???????


Calling him out

I don't like having my log in public... largely because as I'm sure you've noticed, I tend to talk too much.

I'll try to note some things on here, though not in full detail, if it'll keep you happy.

Recent training highlights and lowlights:

Pulling:
-497x3 touch n go deadlift with 1-2 left in the tank (a few weeks ago)
-441x8 touch n go on a crappy day, 375x15 as well, which had me sore for days. Rep PR at any weight. If you animals can get 500x15 I will be very, very, very impressed. (last week)
-508 dead (PR) (9/9)
-515x0 dead that REALLY made me mad cause I thought I had a double in me (2 weeks ago)
-405x5 double overhand (sept)
-Wednesday: 405 x 7 singles spaced 30 seconds apart at 6am. Going to experiment more with timed rest intervals. I rest too long, always have.

Explosive type stuff:
-Olympic Lifting Workshop with Coach Burgener in St. Louis (learning to do the lifts right) 10/25
-197x2 proper squat clean (PR for proper form - still learning) 11/11
-45x1 proper snatch (these are no fun) 10/25
-165x2 power snatch (PR) (sometime in Sept)
-220 axle power clean one day, unable to power or continental 200 a week later (this needs work) (sept)
-225 split jerk, no pressout (previous non-pressed split jerk PR was 185) (last week)
-42" box jumps x 10 or so pretty easily (PR) and 36" jumps from seated on 12" box. Nothing special but better than before (11/11)

Pressing:
-225 standing strict overhead press (PR) (11/11)
-220x fail push press on the same day (what the hell?)
-220 BTN snatch grip push press (these hurt my wrist) (2 weeks ago)
-225+88lbs chain x3 close grip bench press without shoulder pain (PR, I think) (3 weeks ago)
-225x4 last time I tried incline bench, which is pitiful (used to 225x10x3) (sept?)
-190x5 viper press (mid-Oct)
-170x8 strict log press (10") (mid-Oct)
-jerking the log still hurts my shoulder, meaning little to no progress on that since February (fail)

Squats/legs:
-haven't been squatting due to the groin so leg strength is suffering... haven't had 400+ on the bar since the March contest, I think. This is no good.
-Did do 225x20 on an oly stance squat on a whim a few weeks ago, which may be a PR. I don't really squat with that stance.
-335x1 with perfect form, no pitching forward and no hip pain on the front squat about 2 months ago last time I went heavyish (372 is the all time PR, an ugly rep) (August, probably)
-135x8 overhead squat (a huge milestone given my shoulder mobility) (3 weeks ago)
-265 3 sets of 5 snatch deadlift, toes forward, no loss of arch, no straps (11/8 )
-lately have been focusing on adductor strength. The outer leg totally dominates the inside, which is why I'm hurt. Doing lots of Good Girl/Bad Girl stuff and getting ART when I can. Groin has good days and bad days

Misc:
- largely unable to do any upper back work due to nagging bicep strain. This angers me more than the groin.
- did 2 full dragon flags a month or so ago. Saw stars. This means stabilizer muscles are improving.
- 190 farmers hold x 1 minute x 2
- 315x5 bottoms up SSB good mornings (pins at belly button)- might do this exercise again in place of deads for a few weeks starting weds
- ran one mile, got severe shin splints. Running sucks.
- during boot camp in August got 84 pushups in a minute, 55 situps in a minute, and ran a 4:16 .67 mile on the final assessment (did 5:27 the first day, 5 weeks earlier). Have been a slug ever since and am not in shape like that anymore.
- water filled keg carries, slow, OHP and overhead carry (impressed myself with this)
- 3 weeks ago a friend put a prowler at Windy City Crossfit that we can use anytime. So far have been too lazy to go use it. We are kind of scared of it since everyone pukes after using it.
- almost did a muscle up after the Oly workshop
- eating cleaner (almost no processed carbs/sugars) but still weigh the same (a fat 203). Considering returning to ice cream-based diet
- taking MMA classes the past 2 months, can occasionally do a side kick without pinching my hips. Pretty good at snap kicks and I rule at jabs and crosses.
- working on getting more serratus recruitment for scapular/shoulder health. Doing pushups plus on a med ball is seriously harder than bench pressing 315.
- have not sustained a new injury in at least 5 training sessions (PR)

Dave,

(continued from Chris's journal)

You're over-analyzing the over-analyzing.

