have to be maximal, but the power output should be as high as possible. This first of all keeps an athlete moving like an athlete-fast and powerful; it secondly is better for eliciting hypertrophy. Paddon-Jones et. al (2001) found that fast eccentric training led to a decrease in type 1 (slow twitch, endurance) muscle fibers (from 53.8% to 39.1%) and an increase in type 2b (fast twitch, power) muscle fibers (from 5.8% to 12.9%). The slow eccentric group in this study did not experience significant changes in muscle fiber types or torque (4). I found this interesting, since I'd always heard the opposite. But it makes sense. The fast twitch fibers are much more stressed in this situation, being that literal and virtual force are both high, and the load has to be reversed very quickly, as in dynamic effort, forcing those fast twitch fibers to be implemented as quickly as possible.

1. Science and Practice of Strength Training
Zatsiorsky/Kraemer

2.Explosive Leg Training
Louie Simmons

3.Max Load Training in the Real World
Scott Abel

4.Kinetic Energy Accumulation Training
Christian Thibaudeau

Training

2011-03-16T18:10:00.000-07:00

Safety Bar Box Squats-
Worked up to 372 off a slightly above parallel box. These feel great on the hip flexor and really seem to fire my glutes.

Vogelpohl Back Extensions-
5x10 with small red band and 2 second hold at top.

Deadlift-
365x1,1

Back in the Saddle!

2011-03-16T09:55:00.000-07:00

Back at it again after about 3 weeks away from the blog. Training has been hit and miss. I feel like the Octo-Mom of minor injuries lately, but things are starting to really come around again and feel better. Work has been great, keeping me busy most days from about 5:30am to 6pm with an ever increasing stream of clients. Is been really awesome seeing things take shape with the business and all the clients individually. Lots of positive changes there.

Anyway, here's where I'm at right now: just getting back into squats after some issues with a hip flexor, can't even unrack a bench press without a reverse grip or super narrow grip because of what I think is a SLAP lesion (don't know, just a mildly educated guess), and eating like a bird. Yep, feeling like I just came through what Dave Tate calls the "dust" phase.

So, the only way to go from here is up. Hip flexor is much better and I'm addressing what's making it act up, shoulder is the same and I'm able to work around it, and food is what it is until I feel like trying to grow again. For now, I'm back to trying my hand at owning the 148lb RAW powerlifting division. Other than the bench. Ish. At least now I have an excuse for sucking at it.

No competitions in mind yet. Instead, I'm just enjoying a more relaxed training pace instead of frantic pushes for PR's. In my time of injury, I've also found a renewed interest in all things pull ups as that seems to be all I can do effectively with my upper body. Tied my all time PR the other day with 26 pull ups. Also managed a few singles with a 100 lb plate strapped on my waist. I'll get some video up soon.

Anyway, that's it for now. More to come as I fire this thing up again. Thanks for reading.

Hiatus

2011-02-20T17:31:00.001-08:00

That's it for me. I'm leaving the land of the internet for a while to actually live life instead of talking about it. I'll still post every once and a while if I have something great to say, but for now, I'm out for a month or so. Keep training, keep setting goals, keep hitting PR's, and keep in mind the things that really matter in life, because none of this is going with us.

I'll be back some time with bigger and better PR's, more goals accomplished, and more life lessons learned. Stay strong.

Review of Lean Gain Principles

2011-02-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

Lean Gain Principles by Shelby Starnes and Steve Colescott is just what it claims. This is a great manual for anyone looking for the principles on setting up your own off-season eating plan according to your needs. What I wanted to share was what I felt were the high points.

The author, Shelby Starnes. Might know a bit about muscle.

First off, it's short enough to keep your attention and doesn't get bogged down with useless details. This book is about function. Unlike most e-books, there's no stupid claims that we all know are BS; no promises of 400% gains in 2 hours after using some ancient mountain man's supplement regime.

The other positive I saw was the lack of extreme polarity. I like when a book addresses things in a realistic, balanced sense as opposed to demonizing one thing and claiming to have the only "right" method.

The book covers many topics from realistic expectations, macronutrient rotation, sample diets, pre and post-workout nutrition, training info, and even basic food prep solutions.

The biggest killer of a food plan is lack of consistency. With a lot of the tips in this book, it gives solutions and excuse killers to help you stay on track and see the results you're aiming for.

The book ends with bios of the authors, both who are more than respected professionals in their fields. So here's my tip: If you want to put on REAL muscle while staying as lean as can be considered reasonable, this book will give you all the information you will need. Ditch the ads and fads and purchase this book. Results are worth the small price tag. Follow this link to purchase it for yourself.

http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=3735

Training Updates

2011-02-14T05:16:00.000-08:00

So I've been knocked out with a shoulder injury and some sort of hip issue in my right hip flexor, making it really tough to squat.

The hip flexor is getting better. I'm running hip, knee, and shoulder mobility drills that are really helping with that. The shoulder, I'm not sure. I have done no upper body lifts for about 3 weeks other than some pullups and DB rows. Hopefully I can find some drills to fix this up sooner than later.

So, my back is doing waaaaaay better finally, and I've found what works really well for me in that sense. I'm working my deadlift a lot now in place of squatting. I'm still squatting, but only when I can get the hip flexor virtually pain free and not with as much volume. It's coming along.

For deadlift, I'm shamelessly copying Tommy Miller (www.thomasmiller82.blogspot.com) and running the Coan/Phillippi deadlift routine on Fridays. This got Tommy a 700 lb. pull, so I figure it's worth a shot. So far I'm heading into week 3 and I feel really good about it. I've adjusted it a bit to fit my needs and added an extra day on Mondays since I respond better to volume and frequency.

So on Mondays, I run squats for 5 singles, and then hit 2 deadlift variations. I'll run those until they stall and then switch to different ones. It seems like a lot, but trust me, it's not overkill compared to other things I've done. It actually seems pretty easy and I can complete the entire set up in under an hour. I hit a low rack pull from pin 4 followed by snatch grip deficit deads to build my weak off the floor pull.

Here's how yesterday went:

Squat-
5 x 1 x 335

Rack Pull- #4
225 x 3
315 x 1
405 x 1
455 x 1 PR from last week

Snatch Grip Deficit Deadlift-
225 x 1,1
325 x 1
355 x 1 PR!

Noonan Barbell Video Updates

2011-01-30T18:51:00.000-08:00

Here are some videos of our lifters training this week. Enjoy.

State of the Spine

2011-01-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

Wow. It's been a week already since I last posted. Time is flying these days.

Anyhow, here are my thoughts from the past week:

1. I need a bit more assistance work. Why? (ALWAYS ask why) First of all, if you have perfect movement, you really shouldn't need assistance work. Fact of the matter is, I do NOT have perfect movement, and without assistance work at least some of the time, my weak points get weaker and injury is inevitable.

2. Stress reduction and pain reduction go hand in hand. One has a direct effect on the other. I've found several exercises that have greatly reduced my sciatica symptoms. They've also increased my lumbar mobility moving into flexion and eliminated pain through that movement. The change was immediate and hopefully with consistency will continue to improve. This has opened my eyes to several other glaring problems that I'm now working on. Which brings me to #3.

3. I have weak/inhibited abdominals, really tight hip flexors, and some nasty anterior pelvic tilt. No wonder I have sciatic issues. So I'm working on improved glute strength, hip mobility, stretching of the hip flexors, and abdominal strengthening.

For my back, I've been doing traction with a setup at home that really seems to help for quick relief. I'm not going to share how that works, since I don't think it's necesarily right for everyone and I'm not a spine specialist. I'm also using a reverse hyper machine, and that seems to work incredibly well for me. I use little to no weight, 50 lbs. max, and do sets of 12 to 15 as a warm up in the mornings and before and after every session. Major relief. I still think you need to be careful with these, as they may or may not be right for your back. Since I have major APT, it seems to be no problem for me to explore some lightly loaded flexion to correct it. We'll see what a few more weeks of this brings.

Did some deadlift this morning.

135 x 5
225 x 3,3,3
315 x 2,2,2,2,2,2
405 x 1

Deadlift Tips

2011-01-19T08:16:00.000-08:00

This is a cool little deadlift clip. I learned a lot, which just goes to show, when you think you have something figured out, that probably means it's time to take a step back and look again. I've always started deadlift with shoulders in front of the bar. Maybe I need to try this method a bit. Thoughts?

Chalk One Up For Progress

2011-01-17T19:31:00.000-08:00

Seems that low bar squats are working well so far. Obviously part of the reason for progress this past week is returning to high frequency, heavy squatting. It's just plain logic judging by how things went last time I did this. Anyway, today was a good squat day. Here's how it panned out.

