3/30/11 Max Effort Bench

Well, deloading went out the window and we decided to do some reverse band bench with a homemade slingshot. We just used a mini band around our elbows as the homemade slingshot. I actually think this is quite useful to use in training from time to time.

Worked up to 405 x 1 with slingshot before adding the reverse bands. This felt really good and felt awsome to take 405 off my chest even if it was with the slingshot!
We then added reverse green bands they took off about 100# on the bottom and close to nothing at the top.
Worked up to 515# x 1 with slingshot.

Straight Bar Tricep Extensions
3 x 10

KB Shoulder Presses
3x8-10

Lat Pull Downs
3 x 10

Face Pulls
3 x 10


Abs with weight

Nate had a great day as well just missing 675. He hit 635 easy.

Friday night we are putting the squat suit on to find an opener. I am thinking it should be around 650#, we'll see how it feels.

3/28/11- Deload Squat

Belt Squats- 4 x 5
I also did an arch back good morning variation on the belt squat before each set of squats.

KB Swings- Wide and close stance
3 x 12-15

Chest Supported Rows
3 x 10

GHR
3 x 10

Land Mines
3 x 10

Cable Crunches

3/27/11- DE Bench

I have recieved a lot of feedback from the article I wrote and I really appreciate you all reading it and reposting it. I had a lot of fun writing it and hope to write more of that kind of stuff and training articles soon, as long as I have some free time. We are just over 4 weeks out of the SPF Ohio Championships in Columbus OH. This week is planned to be somewhat of a deload. We all feel pretty good and things are starting to come together at the right time. Here is what we did for our DE bench:

DE Bench- Straight Weight
225# 8 x 3

DB Tricep Roll Backs
3 x 10

Vogepohls
4 x 10

KB Side and front raises
3 x 16-20

Push Ups
2 x fail

3/26/11 DE Squat

DE squat
415# 6 x 2
465 x 2
505 x 2
505 x 1 no box
555 x 1 no box

Weight moved really well today. Took away the box on some of the hevier sets to  get used to free squatting a little and get used to hittng the right depth.

Kettle Bell Swings
4 x 10

Back extension w/ cambered bar
4 x 8-10

Seated Row
3 x 8-10

GHR
3 x 8-10

Various Abs

A rant about setting goals, sticking to them, and toughness.

I come in contact with several athletes on a daily basis. Being former weight thrower for the University @ Buffalo, I still do most of my training at the UB facilities, so I see my old teammates and several other division 1 athletes there on a regular basis. I also coach track and field at a local highschool and occasionally coach athletes at Absolute Performance. I tell you this because I have become quite irritated at some of the things I hear and see from athletes as it relates to their performance (or lack there of) and athletic goals.

Before I continue this rant of pissed off-ness, let me preface this by saying I am by no means one of the greatest athletes around and don't pretend to be; I know where I stand in the pecking order. However, I feel I have the right to speak on this issue. I was a slightly above average athlete coming out of highschool. I got a partial scholarship to a D-1 school for throwing and made the most of it. I won a conference title in the shot put, and was an NCAA qualifier. But I did all of these things after losing 1/3 of my foot and beating cancer halfway through my college career. Now is that the hardest  thing anyone has overcome, hell no! But I think it gives me some merit on what I am about to bitch about.

So with all of the athletes I see everyday, most of them all have goals to get better, and some of them have goals of actually winning championships and getting scholarships, etc.. Having a goal is all well and good, but here is my problem with so many athletes right now, they don't understand that it is more then just setting the goal and talking about it, IT'S HARD WORK and SACRAFICE. About 1/4 of the athletes I see on a daily basis know what this means. Now I am not talking about going to the gym everyday and training hard, if you can't do that you shouldn't even be involved in sports of any kind. The problem comes when there is an obstacle between you and your goal. This can include anything from an injury, an academic problem for the college athlete, money problems, or a physical limitation (different from an injury). Hell, most athletes that have been competing long enough can speak to anyone of these, especially athletes in Olympic sports or powerlifting. When athletes are confronted with challenges, many of them crumble in defeat. What happened to the thought of sports making us "tougher people". As athletes we like to express to people in any way possible that we are athletes (don't lie because we all do it) because we as athletes feel it seperates us from the rest of the population and makes us better then them, and it should! If you are one of the few that work everyday to get closer to your goals no matter what obstacles come up, then you posess traits in life that non athletes will never posess. But when you crumble because of some miniscule event in your career such as a bad knee, chronic tendonitis, or a stress fracture just to name a few of my favorites, you should crawl back to normalcy and plead for mercy from the athlete gods! ( too harsh?) Adversity is apart of life not just sports so get used to it. As Rocky Balboa said (yes he is a real person in my mind) " Life aint all sunshine and rainbows kid, it's a very mean and nasty place."

