Ketchup

Again...

12/22/2010
Warm-up
Benchpress 205x5, 235x5, 270x5
Wide grip lat pulldowns (change bar every couple sets) 150x12 x 6 sets (straight bar, V-bar, H-bar)
Push-ups 75 reps in 4 sets
*trained in jeans...

12/24/2010
Warm-ups
Squat 280x5, 325x5, 365x5
left to go see Santa...

12/27/2010
Trained with The Bus again
Warm-up
Deadlifts 360x3, 410x3, 465x1 x7 sets
GHR 75 reps in 4 sets
Roman chair sit-ups 75 reps in 4 sets

As you can see it was a weird week; went to see Santa, trained in jeans, trained with the Myth (aka The Bus)...So it goes.

Got cletes from Santa...watch out
Ed T.

531 Pulling

"Or Maybe I was Inspired Not To Train Like A Girl Because of The Bus"

12/20/2010 (Monday)
Warm-up (the usual)
Deadlift worked up to 335x5, 385x5, 440x10
GHR 80 reps (6 sets)
Hanging leg raises w/ Ab Straps (5 or 6 sets) 75 reps

Maybe it was because I trained late today. Maybe it was DMX. Maybe Jay Bussy inspired me. Maybe I'm an idiot. The 5 felt so easy it just begged for me to do something stoopid. So I do'd it.

Mondays are gangsta rap days at the gym (Thx 4Board). Dress, look, walk, talk and sing like your favorite artist. Or be like me and trip over your pants and almost rack yourself on the glute ham raise...How do people ever run dressed like that?!?

Get Strong(er),
Ed T.

Deload week

12/11/2010 Saturday
Warm-up
Flat DB press 3x5/ 60, 75, 95
Chin-ups and Dips superset 35 reps each

12/14/2010 Tuesday
Warmup
Assisted chin-ups (blue band) and GHR 45 reps each
Push ups and hanging leg raises 45 reps each

12/18/2010 Saturday
Warmup including Lunges and Rocky sit-ups 45 reps each (supersetted until done)
Stability ball DB press work up to 85x15, 90x15, 95x14
Lat pulldowns (wide grip) H-bar 8x8/ 140 w <30 seconds rest between sets
Dips 78 reps different grips (close to wide)

I determined my reps in the deload week by using approximately 60% of the total reps used before (75). I added Friday's work to Saturday's warm-up because I was too lazy to do it on Friday. It worked out ok. I did no bar work. I did not benchpress at all as my left shoulder was/ is killing me. The best it has felt was after Saturday's training. I guess all the blood going to the area helped. Pull-ups/ chin-ups also hurt it as well as aggravate some sort of lat problem I got going on on my left side. That's why I subbed the pulldowns for the pull-ups.

Headed south,
Ed T.

531 Upper/ Lower

12/08/2010
Rolling and mobility work
Benchpress 235x5, 265x3, 295x1 x5 sets
Assisted Chin-ups (neutral grip) w/ blue band 75 reps
Push-ups 75 reps

12/10/2010
Rolling and some mobility work (got all excited listening to Eminem and just started squattin')
Squat 315x5, 355x3, 400x1 x5 sets
Deadlifts (sumo style) against doubled mini-bands 275x1 x3 sets 295x1 x3 sets
Lunges 50 reps each leg
Sit-ups (spread eagle) 25 Decline sit-ups 25

Squats felt strong. Video recording some of my lifts and getting good feedback from it, especially since I train alone a lot. Its amazing how sometimes something feels "f&^%$d up" when you are doing it then you "roll the tape" and its not. Been working on technique A LOT. Noticed in my pullin on Monday a small mistake I was making so I will address it next time around. Squats looked good.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Purple Haze

12/04/10 (Saturday)
Warm-ups (usual rolling and mobility work)
A. Squat 295x3, 335x3, 385x1 x8 sets (approx. 120 sec. rest between sets)
B. Speed pulls - sumo - (against doubled mini-bands) warmed up to 275x1 x7 sets <60 sec. rest
C1. Lunges 55 reps (4 sets)
C2. Sit-ups (spread eagle) 55 reps (3 sets)