Low Bar Squat- AM Session-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1

Low Bar Squat- PM Session-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1,1

365 x 1

385 x 1

405 x 1 Low Bar PR

Deadlift-

315 x 1,1

DB Push Press-

80 x 1

90 x 1

100 x 1 PR

The best way to get better is to keep doing what you can to change and grow. I get easily set in my ways and think I've got my technique down. This low bar work has brought me back to examining every element of my technique. Upper back tightness has improved immensely, as well as widening my stance back out, and I've also gotten my hams and glutes in on the game more. I've also done more abdominal work the last few days, which I hardly ever do. I have a training partner lay two 44 lb. plates on my back and do planks for time. Seems to do the trick, and it takes some tension off my back.

I'm very happy with how squatting felt. It should be perfectly reasonable to hit 445 in the early half of 2011 if everything continues this smoothly. Once I get my bodyweight moving again, that should really help too.

I should be able to get about this size in a few weeks. My arms won't be that small, though.

What If

2011-01-17T05:25:00.000-08:00

Start pushing now. It's like the investors always say, if you start saving when you're 8, you'll have this many millions of dollars by such and such an age. It's never too late! Show some curiosity. How far will your body go? What is your untapped potential? What if you're one of the best but didn't know it? What if all that stands between you and success is your own fear?

Bulldozin' My Way to 445

2011-01-16T17:19:00.000-08:00

More low bar squat today. I was definitely sore from the change in stance, and it showed today in warm ups, but I felt really good by the end. I'm having a really tough time racking and unracking the weight with the low bar positioning, but the squat itself feels tighter and I can sit back more into my hamstrings. I'll keep trying it and decide later if I'll keep it or ditch it in favor of high bar again.

I warmed up with high bar squats today and then made the switch to low. Here's how it went.

High Bar Squat-

45 x a bunch

135 x 5

225 x 2

315 x 1

365 x miss!? Maybe I sat too far back. This was a weird miss. Haven't missed this weight in a long time.

Low Bar Squat-

45 x 5

135 x 5

225 x 2

315 x 1

365 x 1 easy

385 x 1 Deeper than yesterday, was tough to set up though.

Bulldozin' my way to 445. And in that vein, here's this little gem.

Good Luck Nate!

2011-01-15T22:33:00.000-08:00

Pictured below is one of my clients, Nate Reed, who will be making his MMA debut on January 29th at Fat Daddy's in Alexandria, MN. Come watch if you're in the area!

I've had the good fortune of working with Nate for some time now. He started training after a major neck injury and just wanted to get stronger and lean out a bit. He ended up dumping 26 lbs. in 30 days, which shocked even me. He went on to get pretty freaky strong as well. He squatted 405 less than a year after not being able to hold a bar on his shoulders because of his neck, deadlifted in the 400's as well, and would do crazy stuff like squatting 265 for 20 reps.

Now, about 6-8 weeks ago, Nate decides he wants to try out mixed martial arts. We threw together a conditioning plan and got started. I'm not an MMA instructor, so we left that to Brock Larson, a UFC and King of the Cage veteran with a ton of impressive wins under his belt. Nate trains with him 3 times a week and with me twice. Nate's conditioning has shot through the roof over the past few weeks. I'm pumped to see him put on an impressive display at his first fight.

Nate's MMA instructor, UFC vet Brock Larson. Yes, he will hurt you.

The fight poster. Nate is on the right. The size of his shoulders and his squat numbers combined should tell you how hard he hits. Also fighting in a different weight class is Shawn Nelson (pictured on the left), another buddy of ours. Good luck to both you guys!

Style Vs. Style

2011-01-15T21:24:00.000-08:00

Worked on squat and bench today. I'm traditionally a high bar squatter. Always have been. I've worked on low bar squats before, but I've always felt like it threw me forward. I have very little rear delt mass to work with, which makes shelving the bar tough. Regardless, I decided to work on low bar squats today, since it seems that they are so popular with most powerlifters and technically are supposed to help with leverage.

Brian Schwab squatting with a low bar position. Note the bar is below the traps, resting on the rear delts.

Jo Jordan squatting with a high bar position. Note the bar is placed on the traps themselves, not below on the rear delts.

Here's how the session went.

Low Bar Squat-

45 x 5

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1,1

335 x 1,1

365 x 1,1

385 x 1

Bench-

45 x 5

135 x 5

185 x 1 (5 second pause)

225 x 1

All in all, the squats felt good. I haven't hit 385 that comfortably in a while. On the other hand, set up was much tougher for me. Unracking it was good, and actually I had much more upper back tension, which is a positive and made the weight feel light. The downside was having to be slightly bent forward to maintain the bar position on my shoulders without dumping it. This wouldn't fly in an IPF meet, where you have to stand tall with locked knees and hips before your attempt. Dropping into the hole felt progressively easier as I went down, which is unusual. They were fast on the return as well. Re-racking the weight was awful. If I can strengthen the transition from rack to squat and back to rack again, I'll feel much better about switching to this style. For now, I'll practice both and see which one comes out on top.

Mr. High Bar vs. Mr. Low Bar. Really just an excuse to post a Reservoir Dogs photo.

Down the Rabbit Hole

2011-01-14T12:54:00.000-08:00

Necessity is the fastest teacher. Sometimes you have to throw yourself into the deep end and just see what happens.

I've written out my goals for 2011, and my progress is not going as well as I'd like. So it's time to burn the ships and quit looking back. I'm going back to the style of training I was utilizing a few months back. Squat every day, bench every other, deadlift once or twice a week depending on back health. Work up to training maxes and perform work sets based on that. PR and set records. Rinse, repeat.

I want that 165 lb. RAW division squat record. That's my primary goal for 2011. I'm not even going to worry about the other goals I wrote down just yet. They'll come. For now, it's all cylinders to reach a 445 raw squat. No excuses, just work.

Jack Dempsey hates your excuses.

Goals are great. Setting goals is a proven method for an improved success rate in any endeavor. However, if all you do is talk and don't walk, you're just a stump with great ideas. You need to dive headfirst into what you hope to achieve, with no thought of failure.

This is next weeks goal: grow horns.

It's getting late and my train of thought has derailed. I'm going to start hitting the squats like a psycho again tomorrow, along with keeping better track of what I'm doing via a better log. Stay tuned for a book review of Shelby Starnes' newest book on lean muscle gain for off season bodybuilders. Yea, I'm not a bodybuilder, nor do I have an off season. Ok, I don't have muscle mass either, but I'm reading the book, so get off my back.

Time for sleep.

"This new Kesha tune is getting me pumped for arm day"

Here's one more thought before I completely trail off.........ok, too late. I'll post it later.

Chinese weightlifting team....because your self esteem isn't low enough.

Jackhammer

2011-01-10T13:35:00.000-08:00

"How would I describe myself? Three words: Hardworking, Alpha Male, Jackhammer........Merciless.........Insatiable."

I've always wondered what Dwight's outlook on training would be. I bet it would be awesome. I bet Dwight's got a killer deadlift. In honor of Dwight, this weeks entire training regimen will be based around killing a bear with only a thighmaster and a tub of expired soy protein.

"The eyes are the groin of the head."

Updates

2011-01-10T05:18:00.001-08:00

Whew....it's been a while. Just a quick training update. I'm gonna start shifting back to posting more articles and such on here again. Keep your eyes open in the next week for a book review of Shelby Starnes new off season nutrition book. Great stuff if you're interested in bodybuilding, or just building quality lean muscle without getting sloppy. I'll have that up soon.

Yesterday-

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
335 x 1
365 x 1
375 x 1

Bench (5 sec. pause at bottom)
135 x 3
185 x 1
205 x 1
215 x 1

Deadlift-
135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 1,1
365 x 1

added Metal squat suit
365 x 1,1
415 x 1
465 x 1

Training has been hit or miss the last two weeks, as well as nutrition. Priorities had to shift for a bit, and now it should all be coming back around again to allow me to hit training with a little more fresh intensity.

Deadlift PR (Finally)

2011-01-03T20:30:00.000-08:00

Finally had a good deadlift day. More of those would be good.

Deadlift-
225 x 3,3
315 x 1
365 x 1
405 x 1
425 x 1
455 x 4 PR!

Squat-
135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 1,1
365 x 1
405 x 1

Weighted Pullups-
3 x 5 x 45

2011 Objectives

2011-01-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

It's 2011 and time for taking stock of what I am aiming for this year. Most of my goals are personal and you don't need to hear them, but training goals are what this blog is all about.