When you have an injury, do what you have to do to get it better. Paul Childress told me that you don't really know how to train until you have had to train through an injury. This means you have to train harder and smarter when you are hurt. You will have to do things you don't usually do and probably don't like doing in order to keep moving forward even though you are injured. In other words, no one likes to get hurt but shit happens, use the experience to get better and smarter about your body. Don't be an idiot and think you know everything either. LISTEN to people who have experience and who are better athletes then you because chances are they had to go through the same type of situation. Don't listen to the guy who hasn't accomplished anything himself but claims to know more about training then those who have.

 If you truley want to achieve something, there are very few things that make for a good excuse as to why you didn't try to achieve it. Now I didn't say achieve it because life isn't perfect, the hardest worker doesn't always get the gold. But in the end, you have to be able to look back and be happy with what you gave. Because when it comes right down to it, no one outside your little bubble in life truley gives a shit about your goals. So walking around saying how you're "doin work to make dat paper in the league" ( I hate that little saying the most) means nothing to anyone but you. So if your making excuses as to why you aren't getting better or where you want to be in life, there is only one person to blame for that. So quit talking, quit looking for the easy way out, quit blaming other people, and SHUT UP AND TRAIN! If your little injury is stopping you from achieving your goals watch these videos and go feel sorry for yourself!

3/23/11- Shirt Work

Shirt Work 5 weeks out
The goal again today was all about technique and getting something to touch. Things went pretty good. Tom and I both wet down our shirts to give them a little more give, this helped alot and we were both manage to touch or get within less then an inch which is a great improvement.

Worked to 365 x 1 raw
Put on shirt
405 x 2
435 x 1
455 x 1
475 Miss- tucked way to much and had nothing to push with
445 Much better, about an inch away.

Reverse Grip Pull Downs
3 x 12

Reverse Grip Push Downs
3 x 10-12

Had to cut it short due to time, but a good day. This will probably be the last time we put the shirt on for anything heavy. 5 weeks away!

3/22/11- ME Good Mornings

ME Good Mornings w/ giant cambered bar + 120# of chain
Worked up to 365 + chain x 3
405 + chain x 1 (PR)

Pull throughs
3 x 10

1 Arm Rows
3 x 10

Various weighted Abs

Short day today. Good mornings are improving alot and I hope this will translate to a better squat and pull. We have been doing goodmorningsand different types of pulling on our Max Effort days to address some weaknesses that the 3 of us all have, mainly hip strength.

3/20/11 DE Bench

Trained up @ Absolute Performance today...


DE Bench w/ quaded mini bands
185 + bands 6x3
225 + bands x 1
245 + bands 2 x 1
Bar moved fast today and continued to do so on the small work up sets we did.


DB Bench
4 x 10-15

Pull ups 3 different grips
3 x 8-10

Tate Presses
3 x 10

Face Pulls
3 x 12-15


DB Curls
3 x 12


Various Abs

3/18/11 DE Squat

DE Squat with Safety Bar and Green Band (about 150 in band tension @ top)

This was our last week with the safety bar so we did some heavy singles with the bands.
Worked up to 505 + bands x 1 with briefs on. This was a PR with the safety bar and felt pretty strong.

Nate had a good day as well working up to 595 + bands x 1

Deadlifts against quaded mini bands
Worked up to 405 + bands. Deads felt very strong and fast today.

Seated Rows
4 x 10-12

Reverse Hypers
4 x 8-10

GHR
3 x 10

Abs

3/16/11 ME Bench

Went home to Rome for a few days so I apologize for the lack of posting. Trained up @ Absolute Performance last night.