12/06/10 (Monday)
Warm-up
A. Benchpress 225x6 x4 sets (alternating grips)
B1. Chin-ups - neutral grip 80 reps a lotta sets
B2. Dips 80-something reps 5 sets

12/07/10 (Tuesday)
Warm-up
A. Deadlifts 380x5, 430x3, 480x1 x 5sets <180 sec. rest between sets
B1. GHR 80 reps 5 sets
B2. Leg raises 75 reps 4 sets

12/08/10
Warm-up
A.Benchpress 235x5, 265x3, 295x1 x5 sets
B1. Neutral grip assisted chin-ups (blue band) 75 reps several sets'
B2. Push-ups 75 reps 3 sets

Ok so what's up with the repugnant bastardization process he has going on here you may be asking yerself. Well, just to prove that a "little bit of knowledge can be dangerous" I wondered what the effect on my strength would be if I perform my last set of 3 and/ or my last set of 1 (in the 5-3-1 week) "one rep at a time". For example, in my squatting session, going to 90% (385, actually 380 for me but I was too lazy to get the small plates), I performed several singles instead of 3+ reps. Rest time between sets was limited to 3-5 minutes (closer to 3) for most sets. I feel it allowed me to focus more on my technique rather than smash reps records (which is pretty cool too). And for what it is worth, after about the fourth squat set, I felt more explosive and strong(er) than on the first few reps.

For my 5-3-1 week (75, 85 and 95 percents), I decided to do no more than 5 singles at 95%, based on Prilepin's Table, which recommends 1-2 reps per set over 90%, with a range of 4-10 reps, and 7 reps optimal. 

I have done this now for my last squat, deadlift and benchpress days (over the last week) and will continue for several cycles to see what effect, if any, it has.

4board was not impressed with the Jimmy Hendrix "Live in Monterray" cd we had on in the gym this am. I pointed out that winter time is perfect for it. He digressed and we ended up with White Zombie.

'Scuse me while I kiss the sky (not "guy", Matt...),

Ed T.

Ed T.

Training update

11/24 to 12/3

11/24/10
Rolling and mobility
Benchpress 200x5, 235x5, 265x5 x2
Chin-ups w/ green band (neutral grip) 8 sets 75 total reps
Pushups 75 reps 3 sets

11/26/10
Warmups
Squat 275x5 315x5 355x5
Lunges 4 sets 60 total reps
Sit-ups 2 sets (one straight leg and one spread eagle) 75 reps total

11/27/10
warmups
Benchpress 225x4 x6sets
Chin-ups blue band supinated grip 8 sets 75 reps
Dips 4 sets 75 reps total

11/29/2010
Warmups
Deads 355x3 405x3 455x3
Glute ham raises 75 reps 5 sets
Leg raises 4 sets 75 reps

12/01/10
Warm-up
Benchpress 215x3 250x3 280x3 255x5
Chin-ups supinated grip blue band 5 sets 75 reps
Pushups 2 sets 75 reps total

Not much else happening. Diet fair. Haven't been getting any conditioning in. Weight staying the same (good). Staying busy with everything else (see previous post).

Keep on truckin'
Ed T.

What I have been up to and where I have been Or...

"My excuses for being a slacker"


Life

After my last blog post, I went on vacation which was not much of one; my truck broke, had one decent meal in five days, felt sick the whole time, lost 5 pounds I couldn't afford to lose and didn't sell the car I drug along with me (actually didn't even get a nibble until the last day). My dad made an unexpected visit 3 days after I got back which was fine but I didn't get a lot done because I was doing the family thang. So the next week I started to catch up and actually was making headway until my laptop took a dump. Which would not have been too much of an issue except everything I need for work is on it. So, $1200.00 later I had a new laptop and the old one was getting fixed. It was over 5 years old anyway and boy this new one is sooooo fast. What was supposed to take "2-3 business days" took 3-5, so by the end of the week I was starting to get some things done. Out of the blue my girlfriend gets sick and I'm taking care of her as she was home in bed all week. Then I had to have my ma taken to the hospital because she became deathly ill, I mean like the doctor said (several times) if she hadn't got there when she did she would have been among the departed. Talk about something sucking the life out of you. Fortunately, the gym is semi-low maintenance and with the help of my trusty sidekick, Cosmo Buckman, everything in that department went ok. (Thank you Cosmo!) Good thing as I was barely in there all week. (And by coincidence it was a deload week).

