DE Lower that turned into a 'sporting event'

I don't know if everyone involved felt it was a 'sporting' event, but it was acknowledged to be an event..."Lactic acid tolerance training" is the offical term for it. "Stupidity" was another description I heard. There were also some derogatory non-printable names bandied about as well as a questioning of my relationship with my mother at one point. Either way by tomorrow I may decry it as the most asinine thing I have ever involved in or promoting it as a new 'trend'!

W/ The 4board
Warmups
Box squats-safety squat bar-box & 2 mats: worked up to 255 x2 that was repeated for 30 sets (in 30 minutes) before a winner was declared. 4's lower back was causing him some problems and he stepped in and out of the event before it was called; still he managed 15 or 16 sets.
Reverse BB lunges-front squat position: 2x10/ ea. leg 45, 55
45* reverse lunges w/ foot bars: 490x12, 580x12 x2 sets
Shrugs: 315x15, 365x10, 455x10, 545x15, 495x19
45* side bends: 3x15 ea. side

On a lighter note, I got my new cambered squat bar from the FedEx man today! I've already been doing good mornings in my living room. It's grrrrrrreeeeaaaat!

30 and still counting : )
Ed T.

ME Upper Wednesday

ME Upper Wednesday

W/ 4board & a guest appearance by Shawn
Warmups
Floor press-medium grip: work up to 185x5, 205x5 (misloaded bar), 215x5 (correct), 245x10 (5)
Dips 65 reps
DB rows: 5x10/ 100, 105, 110, 115, 120 x15
Face pulls: 3x15/ 60, 70, 80
Incline Tate presses Supersetted with Zottman curls: 3x15/ 35, 40, 45 and 3x8-10/ 30, 35, 40
DB side bends: 3x10/ 100, 105, 110 then 75x15
Decline situps: 3x10-15

This was week one of the 531. It calls for 3 sets of 5 reps at 65, 75 and 85 percents with the last set as many reps as possible (same loading numbers were used Monday for the deadlift). Shawn met us and we helped him with some heavy board work. He worked up to 545x1 off of a 3-board. He is doing a little outlaw benchpress meet (non-sanctioned) at Mike Wolfe's next month.

Stay tuned for the further adventures of the "Gem City Great Fried Steak, Ice Cream and Barbell Company".

Stay hungry,
Ed T.

ME Lower - Monday

ME Lower - Monday

Warmups
Deadlift-conventional: worked up to 290x5, 340x5, 385x8 (5)
Reverse BB lunges: 2x15 ea. leg/ 35, 45
Glute ham raises: 2x12-15 (2d pin)
45* reverse hyper w/ foot bar: 270x20, 360x20
Standing V-bar pulldowns: 4x15/ 80, 100, 120, 130 (in between reverse hypers)
Straight leg situps: 1x15 then 3x8 w/ 100 pounds

I don't even know if I can call this ME day anymore. You are witnessing the debut of the 5-3-1 Program here. Of course, I can't do much without tweaking things so we will retain DE upper and lower days. I like the speed work and believe in it. There will be some days when RE (repeated effort or repetition work) will take the place of DE upper work. Basically we will be working off percentages of a 1RM with submaximal weights. The supplemental and accessory work will change a little in regards to volume. If three months from now, the crash test dummy (me) isn't making any progress, I will have to rethink this. Especially in regards to the addition of speed work. It should be noted that this is a significant departure from the original 5-3-1 and may not be for everyone. Joe Defranco has used something extremely similiar to what I am doing here (actually credit Joe with the idea of this concept. He uses more RE work with the upper body than DE work however. He says it works well providing one can handle the volume. I don't think that will be an issue.)

Why am I doing this? To see if it works (for me). I know Big Auto uses it to an extent and he says he likes it. I have used a Westside template for some time now and am very happy with my results with it. I simply want to try this. I do not have a doubt that I will return to that kind of template in the future. I guess to take that even further, this is still a Westside-style template with altered loading perameters on the "ME days" (and not switching main exercises each week). Anyway, it is what it is.

