Squat Night 11/30/05

Everything was so easy tonight and 2 of us got the workout done in less than an hour. My squatting prowess is returning quickly. I was only going to do 405x5 but I did 1 more b/c it was so easy.

Raw Squat 405x6
Pause Squat 315x5/325x5
Good Morning 195x5/225x5
Seated Calf Raise 145x3x12

Board Bench 11/28/05

Board Bench 275x3/315x3/345x1/375x3(paused last rep)
Hammer Curls 70x2x8/75x2x8
Seated Row 200x2x8/220x8/240x8
Reverse Pec Dec 165x4x8

Deadlift Morning 11/26/05

Cut back on volume b/c of shoulder issues. Did a triple today, will try 5 reps next week then 1 rep then 10 reps then start over at 5. I believe in volume for the deadlift so I don't know how this will work. No cleans or pull ups b/c of the AC joint instead did rows off plates and constant tension shrugs to help support my shoulder joint. We'll see how this works.

Deadlift 405x1/455x1/515x3
Barbell Rows off Plates 255x2x5
Barbell Shrugs Blakley style 315x2x20

Bench Press Day 11/25/05

Bodyweight is up to 236. I'll maintain that for now and see how it goes. 370@236 isn't too shabby for the rapid weight loss. The close bench was very easy and the last rep was paused on each set. I have to work out at work now for time and convienience so I can't really do my tricep presses and will have to switch to dumbell rear delts or face pulls b/c there pec dec sucks and kills my elbows.

Bench Press 315x1/345x1/370x1
Close Bench 275x2x5
Hammer Curl 70x2x8 / 75x2x8
Seated Row 140x8/160x8/180x8/220x8
Reverse Pec Dec 205x8/225x8/255x2x8

Squat Night 11/23/05

Squat 405x3 / 455x1
Pause Squat 315x2x5
Wide Stance Good Morning 185x2x5
Seated Calf Raise 135x3x12

First time squatting since September and losing 79 pounds. I wasn't too disappointed. My depth was way below parallel on all squats. Pause squats are done with a shoulder width stance, rock bottom and paused for 3 seconds in the hole. All lifts were done raw.

Board Bench 11/21/05

So I decided that you only live once and I don't want to miss this meet. So I had to think about how to work around the shoulder pain. A few adjustments I made were only 1 working set for all benching exercises as well as no more pressing except bench. If my shoulder feels good then on Thursday or Friday I will do 1x1 with 370. If not, I will do the 370 off my chest on Monday. This gives me 2 board bench workouts and 2 off the chest workouts until the meet. Also, other exercises will be eliminated that put the AC joint in a poor position. No more deadlifts, will switch to Squats, and possibly no more power cleans. My shoulder felt good today and it's no coincidence that I didn't do these on Saturday. I will go to Board Bench - Monday, Squat - Wednesday, and possible Bench - Friday.


Board Bench 370x3(paused last rep)
Tricep Press 225x2x6 / 235x6
Hammer Curls 70x2x8 / 75x2x8
Seated Row 130x8/140x8/150x8/160x8
Reverse Pec Dec 200x8 / 210x3x8

Contest may be a No Go

My shoulder pain is getting increasingly worse along with both my elbows. I know it is mostly inflammation and to take off a week and then try to hit it hard would not get the job done. I have also been sick for the past 2 weeks and the baby has been up a lot at night so my recovery is in the can. So, on Friday I decided to take 10 days off and if my shoulder feels better bump I could either do a shoulder cycle or bump the reps up to 6. If the shoulder is ok I will do the AC repair cycle and hit tris hard. So, I will not be lifting again till November 28th. I need the time off b/c I never took any after my last contest due to the weight loss cycle and while I was on that cycle I was lifting 4x a week and doing hardcore cardio 4x as well(I was at the gym 6x a week). I think this is where a lot of my shoulder problems are coming from. I will also get my weight up to around 240. So goes life in the world of powerlifting.