Training

After a strong training cycle leading up to my vacation, the last 4 weeks were a "treat". By the end of the second week, I scrapped everything I was doing and decided that the best thing I could do for myself was recover. Instead of letting my diet go to shit in the midst of this, I started to clean it up. And sleep more. Or at least better quality sleep (thank you Z12). As for training, I kept the 531 program and switched all my assistance work to bodyweight exercises. So my week would now look like this:

Saturday: Submaximal Effort (66%) Benchpress followed by a chin-up variation and dips 75 reps each in as many sets as needed.

Monday: 531 Deadlift with Glute ham raises and hanging leg raises 75 reps each

Wednesday: 531 Benchpress with a chin-up variation and pushups 75 reps each

Friday: 531 Squat with lunges and sit-ups 75 reps each

Two off days were reserved for some kind of conditioning non-sense (farmer's walks, hill sprints, prowler, whatever).

Mentally, this has been a huge boost. And because I am only doing a few things, I must do them well. So far, so good. I had originally laid out a 12 week "cycle", I have decided to extend it a few more weeks and keep doing the bodyweight stuff.

So now I will give you my last 2 days of training.

Monday - rolling and mobility work - Deads work up to 330x5, 380x5, 430x10 - Glute ham raises and hanging leg raises supersetted 75 reps each. Prior to the deads I did some shoulder pre-hab work.

Wednesday - rolling and mobility work - Benchpress 200x5, 235x5, 265x5x2 (felt good so I did it twice; see below) - Chin-ups with green band & neutral grip supersetted with Push-ups 75 reps each.

And to wrap it up on a happy note, I got two great birthday "gifts". One was my ma getting better; still sick, still in the hospital with a long road ahead but a lot better than a week ago (watching your mom mutter like a raving lunatic with some lucid moments where she told you she was "headed towards the darkness" cause she was "tired" and you had to "encourage" her to turn the hell around will wear on ya).

And two, Wednesday night, in the midst of my training, a little old lady knocked on the door. Lo and behold, she was Marilyn Rainey, one of the original owners (along with husband Jim) of the original House of Health! We chatted for a long while and she was very pleased that somebody was putting the name to good use. It was cool beyond words. A very personal and inspirational moment. I still feel good about that!

Ol' Brookszinski set a Kentucky State record and got Best Lifter at the SLP Kentucky Muscle two weeks ago. He smashed the old record of 585 with his 680 pound press! Check out the video on facebook.

And belated congratulations to RE who was the Ivy League Co-player of the Week the week of the 15th for her performance in the Crimson's win over Maine! Go Big Red!

And now that I did 430 ten times, I own it.

Vini, vidi, vici,

Ed T.

Deload SE

10/16

Warmup
Sled lower 6x 90#
A1. DB flat bench 2x max reps w/ 90 (34 total)
A2. Pulldowns 6x8 w/ 3 different bars 145#

B. 4Board press 3x5/ 225, 265 (2)

C1. Seated Db cleans 4x8-9/ 35
C2. Straight bar pushdowns 4x10

Deload week. Cut the weight and the volume and the rest periods. Work faster. Pizza is for Brookszinski. Wherever he might be....

Mmmmm. Pizza,

Ed T.