And away we go,
Ed T.

Zee Meet Report

From The Lexen Extreme Fall Classic in Cbus, O-hi-o


I met Shawn and 4board early Sunday morning to help them out. 4board had gained weight since the last meet and competed as a light (229-ish) 110-kg. Shawn went SuperHeavyWeight (though about 15 pounds lighter than his last outing). There were approximately 55 lifters. The two competing members of the "Gem City Great Steak, Ice Cream and Health Klub" lounged about the warmup room since they were in the third flight while I got bored and ended up helping run a monolift (and wishing I had wore shorts. It was freakin' hot!) Eventually, the crew started their warmups and I had something "to do".

4board opened at 500 and it passed easily. He was basically withut a suit as his Frantz poly was MIA and used his old Inzer standby. Shawn opened with 600 in briefs (with the plan being to get in the meet with the opener then screw around with his canvas get-up), but got called for a bounce on the bottom. Achieving depth was still going to be an issue. In round two, 4board took and got 535 for a PR! We decided on 550 for his third. We got Shawn buttoned into his suit and he was jumping to 900 for his second attempt. A huge increase but the plan was that the weight would help Shawn hit the depth he needed. Unfortunately, he missed depth by approximately 2 inches. He fought the weight down when in actuality he probably should have let the weight force him down quicker, the suit would stop him and he could do the voodoo that he do so well and lift it. A long post-lift discussion with Dan Dague confirmed this and he asked for 1025 for number three. 4board was reminded to keep his head up and push quickly through the mid range of the lift for his last attempt. I was calling his lifts on a tap from the side judge and on the last one as he hit me, I started to call "up" and started to choke and no word came out of my mouth! Not good but I got it out. Despite my f&%*-up, 4board stood up easily with the weight. He got turned down though for trying to rack the bar too quickly.

Then came Shawn like the Mighty Casey he took three tries at setting up with the 1025 (that's one THOUSAND and twenty five POUNDS), and had to adjust the height of the monolift a few times as his wide stance and the sheer heft of the weight kept pushing down. On the third try he stood with the massive weight for a brief instant and then had to rack the bar as it pushed him forward. I cannot begin to imagine how that felt and helped my big friend off the platform. Wow...

To his credit, Shawn decided to still push and pull. As he and 4board were starting to warm-up, he had a family emergency crop up and had to pull out of the meet. (Thankfully everyone was OK!) So I got The Golddigger stuffed into his shirt and waited for him to be called. He opened at 390 and it was easy. The flight (number 4), once it going, moved pretty quickly. He took 405 for his second attempt and got three white lights. But as he got off the bench said it felt 'heavy' (and I'm thinking to myself 'its 405 freakin' pounds it is a bit heavy'). He lowered the bar a little higher than normal and didn't tuck his elbows as much as he could have. That coupled with questionable leg drive would make things a bit difficult. We discussed all this in less than the time it took to write it and decided to take a conservative 415 for a third attempt. More rest and a little shirt adjustment and he smoked the 415. It looked like the easiest one yet.


In the deadlifts, I felt and 4board agreed that he would not have any issues as the deadlift is his lift. He opened at 550 and got three white lights. Then he jumped straight to 600 for what would be a huge PR, and got it! Not wanting to miss his third attempt he decided to take a little less than he had planned to and asked for 615. He started with the weight a little too far out in front of him and had a bit of difficulty starting but quickly corrected himself and pulled a nice PR (which passed 2 to 1). Like Dr. Dre, 4board had a good day (and didn't have to use his AK either!)


It is pretty satisfying to watch how far The Golddigger has come since he bombed out in his first meet back in May (bench only). A lesser man would have not gotten over that, let alone come back to do a full meet less than 2 months later. Since the July meet, he has been able to add 70 pounds to his squat, 50 to his bench and 50 to his deadlift. The interesting thing is that the flimsy Inzer squat suit he had to use probably didn't offer much help, meaning he was doing the work (and leaving open to sepeculation how well he could do with some good gear!)


