Bench Press PR!

This is and will be an interesting week.  Josh is less than 1 week out from his contest, and I’m trying to get ready for an inventory during our busiest time of the year at work.  That being said, we’ve been getting to the gym – hitting it hard and getting out quickly as possible.

Monday was leg day, but I took it easy because I was still recovering from Sunday

Today was chest day and I was ready to get back at.

Bench Press: 135×5, 225×5, 315×5, 365×2, 405×2, 435×1, 455×1 – Most I’ve done in the gym!

Smith Machine Presses:  Used an adjustable bench – Started flat and raised the incline 2 slots every set, with the finishing position being very close to a shoulder press.

Deep Dumbell Presses: 90×7 for 3 sets

Finished up with some Pec Dec

Good Workout!

Another Week in the Books

Made it through another week of training.  I had some good lifts this week and finished up the week with a great strongman workout on Sunday.

My bench is still coming back, I hit 405×4 and then hit 315×3 on the incline.

Getting used to the heavy weight on my back with squat again, hit 495×5 and 545×2.

Sunday – EVENTS

I haven’t been able to train events for a while, but nothing was going to get in the way of it today.  I decided to take full advantage of my time at Jobes and ran through every event with contest weight.  Here is how it came out:

Max Log: Warmed up with 180 and 230 then jumped to 280, 310 and finished with 330 – Very happy with this!

Deadlift Medley: 450 Axle, 500 Bar, 550 Trap, 600 Farmers – No problems here.

Yoke: 650×60 feet – After doing 850 at Iowa earlier this year 650 feels like I’m giving Josh a piggy back ride.  I made to runs and they were both at 8 seconds.

260 Farmers, 100 feet with a turn:  This is a fairly light weight for me and apparently my forearm work is helping out because I got these fast and easy.

 

310 Stone for reps, 60 seconds: I got 5 reps in about 40 seconds and then I was gassed:  I was okay with that, but not pleased.  But considering I ran through all of the contest events in a little over an hour, I think with a little more rest I can hit 7 or 8.

Overall – Great training day!  It was also a huge boost of confidence for me,  I hope to keep that going into the next 2 weeks of training and then just destroy people at the contest.  That’s right, not have fun, not do the best I can- I’m going to make people feel stupid for trying to compete against me.

Sunday – Arms

Today was another good workout!  Hit bis and tris hard and we changed things up just a bit by staying away from dumbells today.

Barbell Curls: 65×10, 85×10, 105×10, 125×8

Reverse Preacher Curls: 65×10, 85×10, 85×10

Skull Crushers: 3 sets of 10

Pull Downs w/Rope: 3 tough sets of 10

Bent Over Cable Culs: 4 sets of 15 – These were awesome!

Finished up with 10 minutes of incline walk and 10 minutes of jogging

Finally a good back workout

After taking Friday off, we hit back today.  I haven’t been getting a lot out of back day, and I think its because of 2 things.  The first is that we usually lift back late in the week and the 2nd is that we usually lift it after hitting both squat and bench hard.  It’s tough to keep up the intensity late in the week, and it would be nice to have more rest, but that’s life.  So after having yesterday to rest up, it felt good to get after today!

Plate Loaded Pull Downs: Sets of 10 with 1,2,3,4, and 5 plates

Bent over Rows: 2 sets with wide grip and 2 sets with narrow grip – Like this exercise!

Seated Row: 3 sets of 10

Chest Supported Row: 2 sets – 1 arm at a time and 2 sets with both arms together

Pull Downs to Back: 3 sets of 10

Finished up with some forearm work.  Great workout!

Zack – Back on Track!

I haven’t posted in a long time, why?  I’ve been having good workouts, but it’s hard for me to get excited and blog about my sets of 10 that I’ve been doing.  You can’t really have a “tear it up” mind set when you have to pace yourself through 4 marathon sets.  Also, Josh is nearing the end of his dieting and isn’t lifting heavy right now.  BUT – Josh’s contest is over with in a little less than 2 weeks and my contest is fast approaching so it’s time to start moving some heavy weight!

Wednesday – Squat – 135×5, 225×5, 405×5, 495×3, 545×1 – strong!, 565×0 – But it felt good to get underneath that heavy weight again!  I really want to squat over 600 by next spring!

Thursday – Chest

Bench Press – 135×5, 225×5, 315×5, 405×5 – New PR!, 435×1

Dumbell Incline- 110sx7, 120sx7, 130sx5 – Felt strong on these as well

Finished up with some plate loaded machines, pec dec, and machine presses

 

I realize that I can’t go maximum effort every workout, because that gets to be counterproductive, but that is what makes lifting fun for me.  So I hope to work in some reps every now again, but I’m looking forward to lifting heavy again.  I’m also looking forward to the return of my lifting partner!  I really admire Josh for the dedication that he puts into his bodybuilding, but I miss having him there to push me in the gym.