Training update

10/ 10
Ran Hamburger Hill 8x

10/11
Warmup (the usual)
Sled one-arm 6x 3 exercises 50#
A. Deadlift 370x5, 415x3, 465x1, 495x1
B. Box squat w/ cambered squat bar (lowered box height about 2") 3x5/ 225, 275, 315
C1. Reverse hyper 3x20/ 190
C2. Lat pulldowns - straight arm (like benching) 3x15/ 50-70
D. 10 minutes of abs

10/13
Usual warmup
Sled lower 90# 6x 3/3
A1. benchpress 225x5, 255x3, 285x1, 230x3x2 sets
A2. chin-ups various grips 76 total reps
B. Low rack lockouts w/ fat bar185x5, 225x5, 265x2 205x8x2
C1. Band pushdowns 5 sets purple band 100+ reps
C2. Band pull aprts 2x failure w/ doubled micro-mini

10/15
Part I
Rolling and mobility work
Upper sled 6x same as earlier
Squat 305x5, 345x3, 385x1 315x5

Part II
Rolling and mobility
A. Speed pulls 8x1 295 sumo style
B. Good mornings w/ safety squat bar 3x5-8
C1. GHR 4x14
C2. Lat pulldowns V-bar 4x15 to 160
D. OH band crunches 4x15 green band

I like the single arm sled work. I had gotten bored with the same sled exercises. Also get a little anti-rotation ab work with them. Good stuff. The 465 came up easy so I took one more and got that easy too. Considering I hadn't pulled anything that heavy in a minute (and was heavier last time I did) I was surprised how good it felt.

531 Works!
Ed T.

SE Upper

Saturday October 9

Rolling/ mobility work
A1. Benchpress 3x8/ 225 3 grips
A2. Assisted chin-ups supinated grip green band 110 reps 15 reps per set up to 90 then 2x10

B. 4-Board press wide grip 275x5, 315x3, 340x1, 355x1, 365x1 then 295x5

C1. Seated DB cleans 5x10/ 30, 40, 50, 50, 35x15+
C2. Band pushdowns 100 reps green band 3 sets (!)

Sunday October 10
dynamic warmup ran the damn Dam 8x

Overall training is going well. I am entering a strength block as opposed to the higher volume hypertrophy work I was doing (with my assistance work). I did that block for 12 weeks. My weight has stayed right around 220. I wanted to stick with the hypertrophy block when my weight loss finally leveled off to maximize my size at that weight ("grow into the weight"). The strength loss I experienced with the weight loss has started to reverse itself. I am starting to pick up lost ground and get stronger. The conditioning will affect strength gain somewhat and I will have to adjust my training accordingly. But for me the benefits far outweigh the negatives.

Get Strong(er),
Ed T.

531 Lower

Friday October 8
Part I
Roll/ Mobility work
Squat work up to 285x3, 320x3, 365x6 (rep PR)

Family emergency precluded any more work. Returned later and was able to finish training.

Part II
Roll/ Mobility work
A1. Speed pulls 245x1 x10 sets (50%)
A2. Band pullaparts 7x15 monster mini-band

B. GHR 4x13

C. Hanging leg raises 25 reps

Pulled sumo.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Upper

Wednesday October 6
Rollin and mobility work
Sled lower 6x (?) 115 3/3
A. Bench 210x3, 240x3, 270x3, 215x5x2
A1. Chin ups 61 reps sets of 5-6 neutral grip

B. Fat bar lockouts pin #18 (just off chest) 135x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 205x10 and the bar is heavier than a regular bar, not sure how much...
B1. still doing chin-ups (see above)

C. Band pushdowns 100 reps 3 (!) sets purple band

I was having a good time until I realized some slimey low life #$%^ stole a set of clips from the gym. Clips for holding weights on the bars. I looked all over the freakin' place and got nuttin'! Worthless nutless *&^%$#!#$%^&*!

Lookin at video tape,
Ed T.

531 Lower

Pullin'

Monday October 4, 2010
Rollin' and mobility work
Sled upper one arm work 8x (4 exercises; row, overhead press, rear delt, row variation)
A. Deadlift work up to 345x3, 390x3, 442x9

B. High box squat with cambered squat bar 3x5/ 225, 275, 315

C1. GHR 4x12
C2. Lat pulldown w/ V-bar 4x15/ 140-170
C3. Side bends 3x15/ 45, 50, 55

I am sooooo excited about the 442x9. It was a rep PR. I started gettin' dizzy. And I didn't bleed all over the bar doing it! (That's probably the most amazing part.) Like the Road Warriors used to say, "Whaaaddaaa rush!"

