Started the last tough week of training today.  Josh and I will continue to train next week, but with lighter weight…just to stay loose and stay in the routine of lifting.  Kinda feeling around for openers this week as well.  Here is what we did today:

Squats: Couple warm-up sets and then went 475, 505, 565, 595  

Then did “I go, you go” drop sets of 455, 405, 365, 315, 225 all for 5 reps

Finished up with heavy lunges, stiff legged dl, abductors, hamstring curls and extensions.

It’s a been a while since I’ve posted.  Partly because I’ve been busy, but also because I haven’t had anything too exciting to write about.  Right now Josh and I are in the meat and potatoes part of the training – It is just week after week of hard/heavy training and it takes a toll on you.  You struggle to find the right balance between recovery and training.  You hate yourself for just missing that bench or deadlift so you want to come back to it twice more that week.  It’s a mental thing…it plays tricks with your head, but I’m confident we’ll pull through, we always do. 

Here is how things are looking:

Squat:  I’ve been hitting 585 consistently and I’m happy with that

Bench: 455 is no problem anymore, just working on assisted sets with 470+ to get more comfortable with that weight

Deadlift:  Somedays I’m good for 600+ somedays not, but this is where I really feel my hip/leg fatigue.  I’m still confident I’ll hit good numbers at contest time.

Other News:  Weight continues to be a struggle for me.  I’ve been down as far as 276 and then back up to 281.  My diet is so much cleaner that what it was and I’m continuing with 3-5 days of tough cardio…I guess that’s all I can do.  Josh suffered some strained muscles in his back 2 weeks ago.  He had to switch to a sumo deadlift, but I think that’s a better technique for him anyway.  His squat has went down some, but he should still be in the 400s and bench is coming back – he got 335 today.  Also his weight is coming up – 196#s.

Had another productive week of workouts, and with 6 weeks left I have an idea of some numbers that I’d like to hit.

Bench – Worked singles on Tuesday.  I hit 435 and 455 easy, gave 465 a try but it wasn’t there.  I’d like to hit in the 470s by contest time, I’ve yet to complete a bench that heavy.

Deadlift – Pulled triples on Wednesday.  It was a tough day.  Hips, legs and lower back are getting fried.  I hit 535 for 3 and 565 for 2 I think.  We max out later this week, I hope to be near 650 by contest.

Squat – Switched it up on Saturday and did sprinting sets of 7: 405,365,315,275,225  All with about 30 seconds of rest in between.  I’m feeling really good about squat.  It would be nice to hit around 620.

Today – Sunday    Nice little workout of biceps and forarms.  Did 35 minutes of cardio today, as well as 30 on Tue, Thur and Sat, feeling pretty good right now.

2 Great Workouts in a row!  Had a great leg day on Saturday and today Josh and I throttled our chests.

Squat Video from Saturday

Tuesday/Chest

Bench Press: 135×10, 225×10, 315×5, 405×3, 435×1, 455×1 – Easy, 465×0 – Not enough energy left in the tank

Drop Sets on Bench: 405×5, 365×5, 315×6 – These were exhausting!

Incline Dumbell: 85×10 for 3 sets

Seated Chest Machine: Max weight plus a 45# for 3 sets of 8

Cable flies, pushups and 2 tricep exercises to finish out the lifting part of the workout…then I had 30 min cardio – 470 Calories burned.

I’m a little behind on posting…oh well!  Josh was running late on Tuesday so I decided to get my cardio in before we lifted.  It was nice to get it over with, but I was not 100% for lifting, again – oh well.  Wednesday was back day and Thursday was shoulders, bis, tris and some forearm.

Tuesday/Chest

Bench Press: 135×5, 225×5, 315×2, 335×5, 375×5 – Good Set, 405×3 – This was 15 minutes after cardio and I had no wind, so I’ll take 3 reps

Incline Bench: 185×10, 205×10, 185×10

Incline Flies from Bottom: 3 sets of 10

Pec Deck: 3 sets of 10

Smith Machine Incline to Flat Bench 3 sets in 1 x 2  – Incredibly tough, great finisher!