First of all, my long term goal is still to compete in strongman in the next 5 years at some point, once my bodyweight reaches optimal levels. This entails gaining weight as a goal, obviously, as well. Here's how I would like that to look:

1. Get Stronger
A. Squat
B. Deadlift
C. Clean and Press

2. Get Bigger

Pretty obvious, right?

For 2011, I'll still be powerlifting and hoping for some more records. First off, goal #1 is to hit a 445 squat in the 165 lb. division, raw. This would be a MN state record, if someone doesn't beat me to it. Here are my 2011 goals, in order of importance.

1. Squat 445
2. Deadlift 500
3. Reach 170 lb. bodyweight comfortably.

I planned on a 500 deadlift long ago, and failed to reach it. A combination of poor planning and back injury threw that one in the ditch. That's how it goes, though. You should never be afraid to set a goal and fail. Even if you only accomplish 1 out of 5 goals you ever set, you just have to keep setting them and going for it. Eventually you'll get better at the "how" of reaching your goals. That's my theory, anyway. I'd rather have people say "he fails a lot" as opposed to "he never even tried". Here's to a great 2011. Good luck, train hard.

Friday Training

2011-01-01T16:04:00.001-08:00

Quick session. Felt like junk.

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 3,3,1

375 x 1

385 x 1,1

New Template

2010-12-27T22:03:00.000-08:00

I've been training instinctually for some time now, using "autoregulation", or "cybernetic periodization", whatever you want to call it. It's great, but I need to put a bit more of a schedule on things if I want to hit my goals in February. I have a new template all sketched out for the next 8 weeks that is a branch off an old template I wrote last year. This template worked especially well for squat, putting 20-30 lbs. on for most people in 4 weeks the first time through. I'm heading that direction again, with some minor changes, because it worked so well for me for a long time. I'll still use autoregulation as needed to alter the template, but now I'll have more of a road map to follow. Here's day one. Felt really good.

Squat (No Belt)-

135 x 5

225 x 3

325 x 3,3,3,3,3,3

Therapy Deadlift-

225 x 10,10

That's it! I'm going the no belt route for a while too, just to see what happens. I've trained with a belt consistently for a long time. I could afford to lose it for a while.

Wednesday

2010-12-23T05:46:00.000-08:00

Cold and sore throat set in today. Feeling run down, but not horrible. Training went well considering.

Press-

95 x 3,3,3,3,3

115 x 1,1,1

130 x 1,1

Traditional Deadlift-

225 x 3

315 x 2

405 x 1,1

Olympic Squat-

133 x 3

177 x 3

275 x 2

313 x 1,1

357 x 1,1,1

Bench-

185 x 1

225 x 1

Today's Training

2010-12-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

With the new year in sight, I'm bumping squat frequency up again. One of my goals for 2011 is to break the MN state squat record for the 165 lb. raw division. After making a nasty cut to 148 in October and setting several records there, it's time to move up. I hope to get my bodyweight up to 170 and make an easy cut to 165 to compete. My goal is to squat 445. Should be doable with the extra body mass and increased squat frequency. Bodyweight hit a high of 164 last week, the heaviest I've been in my life, and a 9 lb. gain since mid-November. Should break 165 by the end of the week with ease if the eating stays as it has. I'm definitely struggling to get in enough food, as my stomach still hasn't adjusted to the massive jump in calories required for muscle gain, but this is by far the longest I've stayed on any type of mass gain routine. Sad but true. Here's today's training:

Squat Session 1-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1,1,2

335 x 1

365 x 1

Squat Session 2-

135 x 5

225 x 2

315 x 1,1

335 x 1

365 x 1

375 x 1

Squat Session 3-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1

335 x 1

365 x 1

385 x 1

405 x 1

Yep. 3 squat sessions in a day. And I feel better than I have in a while, except for my traps being thrashed from cleans and presses over the past few weeks. I bet I can hit a PR squat in 3 weeks. Time to eat!

Off The Wall

2010-12-19T20:07:00.000-08:00

Power Clean PR

2010-12-17T05:12:00.000-08:00

Power cleans have never been a lift that I trained more than once in a great while. I've started adding both full and power cleans into my routine lately, and I'm glad I have. Can see a difference in power already.

Power Clean-
133 x 3
177 x 1
197 x 1
217 x 1 PR!

KB Press-
16kg x 10,10,10,10,10

That's it. Easy day.

Clean PR, High Box Squats, and Mass Gain

2010-12-14T12:16:00.001-08:00

Yesterday, I wanted a fast workout so I could watch the Vikings drag MN through the ditch of depression. I figured high box squats with the SS bar would be fun for a change. I wanted one good high rep set, but that went well so I also went for a heavy single after that.

SS Bar High Box Squat-
172 x 3
262 x 3
352 x 3
442 x 12
492 x 1
532 x 1

That was it. Then a ton of food.

Today-

Cleans-
133 x 3
177 x 3
221 x 1
251 x 1 PR!

Double KB Press-
20kg x 10,10,7

Bodyweight hit 164 at one point today. That's 9 lbs. since Nov. 11th. I weigh myself with clothes on because it mentally makes me feel bigger. Haha. It worked today, putting me at the heaviest I've ever been by 2 lbs. and helping me set a 10 lb. PR on cleans with relative ease. Here's video of SS bar squats and the clean PR.

Monday Motivation

2010-12-13T05:21:00.000-08:00

This is a STRONG dude.

PR's All Around

2010-12-12T14:39:00.000-08:00

My wife came and trained this week, so we decided to test her deadlift since she hadn't done that in a while. This is only the 3rd time she's ever tested it, that I can recall. We've been training her with sets of 2 and 4 reps on deadlift combined with swings, tire flips, squats, weighted pushups (yes, my wife does FULL WEIGHTED PUSHUPS), DB rows, etc. With her work schedule, she doesn't get to train with a guaranteed schedule, so I was hoping for a 10 lb. PR or so. Instead, she gets crazy and pulls 225 for a 35 lb. PR! She also happened to be using a crappy plate that weighed 3 lbs. heavier than it said, making for an interesting lift. Here's video of that along with 2 of my PR's, a 285 lb. front squat and a 195 lb. axle clean and press.

Hudson Open Video Recap

2010-12-10T05:13:00.000-08:00

Here's the video recap of the Hudson Open meet that Noonan Barbell lifters competed at in late October. Enjoy.

PR's and Training

2010-12-09T09:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday:

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 1
335 x 1
365 x 1,1
225 x 3,3,3
275 x 3

Power Clean-
133 x 5,5
177 x 3
187 x 1
197 x 1
207 x 1 PR!

I usually full clean, so power clean is weak for me. Glad to break 200 at least. Felt pretty easy.

Double KB Press-
20kg x 10,8,5,6,6,6,6,6

Trap Bar Farmer's Walk-
231 x 20 yds.
321 x 20 yds.
411 x 20 yds. PR!
411 x 30 yds. PR!

Here's some training video. Clean and jerk from last week, farmers walk from last night, and Alex squatting 405 on Wednesday for the first time. Nice work Alex!

Monday Night Training

2010-12-07T08:09:00.001-08:00

Deadlift-
135 x 5
225 x 3,3
315 x 1,1
405 x 1,1,1

Barbell Press-
95 x 5
115 x 3
125 x 1
135 x 1

Push Press-
143 x 2
153 x 2
163 x 1
173 x 1
183 x 1
193 x 1

Dbl. KB Press-
16kg x 10,10,10,10,10

Shoulders are visibly larger and stronger in only a week's time. Mass has been in maintenance mode (3500-3700 cals instead of 4300 to 4500) for the last few days as I'm out of protein and such. Should get that today and be able to push back into high calorie land. Short term goal is 165 lb. bodyweight by January 1.

Training

2010-12-04T19:58:00.000-08:00

Friday-

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 5

315 x 3

335 x 1

365 x 1

Deadlift (Traditional)

135 x 3

225 x 3

315 x 1,5

365 x 1

415 x 1

365 x 3

Double Kettlebell Press-

16kg x 10,5,5,5,5

20kg x 8,5,5,5,5

24kg x 8,5,5,5,5

Clean-

133 x 1,1,1

173 x 1 (with jerk)

183 x 1

Saturday-

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3,3

275 x 3,3,3

315 x 3,3,3,1

335 x 1,1

Deadlift-

225 x 5,5

315 x 5,5

KB Press-

Right: 50 lb. x 11

Left: 50 lb. x 10

Went to comfortable stop on these. I don't press KB's very often, so I think technically this is a rep PR. Who knows.