Overall it was another interesting and entertaining meet; a positive experience. I think we somehow manage to entertain ourselves no matter what, which I think is a good thing. We learn from our experiences and find new weaknesses with our successes, meaning one thing...


Back to the front,
Ed T.


CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 4BOARD!

DE Lower

Long warmup
Box squat-ssbar-box & 2 mats-wide stance: work up to 10x2/ 275 wore briefs
Deadlift: work up to 311x1 x6 sets
45* reverse hyper w/ foot bar: 270x15, 470x12, 560x10 x 2 sets
BB reverse lunges: 2x10/ ea. leg 35-pounds
Shrugs: 315x15, 405x10, 495x16
Prone trap raises: 3x15/ 2.5-pounds
Overhead crunches 4x15 and Hanging leg raises 3x6

Quote de jour
(overheard from Dude, remember him, to someone who could've been his twin)
"Dude, that's a healthy squat!" after twin ground out several 1/4 squats with 295.

It was like a car wreck, I couldn't look away...
Ed T.

ME Upper-deload

Warmup
Floor press-medium grip: 115x5, 145x5, 175x5
Dips 60 reps
T-bar rows: 5x12/ 90, 115, 130, 140, 150
Side raises: 3x15-20/ 15, 17.5, 20
Rolling DB extensions: 3x7/ 30, 40, 50 then 2x10/ 40
Decline situps and overhead crunches

Stay strong,
Ed T.

ME Lower

ME Lower

Sled pulls 8x 60 yds. 2 w/90 (forwards/ backwards), 2 w/ 135 (forw./ backw.) and 4 w/180 all forwards
Front squat: 3x5/ 135, 185, 225
45* reverse hyper w/ foot bar: 290, 380, 470 3x15
Straight-arm pulldowns: 4x15/ 30, 50, 60, 70
Decline situps 3x10
Standing overhead crunches 3x10/ #1, #2, #3 (Cybex) heel-to-toe


Just another day,
Ed T.

DE Upper

W/ 4board and J$

Warmups (lots of 'em, waiting for everyone to show up)
Benchpress-3 grips: work up to 185 x3 x9 sets
Rack lockouts: 12 pin w/ medium grip 315 x5, 365 x3 then 13 pin w/ wide grip 405 x1, 455 x1, 495 x1
DB flat benchpress: 2x 21, 16/ 90
Lat pulldowns w/ H-bar: 5x10/ 145, 155, 165, 175, 185
Hammer curls: 3x10/ 45, 50, 55
Triceps creepers: 45 reps ea. arm w/ 3 mini bands

A good fast strong day,
Ed T.

DE Lower

Friday 16 October

W/ The Golddigger

Warmups
Box squat-box and 2 mats-regular bar: work up to 225 x2 x8 sets
Deadlifts-conventional: 6x1/ 275 (2 sets) and 315 (4 sets)
Glute ham raises: 3x12+
45* Reverse hypers w/ foot bar: 230x10, 320x10, ? x10
V-bar pulldowns: 3-4x15

I should really right things down right after I do them. Trying to do this 3 days later, well, my memory fails me...

Plugging along,
Ed T.

ME Upper

Warm-ups
Floor press-medium grip: work up to 215x5, 245x3, 275x4 (1+)
Dips 50 reps
T-bar rows 5x12/ 45, 90, 115, 125, 135
Side delt raises 2x12/ 25, 30
Rear delt raises 4x10/ 25, 30, 35, 40

ME Lower

"Strong as really strong"

Or How a biomechanically inefficient good morning squatter wrestles a canvas squat suit to the death and turns it into a scarecrow stuffed with straw for Halloween

Or how the uncoachable one was coached by Gritter and later shredded his suit with a butcher knife and threw in it a furnance

Wow. What a day. I met 4board and Shawn at the Powerstation in Middletown. They were doing some suit work before their next meet and Powerstation has a monolift (2 in fact). It is a pretty cool place and a great place to get strong. They have all you need and then some.