Wednesday/Back

Dumbell Rows: 3 sets of 12 with 85s – Heaviest dumbell in the place

Lat Pull Downs: 3 sets of 10

Seated Pulls: 3 sets of 10

Cross Over Pulls: 3 sets of 10

Thursday/Shoulders & Arms

Dumbell Curls: 50×7, 55×7, 60×7

Cable Curls: 3 sets of 10

Hammer Curls: 50×5, 60×5, 60×5

Shoulder Press: 3 sets of 10

Behind the Neck Presses: 3 sets of 10 and finished with alternating pushes from front to back

Arnold Press: 2 sets of 10

A few forearm exercises and a few tricep exercises.  Very tough workout!

Saturday, leg day…sets of 5 today.  I started off good and felt strong, but I ran out of steam at the end.

Squat – 135×5, 225×5, 315×5, 405×5, 465×5, 515×5 – Tough Set, 555×2 – Legs were weak – Stupid

Incline Calves/Verticle Leg Press – 3 sets of 10

Dumbell Lunges/Stiff Legged Deadlifts – 3 trips and 3 sets of 7

Leg Extensions – Sets of 25, 20 and 15 – Very tough!

After that tough workout I had to do my cardio.  I did 32 minutes on the Power Elipitical – it was tough, but I’ve found the settings that I like and I will continue using this machine.  Weighed out at 279.

Gotta love cardio!

Just like that another week is done and over with…boy does time fly by.  Josh and I strayed a little bit from our normal lifting schedule, but it was still a productive week.  After riding in a car for 10 hours the past 2 days it was tough to be awake both mentally and physically for deadlift on Wednesday – We started off working out back at the Super Gym and got a pretty good pump going and then it was time to max on deadlift.  I started with 505, 555, 575, 595 and tried for 615 – I missed that at mid-thigh.  After thinking about it, it wasn’t that bad of a performance but I need to be hitting over 600 more consistently.  Thursday – Trained biceps and some shoulder, it was a good, quick workout and I got a great pump.  I rested on Friday to be ready for squat on Sunday.

I got up early this morning and went and did some cardio.  My diet isn’t completely where I want it to be, but it’s getting there.  I weighed out at 278 today – so I’m moving in the right direction.  Arms is what the schedule called for today, but Josh and I also threw our bench work in because we will be unable to workout on Tuesday.

278

Bench Press: 135×5, 225×5, 325×7, 365×7, 385×6 1/2

Dumbell Curls: 35×15, 35×15

Tricep Extensions and Kick Backs: 3 sets of 10 each

Barbell Curls: 65×10, 85×10, 105×10

Finished up with forearm curls and plate flips with 25s.

Who decided that we should do sets of 7 on squats?  It’s one of those things that looks great on paper, but when it’s time to do them you wonder what you were thinking. 

Squat: 135×5, 225×5, 315×5, 425×7, 465×7, 505×7 – I’m very pleased with all of these!

Single Leg Extensions, Seated Hamstring Curls, Glute Kicks, and a couple of calf exercises finished up the workout.

After a tough arm workout on Sunday, I rested on Monday and then started up with chest on Tuesday.  The main focus was max bench.  I hadn’t maxxed out on bench since the November powerlifting meet and I found myself being a little cautious.  All in all I thought it was decent workout.

Bench Press: 135×5, 225×5, 315×5, 405×1, 435×1 – Easy, 455×1/2 – Very slow going down and ran outta gas coming up

Decline Press: 135×8, 225×8, 315×8 – Really didn’t care for this at all

Flat Dumbell Bench: 85sx20,20 and 15

Seated Chest Press: 3 sets of 10

Wednesday – Back

Bent Over Rows – 135×12, 225×12, 225×12

T-Bar Rows, Dumbell Rows, Cable pulls – I got my lats pumped up good, then it was time to deadlift

Deadlift: 135×3, 225×3, 315×3, 425×3, 505×3, 535×3, 555×3 – Not bad