Double KB Press-

16 kg x 5,5,5

20kg x 5,5,5

24kg x 5,5,5

Trying to build up some sort of shoulder "condition". KB presses feel like butter on my shoulders, so I'm going to stick with those and do a ton of them. Hip flexor killed me, so I shut squats down early.

Today-

Kettlebell Press-

16kg x 5,5,5

20kg x 5

24kg x 5

69lb. x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Don't think I've ever strict pressed the 69 lb. KB before. I know that's not very heavy, but going from no press to 8 singles on each arm in a week is good progress in my mind.

Training and Mass Gain Updates

2010-11-30T06:16:00.000-08:00

Like I said before, my goal is to gain enough size and strength to compete in strongman at some point. I still think this will take 3 to 5 solid years, but that's ok with me. The mass gain is going surprisingly well. I've increased my calories to around 4300 on high days and 3500 on low days with around 250 grams of protein per day. This has worked much quicker than I thought. I've jumped from 155 to 161 in about 2.5 weeks with relative ease. The eating was tough at first, but now I've adjusted and it's no issue at all. I figure I can stay in a holding pattern for a few more weeks before having to adjust calories at all. Maybe longer. We'll see. It's fun to look in the mirror in the morning and see my legs growing again. There was a very visible loss of muscle after being sick in early November. Quads are definitelly swelling again. Part of that, I believe, is due to the high rep squats I've been doing. I'm seeing much more definition as well as increased vascularity overall. On that note, here's some training updates.

Sunday-

Clean and Jerk-
133 x 1,1,1,1,1
177 x 1,1,1
187 x 1
197 x 1
207 x Cleaned it 5 times, missed the jerk every time. Technique is junk on the jerk and shoulders are weak, but it'll come around. Traps got bombed from this workout.

Squat-
133 x 5
177 x 3
223 x 3
267 x 20 PR!

Monday-

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 3,1
365 x 1,1
385 x 1
405 x 2 Tied PR

Deadlift-
225 x 3,3
315 x 1,1
405 x 1,5

And here's some video of the action from the last few days.

Andy Ruse

2010-11-24T07:25:00.000-08:00

Ran across this video the other day. Awesome stuff! Incredible squatter. Enjoy!

Squat PR and Training

2010-11-23T12:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday-

Olympic Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3,3
315 x 3,3,3,3
335 x 1
365 x 3 PR!
385 x 1 PR!
275 x 12

Push Press-
3 x 3 x 135

Old Olympic squat PR was 365. It was nice to triple that and then hit 385 for a 20 lb. PR! Also, this is the first time hitting 385 period since getting sick a few weeks ago.

Today-

Deadlift-
315 x 4,4,4,4,4,4

Breathing Squats

2010-11-19T23:18:00.000-08:00

Having a YouTube channel opens you up for the all-knowing internet gurus that are a dime a dozen. You're guaranteed at least one baseless, derogatory comment at some point on some element of a video you upload. Usually it's just straight up funny, but I found 2 comments on one of my older squat videos that made me think. The video was a clip of me squatting 225 lbs. for 25 reps. I squat with a wide stance, as it gives me great leverage for heavy weights. The comments were both in regard to that fact, insinuating that if I narrowed my stance and went deeper, that I wouldn't be able to do what I did.

Like I said, these comments don't bother me usually, but this kind of ticked me off. Since when does squat stance legitimize a squat? I was still hitting depth. Many of the world's strongest squatters squat even wider than me. Anyway, I figured it was good motivation to try something new. So I went narrow, squatted much deeper, and completed another 225 x 25. Funny thing is, it was actually easier. My quads definitely took more of a beating, but even under fatigue, the reps felt fast and easy. Of course, that's partially due to the fact that 225 is really light.

In the end, I have to thank the internet "experts"; their hackneyed comments challenged me to try something different that just happened to be an awesome change of pace. I guess you can learn a valuable lesson from anyone if you're willing to listen. I'm going to dedicate more time to these high-rep Olympic squats over the next few months. Breathing squats (as massive sets of 20 or so reps are often called) have a history of putting MAD size on guys in a short period of time. That's what I need. Also, I could use a little conditioning and this fits the bill.

Long story short, here's the original video, followed by the new video to illustrate the difference.

Squats

2010-11-18T06:10:00.000-08:00

Still behind on the strength curve since getting sick, but my weight is finally starting to move back up again. I've been taking in around 3,800 to 4,300 calories a day and pushing protein as much as I can to attempt to put a little more weight on. It's working, so I'm not going to tweak much until things stall out. It seems to work well to have 2 really high calorie days, followed by a slightly lower calorie day. I don't know if it's just the fact that it gives me a day to re-establish some actual hunger, but it works, so that's how I'm going to keep going for now.

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
335 x 1
365 x 1
315 x 1

Box Squat (from sticking point)-
315 x 1
365 x 1,1,1,1
385 x 1

Olympic Squat (speed emphasis)
275 x 3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

The Olympic squats felt amazing. It was the best thing I could have done physically and mentally, just to blast a bar around like it was nothing, and to have my body feel that good squatting again.

I also did some dumbbell hammer curls to see if it would make my elbows feel a little better after a sudden jump in bench volume. It did. Neat.

Training

2010-11-16T05:53:00.000-08:00

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,1,2,3,3,1
335 x 2
345 x 1
365 x 1

High Box Squat-
315 x 3
365 x 3
405 x 3
455 x 1
505 x miss

Bench-
5 x 6 x 185
225 x 1

Pullups-
3 x 8

Test Yourself

2010-11-11T05:00:00.000-08:00

So many times I get asked why I powerlift, or why I want to be strong. What's the point? Who cares how much you can lift?

I grew up not having to challenge myself much physically. I didn't live on a farm, the only manual labor jobs I had weren't truly that demanding, and I wasn't an athlete in the traditional sense of the word.

So when I finally began to learn about strength training, I realized I had been missing out. I grew up under the assumption that I was small and weak (actually that's not an assumption, it was a fact) and that I just had to deal with it (that part is NOT a fact). I never let it bother me too much, but hindsight is 20/20 and I realize now how much it affected my confidence and problem solving abilities. It sounds stupid, but successfully entering the world of strength, especially in a competitive way, has changed my whole outlook on life. It hit me like a lightning bolt one day: God gave me this body, and through hard, smart work and planning, I was able to make it more efficient, healthier, stronger, and even aesthetically more appealing. If I could go from a weakling to a state record holder in something, there was no reason I couldn't do that in other areas of my life.

And so, lifting became a yardstick. I used it to challenge and test myself. I'm a naturally complacent person, and strength training has shown me that I can change any aspect of my life, particularly the negatives, into strengths if I just work hard and smart. I've realized lately that lifting has become too much of a good thing for me, and it's taken the place of what it should be benefitting. So I'm currently trying to back off in certain areas to make room for gains in more important areas of my life. God has shown me through lifting that I can change. I want to apply that in every area of my life. First and foremost, to be a better husband. Next, to be a better friend to those around me. Third, to be the absolute best I can be for my clients. Constantly pushing myself in training shows you your limits, and the fact that if you can earnestly wrap your mind around change, it is more than possible.

Never give up, don't back off. Failure will happen, discouragement will come. Difficulty is the name of the game. However, you can change. You SHOULD change. And you should constantly be testing yourself along the way. This is what lifting is for me.

Tempered by a life of hard physical labor. Jouko Ahola is a beast.

An external manifestation of an internal struggle. The fight to be better, to grow, to never be satisfied with mediocre, ho-hum, or good enough. Be content, but never complacent.

Have the never-quit attitude of one of these guys and you're good to go.

Training

2010-11-11T04:35:00.000-08:00

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 5

315 x 1

365 x 1

375 x 1

315 x 3

335 x 3

315 x 5

Deficit Deadlift-

315 x 3,3,3,3,3,3

Axle Clean and Press-

165 x 1,1,1,1,1

Trap Bar Farmers Walk- 20 yds.

280 x 1

350 x 1

400 x 1

I haven't done farmer's walks in a long time. In the past I've used dumbbells, but they've never been heavy enough to really work me over. This was different. I really struggled with the last carry at 400 lbs. I'll definitely be doing more of these. The demand on the legs, trunk, grip, and traps was insane.

Farmer's Walk

Gripper Work- CoC #1

7 x 3

I was struggling to close the #1 just a couple weeks ago because of pain in some of the connective tissue in my hands. After only a few sessions of axle work, that all cleared up. These triples were easy.

Rites of Passage

2010-11-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

Manhood stones, or Claid Cuid Firs in Gaelic, are one of the oldest strength tests known to man. In many cultures, it was a passage into manhood to be able to lift a certain stone. Many villages had specific stones set aside for this purpose.