ME 2 board bench
Worked up to 345 x 3
365 x 1
385 x 1


Standing Military Press
4 x 5-8 ( 175 x 5 on last set)


DB Tricep Extensions
3 x 10

Fat Bar Lat Pull Downs
3 x 10

Band Tricep Extensions
3 x 10

Abs

3/11/11- DE Squat

DE Squat Safety Bar + Green Bands ( 150 band tension)
325# 6 x 2
375# 2 x 2

Speed Deadlifts
405#  5 x 2

Bent Over Rows
4 x 6-8

Seated Good Mornings w/ Safety Bar
4 x 8-10

GHR
3x10

Abs- Various Cable Crunches and Hanging Leg Raises

Today was a good day. Weights moved really well. Will be taking a real light day benching on Sunday doing some light speed work and a couple accessory movements to let my body recover a little bit before we hit the meat of this meet prep phase.

3/10/11- Shirt Work

Shirt Work
Goal today was to get some technique work and keep working to touch something around 450. I want 450 to be an opener because it is weight I know I can press. I took a lot of reps today between 405 and 475. I got 455 within an inch. This is becoming very frustrating because everything is pressing easily, but I know I have to be patient. I am going to try wetting my shirt down during the next session and hopefully get a little more stretch in the shirt.

Tricep Pushdowns
3 x 20-30

Pull ups ( multiple grips)
4 x 6-10

BB Curls
3 x 10-15

KB Shoulder Clean and Press
2 x 10

We were all pretty spent today so we did some light accessory work. We are putting the shirt on more frequently because we need more work in it, but at the same time we have to be careful not to beat ourselves up too bad.

3/7/11 Max Effort Deadlift-Reverse Band Deads

ME Deads- Reverse Green Bands ( about 135 on bottom and close to nothing at top)
Worked up to 635 x 1. Failed at 675

Belt Squat
4 x 6-8


Back Extension w/ Safety Bar
4 x 6-8


Seated Row-Close Grip
3 x 10

Landmines and Seated Cable Crunches

3/6/11- DE Bench Press

DE Bench- 3 chains/side (120#)
Goal today was to move some heavy singles as fast as possible.
I worked up to 295 + chain x 1. This was a PR. Nate worked to 405 + chains.

Took the chains off and did some rep work:
275 x 12 (also a PR)
225 x 16

Football Bar Tricep Extensions on Floor
4 x 6-8

Lat Pull Downs
3 x 10

Face Pulls
3 x 12-15

DB Curls
3 x 10

Indian Club Swings

3/4/11- DE Squat w/ chains

DE Squat w/ 160# of chain
235# 3 x 2
Added briefs
325#  x 2
375#   3 x 2
415# x 1
465# x 1
505# x 1 ( about 650ish @ top )


Speed DL
315 + 4 chains (80# of chain) 4 x 2
365 + chain x 2
405 + chain 2 x 1
495 + chain x 1


Seated Good Mornings w/ Safety Bar
4 x 10

Seated Rows
3 x 10

Band Side Bends
2 x 10

Today went pretty well despite feeling pretty beat up. Nate and I both felt like we got hit by a train for some reason. It is a good sign when weights move good when you feel like crap. 9 weeks out from the meet, back to bands next week. We will keep it pretty light next week and then up the tension the following week.

3/2/2011- Max Effort Bench Shirt Work

Put the shirt on today, 9 weeks out of the SPF meet in Columbus, OH. The goal today was to get something around 450 to touch and press easily. Well pressing was better today but still no touching, got within a 1 board or so with 455. It is getting closer but still not where I would like to be. The shirt I am using was lent to me by a friend and is not fit exactly to me. The chest plate is very small and is why I have problems getting the last couple inches.

Shirt Work

405 x 1 about a 2board away
435 x 1 same distance away
455 x 1 about a 1 board, not too bad
475 x 1 Could not get this any closer, was actually about a 2 board away
495 x 1 same
495 x 1 miss, tried to really tuck the elbows at the bottom to get it to touch and just mis-grooved it.

KB Tricep Extensions w/ bands
3 x 8-10

Pull Ups
2 x 6-8 w/ weight
2 x 8 w/ body weight


KB Shoulder Press
3 x 12-15


Cable Crunches
3 x 10-12

Nate had a pretty good day, tried some different things with the shirt, 635 was easy, missed 700, just got a little loose. Tom had a similar day to mine, pressed well but still having trouble touching.