4 weeks Out

So I' 4 weeks out from my contest. Training has been fair, but not great. I am going to finish out this cycle with, what I've found to be, my 2 best tricep builders. Reverse Band press with 12 inch grip and floor press with 16 inch grip. I've played around with what little time I've had and found these 2 to be my best. After this cycle, I don't know what I'm going to do. I will be taking 10 days off and then may hit a shoulder cycle on bench day or AC repair cycle and work those 2 tricep exercises for 8 weeks. I messed around with some stuff I use to do tonight as far as training and found my current routine to still be best(just had to get it out of my system).

Elbow Joint(tricep) Training 11/17/05

Tonight was a tiring workout but I'm not feeling the improvements that I was a month ago. The only reson I changed things up was b/c of my shoulder. I'm going to sit down and review what I need to do. My meet is exactly 1 month away and there is little time to spare considering I didn't get to do a hypertrophy cycle before this one b/c of the weight loss.


Board Bench 365x3,2,2,2
Comp. Grip Reverse Band Press 385x3,2,2,2
Hammer Curls 70x4x8
Pushdowns 120x4x20
Seated Row 120x8/130x8/140x8/150x8
Reverse Pec Dec 200x3x8 / 220x8

Injuries

I have been nursing a very bad right shoulder for about 3 weeks now as well as 2 bad elbows for...a long time. It makes my style of benching very painful. This is one of the reasons I feel I need more warm ups as well as some changes. My support work is centered around supporting my shoulder joint and elbow joint while my core exercises are centered around strengthing them. I also have a deadlift/back day. I have eliminated dips for obvious reasons but feel I am lacking an overload for my muscles. So, I will go back to my old style and include 4x3 off the 4x4 on my elbow joint day. I will follow that up with either reverse band press off the chest or 16 inch grip floor presses. I'm leaning toward the reverse bands for the extra relief they provide for my shoulder(even with a 16 inch grip on the floor press the bar is only about 2 inches off my chest).

Shoulder Joint Training(Bench Day) 11/13/05

Pause Bench 275x1 / 315x1 / 365x0
325x4x3
Reverse Grip BP 225x6 / 275x6 / 315x1 / 225x10
Seated Row 130x8/140x8/150x8/160x8
Hammer Curl 70x3x8
Reverse Pec Dec 190x8/200x2x8/210x8

Missed the 365 b/c I wasn't focused and I didn't do enough warm ups. I need to get
my pattern warm up down again as well as 3 near maxs instead of just winging it. Good
workout tonight, espically the reverse grip.

Early Morning Deadlifts 11/12/05

Deadlift 405x12 / 455x6 / 500x3 / 545x1
Power Cleans 225x3 / 275x3x3
Weighted Pull Ups BWx5 / BW+15x2x5

I put up some vids from this workout. Under the picture is the link:
http://www.putfile.com/mjc1021

Elbow Joint(tricep) Training 11/10/05

Two Board Unload Press 435x4x3
Floor Press(16 inch grip) 285x3,3,3,2
Seated Row 120x8 / 130x8 / 140x8 / 150x8
Reverse Pec Dec 180x2x8 / 190x8 / 200x8
Hammer Curls 70x3x8

Shoulder Joint Training(Bench Day) 11/07/05

Pause Bench 275x1 / 315x1 / 345x1
325x3,3,2,2

All I did tonight was the Pause Benching. I took about 6-8 minutes rest between sets mostly because I was having a bad night. This workout took everything out of me. On the 3rd set I could have got 3 but I hit the uprights. On the 4th set I didn't even try for 3 b/c I had no spotters. I will do some support work tommorrow along with some cardio.

Past 2 training Days

I got a new job and had to go out of town for a week for training. Nonetheless, I still found a gym and hit it hard.

MONDAY OCT 31 ELBOW JOINT TRAINING
Close Grip Bench(16 inch grip) 275x3 / 285x3 / 295x2x3
JM Press 135x4x6
Hammer Curls 70x3x8
Reverse Pec Dec 170x8 / 180x8 / 190x2x8
Seated Row 110x8 / 120x8 / 130x8 / 140x8(about 10 secs. rest between sets)
SPRINTS

THURSDAY NOV 3 SHOULDER JOINT TRAINING

Pause Bench 275x1 / 315x1 / 355x1
325x3,2,2,2
JM Press 155x6,5,5,4
Hammer Curls 70x3x8
Seated Row 120x8 / 130x8 / 140x8 / 150x8 (rest just long enough to change stack)