One of the most famous claid cuid firs is Kviahellan, also known as the pen slab, or the Husafell stone. This stone weighs roughly 418 lbs. The challenge is to pick the stone up and then carry it approximately 50 to 60 meters around a goat pen built by Sira Snorri Bjornsson in the Husafell Valley of Iceland. Once achieved, the challenger is awarded the title of "fullsterkur", or fully strong.

This challenge just eats at me. I would LOVE to be able to carry this stone around the pen. The reality of how difficult it would be sets in every time I lift simulated stones in the gym. I'm humbled by 200 lb. stones. A 400 lb. stone would be insane. But a guy's gotta dream.

Steve Jeck with the Husafell Stone

I've been to Iceland once in my life, only to switch flights, but it was still incredible. Iceland has a landscape that's simply amazing. Flying into Iceland was like landing on a different planet. If I ever get a chance to go back and stay for a while, I will! And just in case, I'll be practicing my stone carry with the hope that just maybe I'll meet up with the pen slab.

Iceland. Home of the strong.

Today's Training

2010-11-09T22:15:00.000-08:00

Not much today. Quick session in between clients. Still feeling weak from being sick and taking a week off.

Olympic Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 3

335 x 2

315 x 1

Bench-

7 x 5 x 165

Power Clean-

89 x 3

133 x 1,1

177 x 1,1

197 x 1,1

And here's video of the 405 squat I hit at the Hudson Open meet for a state raw record at 148 lb. bodyweight.

From Weak to Strong: The Name of the Game

2010-11-05T18:44:00.000-07:00

Tonight was my first time under a bar since violent illness derailed me. May as well have been my first time, period! Felt so good, though. All my lifts were weak, but my body feels good, and a few little aches and pains I had before are now seeming to straighten themselves out.

I kept volume down and rest up, taking it pretty easy on myself. Here's how it looked, roughly.

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3,3,3
310 x 3,3,3,2,2,2
330 x 1

Axle Clean and Press-
a bunch, lost track

Deadlift-
315 x 1,1,1,2,2,2

Stone Carry x 20 yds-
143 lbs., 2 carries

That's it. Back on the road to bigger and better.

Back To It

2010-11-05T07:09:00.000-07:00

Finally feeling good enough to train. Planning to hit it tonight, with a few revised goals.

Goal 1- Spend more time with my wife!

With being sick and taking a week off, I've seen my wife a lot more this week. Being I was a slobbering mess most of the time, I'm sure it wasn't the most fun time for her, but I realize my priorities are out of line and I need to dial back the obsessive training a bit. The week off gave me a chance to realign myself and see what I was missing and how many problems I'm causing simply by letting training be an unhealthy addiction, as opposed to a healthy outlet. Moderation, right?

Goal 2- Add some mass!

I'm still down around 150-152 lbs. fully clothed, after being wiped by weight cut and illness. I'd like to see a solid 165 in about 3 to 5 months. This should be reasonable, since I should gain 5 to 7 lbs. back pretty quick once my appetite readjusts from being sick. From there, I'll be increasing protein intake by a lot and changing up training just a touch to hopefully elicit a bit more hypertrophy.

Goal 3- Prep for strongman competition.

Realisticly, this is a very long term goal. To even compete in strongman, from what I've researched as far as events go, I need to be much heavier and stronger. The timeline on this goal is probably more like 3 to 5 years. But it'll be worth it. At the lightest, most strongmen probably are heavier than 200 lbs. I would guess. Haha. Maybe I could make the women's division.

Goal 4- Set state squat record in 165 RAW weightclass.

For this, currently, I need higher than a 435 squat. That'll happen soon, especially with a potential weight gain in my future. That's only 10 lbs. off my gym PR.

More to come!

Quick Meet Recap

2010-11-01T17:07:00.000-07:00

This will just be a quick recap of the meet. I'll have more later, including video footage of myself and NBB's other 4 lifters.

First of all, I managed to make weight. It was rough, but I'm glad I got it. I weighed in at 158.6 on Friday and had to make it to 148.75 by weigh ins on Saturday morning. I made the cut with a weight of 148.7. I was a little fatigued after the cut, so I tried to refeed as much as I could, and drank a bunch of water. I was up to 153.5 about 20 minutes after weigh in, so I knew I would be feeling quite a bit better.

First lift of the day was a 365 squat. 2 white lights, one red on depth. Second lift was a 405 squat. 2 reds for depth, and no lift. Third lift was 405 again, this time with 2 whites for a good lift. I've never had this much trouble with depth calls, so I know what I need to work on for next time.

Bench was pretty rough, as I figured. 205 and 215 went well, and then I bombed at 225.

Deadlift was the lift that had me nervous. I've been very hit and miss with this lift lately, but I still ended up getting a 435 deadlift, so I wasn't too upset.

This left me with a state record in squat, deadlift, and total (1055).

I was planning on hitting it hard on Monday and getting started on my next set of goals, but I got sidelined with a nasty case of food poisoning last night and am right back down to about 150 lbs. No training tonight! Oh well, I probably needed a day off anyway.

Evening Training

2010-10-27T20:23:00.000-07:00

Last heavy session before the meet on Saturday. Now it's just backing off volume and hoping I can make the weight cut to 148. Yikes. I was 158.8 this morning, and after training, was 155. If I cut the water right, it shouldn't be too hard to hit it, I just don't want to have to sweat it out in a sauna. Also, weigh ins are early this time, so I don't have all morning to spit and sweat. Oh well. If I have to lift in the 165's, that'll be fine. Here's how tonight went.

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 2

365 x 1

405 x 1

415 x 1 (a bit shallow)

Deadlift-

225 x 3

315 x 2

405 x 1

Axle Clean and Press-

a bunch, and a PR at 189

Stone Lift-

206 x 1

3 lb. PR from this morning. Smallest PR ever.

Here's video of the axle and the squat.

"Stone" Lift PR

2010-10-27T06:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the Diesel Crew for this idea. This was my second time trying it and I managed to squeeze out a 203 lb. stone lift. I can't imagine what it's like for some of those guys who are lifting 550 lb. stones. Crazy.

New Implement and Training

2010-10-23T22:29:00.000-07:00

Here's the new implement. This is a short axle, only five feet in length, and is just shy of 2" in diameter. Total cost to build was about $25. I wanted a short axle for potential home use, and this fits the bill perfectly. I did a bunch of triples with really light weight, just to work technique, and then worked up to triples and singles at 151 and 171.

I can't wait to get past this next meet and get into a new chapter of training. I know that's not the best mentality, to be focused past your immediate goal, but I'm having so much fun with training right now that I don't care.

Squats-
135 x 5
225 x 3,3
315 x 2,1,1
335 x 1,1,1
365 x 1,1,1

Axle Clean and Press-
A bunch, working up to 171. Here's some video.

Deadlift PR and Training Videos

2010-10-18T20:39:00.000-07:00

Training has been going well lately. Frequency and volume just do the trick for me. I posted a few videos below of my last few days of training, including what would have been a front squat PR at 281 lbs. but dropped off my shoulders, an easy 241 lb. front squat, and a PR 425 traditional deadlift off a 1.5" plate. Here's the fun part: I couldn't even pull 405 off the floor without a platform traditional stance a few days ago, so to pull 20 lbs. over that off of a riser is a nice surprise. Here's how today's training went:

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 5

315 x 2

365 x 1

385 x 1

405 x 1

415 miss

Traditional Dead off 1.5" Platform-

135 x 3

225 x 3

315 x 1

365 x 1

415 x 1 PR

425 x 1 PR

NOW

2010-10-15T12:27:00.000-07:00

TODAY IS THE ONLY OCTOBER 15TH 2010 ANYONE WILL EVER SEE! DO SOMETHING AMAZING! DO SOMETHING NEW! ENJOY SOMEONE'S COMPANY! LIVE EVERY MOMENT! THROW OUT THE NEGATIVE! SET A GOAL! REACH A GOAL! MOVE!

Training

2010-10-14T18:46:00.000-07:00

Squat-
315 x 20 sets of 3

Traditional Deadlift-
315 x 10 sets of 2, 1 set of 3

Paused Bench-
185 x 1,3,3,3,3,3
205 x 1,1,1
215 x 1,1

Total workload of 30,000 and a few odd lbs., or 15 tons.