First we'll hit the high spots. 4board worked up to an easy opener then took 510 for a pr. He threw aside conventional wisdom (being about 12 days out) and hit one more; 520 or 530. Don't recall which it was but it was a nice rep. Shawn battled it out with his canvas suit. The weights all were easy but he had trouble hitting depth. Gritter, a "retired" powerlifter with a 600 lb. bench, just happened to be in the area on business and stopped in. He helped coach us a bit. He is very straightforward in his assessments of everyone's lifting.

But the quote de jour had to go to Shawn. After 4board's last squat he declared, "sheesh. you're as strong as...you're as strong as...you're as strong as really strong!"

Now for my part of the nonsense.

Warmed up with some kettlebell work and mobility work (see I told you Powerstation has everything!)
Squats: worked up to 345 x1 then 400 x1 then 345 x3 x2 sets. Used a medium stance and wore briefs and a belt.
Reverse hyper: 90x15, 180x15, 210x15
45* back extension: 3x15 w/ purple band behind neck
Pulldowns w/ H-bar: 5x15/130, 140, 150, 160, 170

This was the first time I have squatted in a while. I am sorry to say that while I have gotten stronger in my ME lifts I have neglected my squat and it showed. The 400 was not a true 100% ME lift. I feel I was good for another 20-30 pounds. It is still way off what I have done in the past (albeit at a heavier bodyweight). My groin was bothering me a bit so I used a medium width stance instead of a super side one. The briefs helped somewhat. It is a lot different squatting without a box when one has not done it in awhile. I really enjoyed the monolift though! And I always have a good time training with 4board and Shawn.

Must get strong(er),
Ed T.

DE Upper

"Meet the Creeper"

4Board was renewing his wedding vows (and Shawn was probably still tucked in his bed in his jammies with the feet on them) so it was just me and JC this morning.

Warmups (the usual plus rear delts on machine 3x20)
Benchpress: work up to 135 x3 x3 sets then 145 x3 x3 sets. 3 grips and approximately 160 pounds of chain on the bar
Rack lockouts: #12 medium grip 335 x5, 385 x2 (Invisible welder was here) then #13 wide grip 405 x3, 445 x3, 475 x6
DB flat benchpress: 85 pounds 2x19, 16
Lat pulldowns w/ H-bar: 5x10/ 130, 140, 150, 160, 175 x12
Hammer curls: 2x 12/ 45, 50
Triceps creepers: 75 reps each arm

Triceps Creepers. I saw them on Elitefts.com yesterday. So in the spirit of Halloween (since it is October) we added Creepers. They are used as a finisher for triceps and are somewhat theraputic in that they can help alleviate elbow issues. To perform them, choke three (or more) mini bands approximately head high and do a single arm standing tricep extension for 10-15 reps, drop a band, perform 10-15 reps, drop a band and perform 10-15 reps. Then switch arms and you are done.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

I'm a lunker

"Entering the 'No-Judgement' Zone"

I was in Connecticut visiting family and looking for a place to train. Right down the street from where I was staying was a "Planet Fitness". I wanted to train at Mike Katz's place (Mike Katz of "Pumping Iron" fame for you youngsters out there) since I was in the area and was told that he had been bought out and was running a chain of these places (instead of World Gym). So this is where I ended up.

When I saw the big sign on the wall declaring that I had entered a "No Judgement" Zone I should have known I was in "trouble". I told myself that hey this is Mike Katz's gym! I mean the guy competed against Arnold. He played for the Jets. He knew what it was like to move some iron. Apparently he knows how to make a buck too. There was a non-stop parade of people coming in and forking over cash to sign up during my visit. The next sign things were not kosher was when I learned about the free food giveaways.

