Week 8 Training Day 2

Sumo Deadlift 225x2/315x1/405x1/495x1/575x4

Soooooo close but the good thing is I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that I could've done 5 reps. I got this on film and I'll post it soon. Those stupid plates rolled after my second and third rep at which point I had to reset and pull the 4th rep. For anybody who has ever done sumo will tell you that once the tension is lost, it is lost. The 4th reps form was not as good as I would've liked. We will just chalk this one up as a good day though and move on to triples. Here is the link to the vid: http://media.putfile.com/575x4-deadlift

Week 8 Training Day 1

Squat 225x1/315x1/405x1/520x5(had 7 in me)
Pause Bench 135x1/225x1/315x1/375x5(had 6 in me)
Pull Ups BWx5/BW+25x2x5/BWx2x5


Wow, this is a really good squat and bench cycle. I broke out the deadlifts on their own day b/c it is my weakest lift right now and I would like to get the 575x5. That weight has been a goal of mine for 4 years since I saw Bob Lowery do it in an old PLUSA in 2002. I could probably do 540 and 380 for 5 but it's time to move on to triples.

Week 9 Training Day 2

Squat 225x1/315x1/405x1/500x5
Sumo Deadlift 315x1/405x1/495x1/555x3(easy)
Chest Supported Rows 135x5/225x5/275x5

One more week of 5s for squats and it will be a good week. I feel if I actually cut back to just breaking parallel or 1 inch below I could probably go up to 545 or so for 5 reps easy. But I have no spotters to call my depth or tape it so I just go butt to the floor. Sumos went well and I will try 575x3-5 reps. I could've done 5 reps tonight but I'm still getting over being sick. I would really like to do 575x5 next week.

Interesting Idea

Kris over at tsampa.org had an excellent idea about having a competition between bloggers for some fun. There will be a website and he appears to be putting in quite a bit of effort into making this work out well. Judging by his own website it should be awesome! Kris has the best blog I've come accross yet. Here is the link: http://www.tsampa.org/training/blog/

I won't peak fo the meet but will go for 650/455/700. If you have some time I think everyone should throw in for this.

Week 9 Training Day 1

Pause Bench 135x1/225x1/315x1/365x5
Decline Bench 225x1/315x1/385x5
Pull Ups BW(290)x5,5,5/BW+25x5/BWx5

Will do another week of 5s for bench as the 365 was easy. For decline will make 5lb jumps for a few more weeks before going down to 3 reps. Got the 25lb plate for pull ups today and it wasn't too bad. For my pauses on bench I take the bar down and do a one-two-press. It would pass in any federation. A tip I'll give is read the article on dragondoor.com about "pull ups for a bigger bench press". I feel these are really helping me. As a side note, my waist is down to 42 so I am losing fat and maintaining muscle.

Week 10 Training Day 2

Squat 225x1/315x1/405x1/480x5(super easy)
Deadlift 315x1/455x1/560x5
Sumo Deadflift 500x1(easy)
Chest Supported Rows 90x5/135x5/180x5/225x5/270x5

OK, squats where super easy to say the least. This is going to be a good squat cycle. Since comencing my new cycle I've been doing all my warm ups sumo style, b/c it doesn't hurt my low back like conventionals do, then switching to conventional for my money set. The 560x5 was annoying b/c my stupid gym has those octagon type plates and every rep I have to completely reset so I lose tension in my pause on the floor. So after my 4th rep I stopped completely, put some more chalk on my hands, and pulled the last rep easy. It would've been very easy with normal plates. After that was done I dropped to 500 and went sumo. It was very easy. Perhaps b/c I'm short and my legs are very powerful. So, b/c I technically missed I'm dropping the weight to 510x5 and doing it sumo.

Week 10 Training Day 1

Pause Bench 135x1/225x1/315x1/355x5
Decline Bench 225x1/315x1/375x5
Pull Ups BW(289)x4x5/BW+25x4 3/4

Benching was easy, with the last rep having a 5 second pause. Decline bench was still easy. I think I could do 405 for 5 right now. On my last set of pull ups I did 4 reps then stopped and couldn't get my chin to clear the bar. I was about 2 inches away!! Last time I did 375x5 on decline I hit an easy 440 bench.

Week 11 Training Day 3

Deadlift 225x1/315x1/405x1/540x5
Front Squat 235x1/325x5
Pull Ups BW(287)x4x5/BW+15x5

Good Day today. Deadlifts where nice and smooth but they could've been easier if I focused more on technique. All reps where deadstopped, no bounce. I will work on this next week by losing the headphones.

Week 11 Training Day 2

Squat 225x1/315x1/405x1/460x5
Chest Supported Rows 90x5/135x5/180x5/225x5/260x5

Easy day for squats today. I think I'll push the 5's for 4 weeks versus 3 for squats. We'll see how deadlifts and bench continue to go. Rows where of medium difficulty but all done very strict.

Week 11 Training Day 1

Pause Bench 135x1/225x1/315x1/345x5
Decline Bench 225x1/315x1/365x5
Pull Ups BW(291)x5/BW+10x5/BWx5/BW+10x5/BWx5

All benching was very easy today. Got out of my groove on my 5th rep on decline when I hit the upright on the way up on my 4th rep. Bench was too close to the uprights. Pull Ups where also very easy. As a side note my flexibility has come a long way the last 3 months. I can almost do a side split and put my head on the ground during a front split. I also can do 50 front/backs with a towel for my shoulders with a 30 inch grip.

Week 12 Training Day3

Deadlift 225x1/315x1/405x1/520x5
Front Squat 135x3/225x2/315x5
Pull Ups BWx6x4

My back and knees hurt so bad I had a hard time getting out of bed! I need to make some changes in my training. Right now I'm 10 weeks out for deadlifts and 11 for squat and bench. I'll just do progressive overload starting with 5s then 3s then 2s and only 1 top workset. I will however remember this current routine for when train with knee wraps b/c my squat and bench where doing ok.

Week 12 Training Day 2

Squat 225x1/315x1/405x1/475x1
Pause Bench 135x1/225x1/315x1/380x1
Decline Bench 225x3/315x3/335x3/355x3
Chest Supported Row 90x5/135x5/180x5/225x5/255x5

Good day today despite some sore biceps. I had to tangle with a guy at work yesterday and throwing him around made my biceps and forearms sore. No deadlifts today so as to allow more recovery. I will try a Monday/Friday approach this week and next to see how that goes. My shoulders have been somewhat sore so I will be including decline benches from here out. Would like to hit 455+ on the decline by cycles' end. Rows where good and very strict.