Training and Video

2010-10-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

Squat-
315 x 3,3,3,3,2
335 x 3,3,3
365 x 1
405 x 1

Traditional Deadlift-
315 x 3,5,5
365 x 2,2,2,3
385 x 1

Dumbbell Clean and Press-
6 x 3 x 75 each arm

Pullups-
3 x 8

Zercher Squats-
225 x 3
275 x 1
315 x 1

My buddy Mike T. Nelson (http://www.extremehumanperformance.com/) was doing these the other day, so I thought I would finish up my session with a couple sets in his honor. I forget how much of a torso exercise these are! Good stuff. I can see how these would help my deadlift too. Here was my final single at 315.

Today's Training

2010-10-11T22:28:00.000-07:00

Didn't think I was going to be able to train today, but since the Vikings game was delayed because of lightning, a few of us ditched out for a quick deadlift session. It was a good choice. Both Brandon and Alex, two of the lifters from Noonan Barbell, hit PR's on deadlift. Brandon hit 475, and Alex hit 465. Both these guys have been lifting for 10 months. Awesome job guys!

I managed to work up to 455, which is only 20 lbs. off my PR of 475. I'm really happy with that, considering I still have some sciatic crap going on, and I've deadlifted four days in a row and thought I would have been fatigued. Guess not. 455 went up really smooth with no pain. It shouldn't be that big of a deal to hit 455 again, but honestly my deadlift has really suffered lately and I barely broke 415 off the ground a few days ago.

I've changed a few things over the past week that I credit that pull with. I'm going to keep pushing that way and see what happens. I'll let you know exactly what that is if it keeps proving valuable, which it should.

New World Record Raw Deadlift

2010-10-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

Here's Benedikt again, doing what he does best. This is roughly 973.5 lbs. RAW! Wow. Much respect.

Benedikt Deadlift Training

2010-10-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

My buddy Isaac showed me this video. It's nuts.

Training Update

2010-10-05T18:21:00.000-07:00

Had a few odd days off that I wasn't planning on, but training still seems to be going well. Here's yesterday's training.

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3,3
315 x 2,1,1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1
395 x 3 PR! depth was shady on the last rep.

Deadlift-
315 x 3,3,3,3,3,3
365 x 1

Deadlift felt ok; my back seems to like triples better than singles.

Log Press-
1 set of 15 reps

Pullups-
8, 15

Bodyweight has leveled off again, which will make my cut to 148 for the meet much easier. I'm hoping for a 405 squat to beat the state record by 20. Bench, I still suck at and don't care much about so I'm hoping for 225. This is something I have to fix if I ever want to a be a complete powerlifter. Deadlift, I'd love to get an easy 435 and call it good with that until I can let my back heal totally and get rid of this annoying sciatic pain. That would give me a 1,065 total at 148 raw. Not great, but not bad.

Skydiving

2010-10-05T14:17:00.000-07:00

My wife is awesome. That's all I can say. It was my birthday yesterday and she set me up big time.

She told me initially that we were going to Minneapolis for the day and what we were doing was a surprise. The morning of, she tells me to wear a suit, since we're going somewhere nice. That's cool with me.

So we get in the car and start driving, and she gives me a stack of presents to open. I start opening them and realize they are all things I have already. Then she starts laughing and says "Just messing with you. I didn't get you any presents because I spent all the money on taking you to the Chanhassen Dinner Theater to see a 7 Brides for 7 Brothers." My face must have been hilarious. All I could say was "Neat!". Not what I was hoping at all. Then she hands me one more present. It was my tennis shoes in a bag. By this time, I'm getting sick of being yanked around and thinking this was going to be fairly lame. She tells me I'll need these shoes for what we were really doing, which, THANK GOD, was not going to a play.

I asked if we were going hiking somewhere, or running or something (which would be only slightly better than a play). She said "You can't wear dress shoes to jump out of a plane."

By this time, I wasn't believing anything, and it took a good five minutes and showing me an email confirmation to prove to me that we actually were going skydiving.

In a nutshell, skydiving is awesome. Both Amanda and I have wanted to try it for some time now, and this was more than I could have ever hoped for as a birthday surprise, especially after the theater scare.

Freefalling is probably the coolest experience I have ever had. I can't explain it any other way. Dropping from 10,000 ft. and hitting that ripcord at 5,500 is something I would do again in a heartbeat.

The guy on the left is the guy I jumped with, Joe Johnson, of Westside Skydivers. This dude knew his stuff and had well over 10,000 jumps to his name. They got us trained up, in the plane, out the door, and on the ground again in under 45 minutes! Amazing. And the price was great as well. If you're thinking about jumping and live in MN, go through these guys. Incredibly professional, skilled, and efficient.

Viking Power

2010-09-30T15:46:00.001-07:00

Svend Karlsen is a beast. What else can you say. Viking power.

Supplements of Choice and Today's Training

2010-09-30T14:21:00.001-07:00

Here's today's training:

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 5
315 x 1
335 x 2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2
365 x 1,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2
405 x 1

Deadlift-
315 x a bunch this morning.

Today's workload was roughly 15,450 lbs. not counting warmups or deadlift, since I can't remember how many deads I did. Thats about 7.5 tons.

What supplements do you use? This is a question I used to get asked all the time when I worked in a commercial gym setting. Not so much any more that I'm working at Noonan's, but it's still something that comes up from time to time. So here's my brief list of "supplements" that I use.

Kre-Alkalyn. Basicly just creatine, but supposedly "Ph buffered" to not break down into creatinine and to be more "bio-available" or some junk like that. Probably BS, but it's just as cheap as creatine, where I buy it, and it's in capsules which helps since I hate powders. Also, it lasts for almost 3 months per bottle. I like that. Creatine is one of the most researched and used supplements and it actually works, unlike 95% of stuff out there. It helps with recovery and strength. That's as scientific as I care to get.

Ibuprofen. Not a supplement. Not great for daily use. Still, this has gotten me through some otherwise sketchy sessions when I was first adjusting to daily squatting. Don't use it to mask an injury. That's stupid. General aches and soreness are different than a herniated disc.

I can just hear it now. Benadryl?!?!?! Yep. This is my recent discovery: benadryl gives me MAD munchies. So come November, when I hope to add a few pounds, I'll mix this with some insane calorie consumption to thicken up a bit. Plus, I have insane allergies and this kills them almost completely. It's dirt cheap if you get the generic kind as well. Just give it a few weeks to let your body adjust to being almost unconscious on your feet. This stuff will knock you out.

Caffeine has been proven to have beneficial effects on both endurance and even a bit on maximal strength. This stuff gives me a little kick on those days when I hate everything that's not a bed. If you try this stuff, PLEASE don't be an idiot. It has a ton of caffeine and has made some people really sick. Don't be dumb.

I like this because it has no sugar, so my teeth don't rot out. Also, I hate coffee, so this is my source for an occasional caffeine kick. It's a rip off, so I don't use this habitually. I'll occasionally replace it with straight espresso, which I can stomach for some weird reason.

So there it is. Haha. Not a very typical supplement list. That's because I'm cheap and don't trust most supplements further than I can throw a bus. Don't take this as a reccomendation of any sort. Talk to a doctor before you use any type of supplement. Don't drive after taking benadryl. Oh, and don't waste your money on supplements.

Prison Powerlifting

2010-09-29T21:17:00.000-07:00

If I suddenly flip and start robbing banks, this is where I'd want to be put to do my time. Ok, not really, but this is still a cool video.

Life Outside the Gym

2010-09-29T20:12:00.000-07:00

I've spent so much time writing about my life in the squat rack that I figured it was time to let all of you in on my everyday life.

This is my beautiful wife, Amanda. I'm the ugly dude on the right. Amanda and I are in our 3rd year of marriage, and I couldn't be a luckier guy! Amanda is supportive of me in all areas of my life, but especially in my work. I'm so fortunate, because no one else would put up with my obsessive training and non-stop gym narrative.

We met through mutual friends and realized we had a ton of the same interests, and our personalities just clicked. A few weeks later we were dating, and then a few years after that, we were married.

Amanda is an incredible cook, a loving and supportive wife, an adventurous free spirit, and, in following the tone of this blog, pretty darn strong as well. Sometimes she'll join me for a lifting session, and it's always a blast for me. She'll sit and rip out full weighted pushups for multiple sets, deadlift like a champ, and one of my favorite feats of strength was when we were climbing a lot; she would do pullups on the molding over a door, hanging by just her finger tips. Hot!

My wife comes from a big family, being the oldest of nine. This is a picture of me and her youngest sister, Addie. I'm fortunate to have awesome in-laws, and we have such a blast with all the little siblings.

These are some rock climbing photos from the North Shore of Lake Superior, and also from Devil's Tower in Wyoming. I don't climb as much now that I have the flexibility of a stump, but I'll always have a love for it. It'll make a good old-age sport.