Unfortunately I missed Monday "Pizza Night" and Tuesday was "Bagel Morning" and I missed that too. Wednesday was not devoted to any food group so I was outta luck. (There was a Dunkin Donuts down the street if I needed a fix...). This place was something else. I have read about places like this and heard about them but never had the "pleasure" of training in one. "Places like this" you ask? Places where the heaviest dumbbell weighs 80 pounds (EIGHTY pounds) and there was NO power rack. My garage was bigger than the free weight area. Which was fenced in by the way (to keep people out or to keep those that made their way into the area in, I dunno which). There were 3 Smith machines however. So I hung my sweat shirt on one (they are great coat racks) and went to work. I had to totally improvise as my original plan (ME Upper) went out the window due to lack of equipment. Based on what I had available I went with a "repetition method" ME day.

Warmups
DB benchpress: work up to 80 x24, rest 3 minutes then 80 x15
Incline Tate presses: 4x10-12/ 35, 40, 50, 50
Underhand barbell rows: 5x10/ 135, 155, 175, 195, 205 Supersetted with Pushdowns (straight bar): 3x15+/ 60, 75, 90
Face pulls: 3-4 x15/ 60, 70, 80, 90
DB side raises (one arm): 2x20/ 25

The only sign of life I saw in the place was the guy (sorry I forgot your name) doing face pulls(!) who directed me to the water fountain. I asked him if there were more DBs hiding somewhere (no). I said this place is "different". He said "yeah tell me about it. I only come here because it's close to work." Said he worked at MB Sports Training in Northford, Ct. (shameless plug).

Oh yeah the lunker thing. A lunker is a person "who grunts, yells or screams while lifting weight. Who uses chalk. Who drops the weights" (is there a gentle way to lower 400 odd pounds?!?). On the wall in the free weight area was a siren and a flashing red light (the lunker alarm). As much as I tried I could not set it off. I was sad.

I hope somewhere in Ct. there are real gyms. I would hate to think that this was all that was left. I did learn stuff (even if one learns 'bad' stuff you still have more knowledge). The girls were hot. (Matter of fact I did not see an ugly one during my whole stay.) So at least there was that...

Making lemonade from lemons,
Ed T.

Max Effort Lower

I was pressed for time this am so the plan was to roll in, warmup hit the main lift and whatever I could squeeze into the allotted time. It wasn't much.

Warm-up
Box squat-safety squat bar-high box-medium stance: work up to 315x1, 355x1, 405x1 and 425 stapled me to the box dropped back to 315 and did 2x3 & 5 reps (approximately 80%)

Everything felt heavy today. After yesterday's training, I felt pretty good. It was the best upper body day I have had since August 18 (when I fouled my shoulder up). No pain, the weight moved good, etcetera. Today...not so much.

Getting stapled sux,
Ed T.

DE Upper Body

Trained with JC this AM. 4board had lice or fleas or crabs or something and couldn't make it. And I do not know if this is good or bad but I stepped on the scale this morning and weighed 218! Yikes!

Warmups (the usual)
Benchpress: work up to 4 chains per side plus bar weight 5x3/ 95, 105, 115, 125, 135 (3 grips)
Rack lockouts: 12 pin medium grip 3x5/ 315, 365, 385 moved pins to 13 & moved grip out (pinkies on rings) 405x3, 435x3, 465x8
Flat DB benchpress 2x20, 21/ 75
Lat pulldowns: w/ H-bar 5x10/ 150, 160, 170 (3)
Hammer curls: 3x12+/ 40

Don't get buggy,
Ed T.

DE lower body

Warm-up The usual
Box squat w/ blue (strong) bands & ss bar work up to 245 x2 x3 sets, then 265 x2 x2 sets wore briefs and used a box & 2 mats
Glute ham raises 3x10
45* reverse hyper w/ short strap 290x15, 380x15+, 470x15+
Shrugs 315x10, 365x10, 455x20

Stay strong,
Ed T.