I should have clarified that you were expending too much mental energy on what you could have done better instead of making a mental note of it, filing it away to think about it after the meets, so you could concentrate on the next event. Focus Man, focus. hahahaha
You're much stronger than you give yourself credit. 225 strict press is very good for a LW. I thought you did very well this year. Chris was right, you opened some eyes to what you can do.

This may cheer you up. You placed 5th out of 50 LW's in this years Illinois Strongman of the Year Award. Not too shabby at all.

You had mentioned that you hate training alone. Well, this forum is the next best thing. Try it out. If you don't like it stop posting on your journal. Pretty simple.
I personally prefer to train alone, with no music. The main reason I started posting here was to jump start the forum. Never really felt the need to post my training online however I do enjoy interacting with the guys and exchanging ideas.

Tony

How is that all tallied? I guess 5th is pretty good for competing in only 3 of the 7 contests.

Actually training alone doesn't bother me that much, but I wish I had a partner just because I feel like I'd work harder and get pushed more and therefore get better. It's always good to train with someone stronger.

Am feeling a bit sick but did some work today. I'm contemplating trying a modified Sheiko program for a little while to bring up the basic lifts. Groin prevents me from squatting heavy but I figured I can sub in front squat for back squat, and overhead for bench press. Since I'm going to be in Indy tomorrow and likely unable to train, I experimented tonight by trying the set and rep schemes of the first day of Sheiko 29 (the beginner one). I'd hate to see what the non-beginner ones are like. I was there over two hours.

Strict OHP (with 2 3/8" axle for variety)
up to 180 5 sets of 3. Failed the last rep of the last set. Shoulders got all swollen up, I felt huge.

Front Squats
Up to 245x5x5 planned, only got 5,5,5,3 before just being exhausted. I guess I could've done 5x5 if I had to. This felt far heavier than 245 should, but I haven't squatted in forever.

Snatch Grip Push Press (had no desire to do military AGAIN, nor do I think I could've)
up to 80 kilos 4x4

Box jumps holding 20lbs to 30 and 36 a few times. Was exhausted.

Core is blasted from the front squats. I videotaped them and went super deep on them. But I'm on the toes a bit. Can't quite figure out why I can't keep the barbell over the heels. I am usually able to when wearing the oly shoes.

I guess 180 was higher than I should've gone on OHP but still... I have no idea how anyone could blast through that much volume. You look and see things like 75% and 60% and think it's easy but it's not. Maybe I won't try that routine after all.

The points are tallied basicly by your placement in each contest.
Say there were 10 guys in your wt class. After the contest the 1st place finisher earns 10 pts, 2nd earns 9 pts, 3rd earns 8 pts down to 10th earning 1 pt.
Good luck with the Shieko routine.

Tony

Dave,

I think I was taking it out of context the first time I read it. like this is a sample of your training in any given week. If thats the case i would have to say wow! If not what's an average workout or average week look like?

Shon

still waiting for daily entries.

still waiting.

still waiting.

I've been sick. Since the last entry I have done several sets of stairs x 15 reps, coughs x unlimited reps, and today I felt well enough to take a 1/4 jog to the Walgreens to buy more sudafed.

hence the reason you did not make it out to Downers Grove as well?

Yeah, that plus I'm lazy.

I may head out tomorrow, although I do have a ton of work I need to do.

I'm sick. Have been for several days. I think yesterday was the worst of it. Today I was drugged up and felt OK except for one spot in my throat that felt like it had a knife in it. Wasn't expecting much in the gym since my legs kind of felt useless and I'm down a few pounds, but had a pretty good day.

Continuing the experiment, I went with Sheiko #29 w1d2 to work my deadlift day. Will be interesting to see how sore I am friday. If I feel OK and have a good workout I may stick with this one for a month.