Drumming. Can't leave that out. I've played drums since I was in 6th grade. I've gotten to play in a lot of different groups, but at the moment, I'm in the process of jumping back in with a death metal band I used to play with called Crimson Thorn. This November, we'll be heading to Mexico to headline a couple of metal festivals. We've also been fortunate enough to play in Norway and again in Mexico City back in 2005. I'm pumped to get back to playing with these guys again.

So that's a little peek into my life outside the gym. Maybe I'll add more later if I get the urge.

Variation and Bonus PR

2010-09-29T06:28:00.000-07:00

As I continue to grow and learn, I've found that what I used to think were hard and fast rules, are often just suggestions, and sometimes are completely wrong. Variation is one of those things that has been completely redefined in my training.

Variation is a very real and necessary thing, however, it is so misused and so poorly applied that it has become a bit of a taboo word to me. When I first began strength training, I had a buddy who I lifted with occasionally and would ask questions of. He trained using a body part split with multiple exercises and would COMPLETELY change his workout every 6 weeks. Is there a time and place for this? Perhaps. But without some consistency, there is never an improvement.

I've spent the last year or so on the exact same exercises: squat, bench and deadlift with a few others added in for fun and/or balance. I don't do well with a ton of exercise changes.

As much as this makes me laugh, Ano can probably use my deadlift max to shovel his driveway, so I'll leave this alone. Beast.

If you want to be good at something, you practice it. Makes sense, right? A pitcher doesn't change his technique every 6 weeks. A boxer practices his jab tens of thousands of times. Specific practice is necessary to skill mastery. It's pretty simple. So why would strength be any different?

Yes, we need variety to avoid stagnation and injury, but often this is taken to an extreme. What first needs to be examined is goals. What are you training for? How much variety does your goal require, and how much can it afford without being derailed?

For me, powerlifting is my current goal/skill. I have a very young training age, and therefore the maturity of my technique is still in the early stages. So I practice only my competition lifts, with few exceptions. Still, I need variation. Where can I plug variation into 3 exercises? Easy.

Volume, intensity and density. That's really the only variation I need at this point. Somewhere down the road, something else will need to change, but for now, this works amazingly well.

Basicly, volume is the total amount of work done, intensity is the load, and density is work done in a set time.

I will often have low volume, high intensity days, where I fatigue quickly from heavy loading. I also have days where I work at a slightly lower intensity for a high number of sets, leading to a higher overall workload. Density is something I don't really track, but I'm aware of it. I look at it in the short and long term. For instance, I sometimes time my rest periods and aim for a heavy single every 1.5 minutes or so, forcing my body to work under more fatigue than I'm used to at a heavy load, leading to more work done in a set time. Charles Staley coined the term "escalating density" in which work is calculated just this way; sets, reps, and load over time. It's a great way to judge progress and always increase your work done.

My real beef is not with variation. It's a time tested, necessary thing and is required for balance in life. However, misuse and misunderstanding of it's application is often, I feel, the factor that contributes to many people's performance frustrations. So many times people want a new "trick exercise" to get them through a sticking point or plateau. Often times, they just need to apply variation to their loading/workload scheme.

Here's my rule of thumb: BEFORE CHANGING ANYTHING, ASK YOURSELF WHY!!! How will a new exercise or workout help? What do you really need to progress?

This will definitely help your squat! Because getting your neck cranked by a cable going 80 mph as you fall from 2 feet up leads to more pop out of the hole! All I can say is WHY!!!

Here's a bonus video from tonight's training. This was some major "variation" for me, as I almost never go over 2 reps on any big exercise.

New Direction

2010-09-28T16:18:00.000-07:00

For the past 3-4 weeks, I've been working on squatting every day, up to a training max, and with a ton of volume most days as well. This has worked really well for me and has pushed my squat up quickly, while at the same time helping me gain some muscle as well. I've come to realize that my physiology responds particularly well to volume and frequency.

Being that I don't want to be a 155 lb. tiny dude the rest of my life, I'm constructing in my head a skeleton of a plan for after October's meet to diversify my strength a bit more and add some extra muscle.

So here's the big picture: I would like to be resting at an easy 165 to 170 by the end of 2011, and with the hope of someday competing in strongman, keep pushing that weight up over the next 3 to 4 years until I'm at a lean 185 to 195 lbs. Yes, it could be achieved sooner, but anyone who knows me knows that I don't add weight easily and I don't plan to wreck myself just to achieve that end. My primary goal is still strength. If all falls into place, I would love to compete in a strongman competition in the lightweight division, just for something different.

Here's my short term training plan (if you want to call it a plan).

Mon- Squat, Bench, Clean
Tues- Clean and Jerk, Squat
Wed- Squat, Bench, Clean
Thurs- Clean and Jerk, Squat
Fri- Squat, Bench, Deadlift
Sat- Clean and Jerk, Squat
Sun- (Opt.) Squat

My reasoning is that these exercises carry over well to almost anything and they cover many of the bases I would need for any strength endeavor. I'll throw some extras in here and there, such as specific strongman events like farmer's walk or axle clean and press if I know I need to do them. I'll tackle that when it comes up. I hate getting bogged down with a million exercises, wasting time on the micro when the macro isn't even up to par.

Oh yea; my rest periods are going to be pullup time. I'm not even counting them in my exercise list, because I'm just going to do a crap ton of them whenever I think of it. Because I can.

It's a lot. It's going to be rough. I want to spend no more than 2 hrs. on a session, especially the weekend ones, so obviously it's all flexible. I've found that cybernetic style training works much better and allows me to absorb a bad day instead of trying to fight through to get your percentages for the day.

That's it. I'm sure I'll tweak it and drop or add a few things here and there, but if there's one thing I've learned, it's that keeping it simple and putting 110% into the basics is what gets you places. Do more.

Superhuman Strongman

2010-09-28T15:24:00.000-07:00

Monday Training

2010-09-27T19:56:00.000-07:00

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3,3

315 x 2,1

365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1 (20 x 1)

385 x 1,1,1

Deadlift-

315 x 1,1

365 x 1

Squat PR

2010-09-24T12:54:00.000-07:00

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,1
365 x 1,1
405 x 1
425 x 1 PR!

Squat Rep PR

2010-09-23T07:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday Training-
Paused Bench-
135 x 5
185 x 1,1
205 x 1,1
225 x 1,1

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2,2,2
365 x 1
365 x 7 PR!

For the past few weeks, I've been squatting every single day, sometimes twice a day, with heavy singles and doubles exclusively. I haven't done any higher rep sets for quite some time. Interesting that my old rep PR with 365 was 3.

I decided to see what a max chart would calculate as my estimated 1RM. I know these aren't very accurate, but it's sometimes a nice mental boost, which it was in this case, showing a 1RM of 438 as my estimated max. If I actually got that in a meet, that would beat the state raw record in both the 148 and 165 lb. divisions, as they currently stand. Sweet. That's all the confirmation I need to continue training squat daily and heavy.

Yesterday and Today

2010-09-21T12:58:00.000-07:00

Yesterday-

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
225 x 1
225 x 1
315 x 2,1,1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
385 x 1,1

Deadlift-
315 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
365 x 1
415 x 1

Today-

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2,2,2
365 x 1,1
385 x 1
405 x 1,1

Sunday Fun

2010-09-19T17:24:00.000-07:00

Today was pretty low key and awesome. Went to church with the wife this morning, and then met up with an old friend of mine who I used to play in a metal band with. He was in town for the day and we went to watch a Michael Angelo Batio guitar clinic. This dude can shred. Here's a video of him playing.

I ended up sitting a foot away from him and in turn lost a bit more of my already fairly absent hearing.

So anyhow, what better way to wash down some nasty metal guitar than with a squat session. Went for volume today.

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1,1,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2,2 (yea, 20 sets of 2 would have been easier to write)

365 x 1,1,1,2,2

405 x 1

Total work done, not including warm ups, was 16,190 lbs, or roughly 8 tons. Following that up with a pound of beef and some bleu cheese.

Side note: seems I found what works for me for mass gain. I'm consistently at 160 in the morning now. I guess I needed some frequency and volume increases. Cutting to 148 to compete might be a little rough. Yikes.

Today's Training

2010-09-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2,1,1
365 x 1,1
405 x 1,1
425 x miss, miss

Yea, I dumped 425 twice. And it was awesome.

I'm happy with how this training block is going. I've gone back to cybernetic periodization for the last 3 weeks and it's worked awesome. After various training adjustments and a back injury, I had taken time to heal up and had lost considerable strength. Upon starting back into the CP style of training, I struggled to hit a 365 squat, and within two weeks was regularly hitting 405 in training for multiple singles, even a double. This is while I'm squatting every day, sometimes twice a day, up to a training max, and for multiple singles, often times leading to 2 hour squat sessions. As a frame of reference, I'm hoping to compete in the 148 lb. class raw in October and hopefully set some new records. The state squat record for the 148 raw division is currently 385. It's nice to know that this style of training has gotten me to the point of squatting 20 lbs. over the state record multiple times in training while in a state of heavy fatigue and muscle soreness. Good stuff.

The one problem is that I'm gaining size. This is hard for me usually, and even when I try, going to extremes like drinking a gallon of whole milk everyday (stupid idea, unless you want to end up really chubby and spending 40% of your income on toilet paper), I would barely move anywhere on the scale. Now, I've jumped to 162 at my peak, in the morning. It's all in my legs, spinal erectors, and glutes. This could lead to the inevitable weight class jump, putting me in the 165 lb. division. I may end up doing that, depending on how my lifts continue, instead of making a brutal weight cut. The state squat record for the 165 raw division is currently 434 and is held by the same guy that holds the raw American 165 deadlift record. It would be pretty cool to beat his record, however the most I've ever squatted is 415, so I'm still a way off. Who knows, though, as I can still potentially stack on a bunch of weight and get away with it in the cut.

Anyway, that's it. My goals are currently all about the state records. I will do my best to at some break the 148 lb records again, as well as hopefully breaking the 165 lb. squat record within the next year (unless someone else beats me to it). We'll see what happens.

Friday Squats

2010-09-17T18:29:00.000-07:00

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,1,2
335 x 1,1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
385 x 1,1

Felt like crap tonight, so I figured I'd go for volume instead of intensity.

Wednesday Training

2010-09-16T06:05:00.000-07:00

Deadlift-
135 x 3
225 x 3
315 x 1,1,1,1
405 x 1

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
335 x 1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
405 x 1

Wasted Time

2010-09-15T07:41:00.000-07:00

Here's an easy way to waste time: care too much about what others are doing.

Can't tell you how much time I've wasted doing this. Stupid. Take care of your own issues instead; it's all you can really control anyway. Invest your passion in improving yourself and truly trying to help and serve others.

Generosity and true concern for others will NEVER come back void.

Enjoy life for a change. Just my thoughts for the day.

Chris Sharma

Tune Up

2010-09-15T06:05:00.000-07:00

Quick tune up session last night. Nothing too heavy. Still really sore from playing football on Sunday.

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
335 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

That's it.

Monday Training

2010-09-13T18:54:00.000-07:00

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,2
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2
405 x 1,1

Bench-
205 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Squatted 405 with no belt today. Felt easy. More than a little happy with that.

Pat Mendes Squatting 800 Raw.

2010-09-13T09:43:00.000-07:00

No belt, no wraps, no suit, no problem. Pat Mendes shows what a real squat should look like.

Yesterday and Today

2010-09-12T19:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday

Squats-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1,2,2

335 x 1,1

365 x 1

385 x 1

405 x 1

Today

Squats-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1,1,1,1,1

335 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Squat PR Double

2010-09-10T18:21:00.000-07:00

Squats-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,2,2
335 x 1,2
365 x 3,1
385 x 1
405 x 2 PR!
425 miss

Tuesday Squatting

2010-09-08T08:34:00.000-07:00

AM Session

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 2,2,2,1

365 x 1,1,1

385 x 1

PM Session

Squat-

135 x 5

225 x 3

315 x 1

365 x 1

385 x 1

405 x 1,1

Never squatted 405 more than once in a session. Very happy with that. I'll put video up soon. Tried for a double on the first set of 405 and bombed on the second rep; felt good so I hit another single about 5 minutes later.

Konstantin Konstantinovs; the name behind RAW deadlift in the dictionary.

Strength is in the mind; decide and don't look back. Ivan Abadjiev, the highly successful Bulgarian weightlifting coach, used to say that all he wanted in a lifter was willpower. I can get on board with that.

Training

2010-09-06T17:52:00.000-07:00

Paused Bench-
135 x 5
185 x 1
205 x 1
225 x 1,1,1,1,1

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,1,1
335 x 1,1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2
385 x 1 no belt.

Deadlift-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
365 x 1
415 x 1
435 x 1 Surprisingly easy considering the back is still not 100%

Saturday

2010-09-04T14:16:00.000-07:00

Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,1,2
335 x 1,1,1,2,3,3,4
355 x 2
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,2
385 x 1,1

These guys are ridiculous. Gotta love Bulgaria!

Yesterday's Training

2010-09-04T09:05:00.000-07:00

Squats-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2
335 x 1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,2
375 x 1
385 x 1,1,1
395 x 1
405 x 1 depth? you decide. video included.

Paused Bench-
135 x 5
185 x 1,1
205 x 1
215 x 1
225 x 1

Squats (Of Course)

2010-09-02T21:58:00.000-07:00

AM Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2

PM Squat-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 2
335 x 1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1
375 x 1,1,1
385 x 0,1

Undertrained.

The Deep End

2010-09-01T20:00:00.000-07:00

That's it. I've got 8 weeks until meet day and it's going to get crazy. Deadlift is killing me, so squat is back in the saddle. I'm going to that dark little corner in my head and not coming out for a while. They say laughter is the best medicine. Then they invented the squat rack.

Squats-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1
335 x 1
355 x 1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1
365 x 1,1,1,1,1

Bench-
225 or something. I forget.

What Do You Think?

2010-09-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

I'd love to hear your opinion!

Monday Wake Up Call

2010-08-30T13:05:00.000-07:00

Konstantinovs pulling off a huge 4.5" block. 771 lbs!

Saturday Tune Up Session

2010-08-28T13:51:00.000-07:00

Back is on and off. After the Hudson Open I think I'll take a full week or two off of squat and dead to let it heal, but for now, I'm just working around it and avoiding pain as much as I can.

I may try something out of the ordinary at this meet anyway. I might just put in an easy token squat at 335 or something and pass on other attempts in favor of a big pull. Still contemplating this; might not be my best idea ever, but hey, who ever said I had that many good ideas in the first place.

Tweaked technique a lot today. Studied video of Oleksandr Kutcher, a 165'er with a huge sumo pull somewhere in the 700's. After emulating his technique a bit, I found the bar path was much more true, lift was much shorter, and my back was considerably more comfortable. May have just found my ace. Last single of the day was 405 and it went much faster than the first two, even with fatigue.

So here's my hope; grease my technique to the point where I can pull 500 in spite of a slight back tweak. Yea, that's pretty ambitious. Who cares. I'd rather fail with a big goal in site than just fizzle for lack of drive. Of course after the meet, I will need to take time to fully recover and let my back reach 100% again. Here's today's session.

Deadlift-
135 x 5
225 x 3
315 x 1,1,1,1,1
335 x 1,1
365 x 1,1
405 x 1,1,1

Bench (paused)-
135 x 5
185 x 2
205 x 1,1
215 x 1,1,1,1

Let No One Say You Can't

Training

Jiu Jitsu

Forpliktet Inntil Døden

I Blodet Ditt

Undead

Check It Out

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Accumulation Week

Video Updates

Deadlifts and Yoke Bar Box Squats

Box Squats

Video Update

Training

Speed of Movment in Training

Training

Back in the Saddle!

Hiatus

Review of Lean Gain Principles

Training Updates

Noonan Barbell Video Updates

State of the Spine

Deadlift Tips

Chalk One Up For Progress

What If

Bulldozin' My Way to 445

Good Luck Nate!

Style Vs. Style

Down the Rabbit Hole

Jackhammer

Updates

Deadlift PR (Finally)

2011 Objectives

Friday Training

New Template

Wednesday

Today's Training

Off The Wall

Power Clean PR

Clean PR, High Box Squats, and Mass Gain

Monday Motivation

PR's All Around

Hudson Open Video Recap

PR's and Training

Monday Night Training

Training

Training and Mass Gain Updates

Andy Ruse

Squat PR and Training

Breathing Squats

Squats

Training

Test Yourself

Training

Rites of Passage

Today's Training

From Weak to Strong: The Name of the Game

Back To It

Quick Meet Recap

Evening Training

"Stone" Lift PR

New Implement and Training

Deadlift PR and Training Videos

NOW

Training

Training and Video

Today's Training

New World Record Raw Deadlift

Benedikt Deadlift Training

Training Update

Skydiving

Viking Power

Supplements of Choice and Today's Training

Prison Powerlifting

Life Outside the Gym

Variation and Bonus PR

New Direction

Superhuman Strongman

Monday Training

Squat PR