Deadlift to knees
135x8
255x3
315 2x3
360 2x3
385 2x4

Not sure what the point of stopping at the knee is but it didn't slow me down like I expected it to. I definitely tried to pull from the floor so fast that it was an effort to stop the bar. These were all pretty easy.

Incline DB Bench
45x10
70x6
80x6
100x6
100x6

Dips
5x8

These two chest workouts exposed some serious asymmetries in the back and scap region. The antagonists to my ultra tight right pec minor got some work today.

Deadlift from Pins (went with 16"... if I was feeling healthy would've put mats down and made it 14, but didn't want to get carried away)
120x4 (kilos)
150x4
175 2x4
200 4x3

Last set of 175 started to challenge the grip. Had to regrip each rep. Last 2 sets of 200 were pretty challenging.

Need to work on the first rep being the best one. It's not for some reason.

Lunges
5 sets of 5 with 40 kilos

Noticed more asymmetries in the mirror. My right foot pronates more than the left. No good.

Kept rest periods short and was in and out in 1:10. No belt, double overhand grip on everything but the last weight on rack pulls.

Sudafed wore off at about the midway point so I dropped a few more with my protein shake. Hopefully that doesn't mess with my recovery.

Did the 3rd day of the modified Sheiko routine today. Was still sore from deads on wednesday. It made things tough. Will decide on monday whether to use the program for a full month.

Mike Robertson told me to front squat only as deep as my arch holds, ie no tucking at the bottom. I don't really see what's wrong with tucking but I will say that I really don't like front squatting to a box. The height turned out to be 13", which sucks, because it's a full 5 inches higher than I normally stop. Very uncomfortable.

He also said to try to get more wrist flexibility so I can keep the elbows up more. It's actually the lat and serratus that limit me, not the wrist. But I tried using the straps on the bar and grabbing them as an experiment (and also because my left wrist feels like something inside it is tearing). It got my elbows up a little higher, but this really threw me. It made me have to keep the biceps flexed, distracted me, and felt less stable side to side. After my 2nd highest weight I dumped the straps and went back to normal. The final weight for 5x3 was way better, although I still hate going to a box.

The good news is that I had someone watch me (since my camera died. AGAIN.) and he said I kept a perfect arch. So that's an improvement I guess.


I don't feel like typing this long ass workout out. Strict presses went up to 83.5 kilos for the top set and front squats to 120. Did reverse DB flies and 70lb KB swings with a jump instead of the flies and GMs, and added a cooloff set (with depth and arch experimentation) of 80k high bar back squat after the squats. Also did a few snatches up to 40 kilo.

Here's the spreadsheet. It's the one in the right column (you have to scroll down) and the weight percentage chart (based it on a 350 FS since I know I'm nowhere near my old PR level right now) are on sheet 2. Used kilos since they're more precise. And of course bench = strict overhead and squat = front squat.
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=pi7R7rM08_pZ6BPB559_uXA&hl=en

Lots of warmups including walking overhead lunges for a hip flexor stretch, some other hip stuff, front squats with a 25 lb plate held out front, overhead shrugs etc.

Front squats up to 281 5 sets of 2. Still only going to just below parallel, I think I was a bit deeper than friday, didn't use a box today. These are a lot easier without the box, and of course when you stop too high. First set was actually like 288- miscalculated the kilo plates.

Strict overhead up to 185 5 sets of 3. Missed the third rep on the 3rd set. Longer rest so I got the next ones. These kind of hurt the left shoulder today.

Jumping squats up to 110 kilos 2 triples. These are kind of painful to catch on the landing but a great supplement to cleans. Felt these in the quads and they were good cardio.

Accessory work was med ball pushups plus for serratus work (my left side barely fires and I believe this is the main reason the shoulder hurts on ohp), lateral raises with 5 kilo plates, and I skipped good mornings because I felt like I had enough lower body work.

Now I am going to Chop House to eat a giant steak.

nice front squats and strict press. although all of the kilo to pounds and narrative this early in the morning gives me a headache

Hey, you asked for the log, you're going to get my narrative.

My spine hurts today. I think jump squats will be out of the rotation. Can accomplish the same thing with jumping shrugs.