Legion of Doom,
Ed T.



SE Upper Part II

Whole buncha nuttin'.

Saturday October 2, 2010
Band pushdowns 100 reps (4 sets) and Overhead weighted crunches 4x10 80-100

Boring people to death,
Ed T.

SE Upper

Saturday October 2

Rollin and mobility work
A1) Benchpress worked up to 8x3 reps w/ 225 using 3 different grips
A2) Chin-ups w/ band (at least) 10 sets of 10 (we lost count)

B) 4-board benchpress 275x3, 315x3 using medium grip then 345x3, 350x3 both using a wide grip

C) Seated DB cleans 5x10/ 30-50

Trained with Reggie Jackson today. Everyone thought Mr. October was retired but actually he works at the Kettering Rec Center on weekends!

A 4-board without 4board is just a benchpress. Get it?

Coffee is kickin' in,
Ed T.

531 Lower

Friday October 1

Rollin and mobility work
Upper body sled pulls w/ one chicken wing 6x with 45 pounds
A) Squat 265x5, 305x3, 345x5

B1) Reverse hyper 5x15/ 180
B2) Band pull aparts w/ monster mini band 4x15

And that's all folks,
Ed T.

Heartbreak Ridge

I stopped at a bookstore today looking for the new PowerliftingUSA , didn't find it. But did look at a neat book about the film career of Clint Eastwood. So, in honor the steely-eyed one, like Gunny Highway, I charged up my own Heartbreak Ridge, er, Wright Brothers' Park hill,  x8.

The whole time I was thinking WTF is wrong with me,
Ed T.

Part duex

Thursday September 30
Rolled and did mobility work
A1) DB rows 5x10/ 85, 95, 115, 120(2)
A2) Front/ rear wall slides x15 2 each

B1) Seated DB cleans 5x15/ 35
B2) Scap pushups 4x10

C1) Band pushdowns 100 reps 4x25
C2) Barbell curls 3x20-25

Like the great Bambino, Babe Ruth, who I coincidentally portrayed in a school play when I was but a wee lad, I declared that I would go 4 for 4 today. Unlike The Babe, I didn't do anything as dramatic as pointing by bat at the fence and blasting a dinger out of Yankee Stadium. I had buy-one-get-one-free coupons from McDonald's that expired today so I used 'em; two Big Macs and 2 Filet-o-fishs. With fries, of course.

Hmmh.

I thought I looked more like Corky Miller,
Ed T.

Hills tonight!

531 Update

Well another week is almost gone and I am behind again. The beginning of the month and the end of the month are hectic times. Sometimes in-between is not much better. My training is going well. The split still works. If I have a larger block of time available I will go through the whole training in one shot. Resetting my squat max was a good move. Since I did it "mid-cycle" I am going to repeat that cycle in it's entirety. Conditioning is still being done twice weekly (hills, farmer's walk, Prowler) in addition to the sled drags beginning each workout. My diet needs to be sharpened up. By that I mean quit eating crap which accounts for 25% of the time. Big problem is meal frequency. Onward and upward however.

Saturday September 25
Roll
Mobility work
Sled drag 6x w/ 90 3/3
A1) Benchpress 6x4 with 225 used 3 grips
A2) Assisted chin-ups w/ green band 100 reps in 10 sets

B) 3-board press 3x3/ 275, 285, 295 close grip

C1) Incline BB press 5x10/ 135, 155, 165 (2), 135x16 medium grip
C2) Face pulls 5x15/ 50

D1) Band pushdowns 100 reps 4 sets purple band
D2) DB curls 3x20

Time to change the assistance work. It has been approximately 4 or 5 weeks since I changed it. Starting to get a little stale.

Took a break then did the Farmer's walk 6x using 100# ea. side. Actually, I was racing the 12 year old kid whose mom owns the beauty salon next door. He had 30# DBs (he weighs 70) and we split 3/3.

Monday September 27
Roll and mobility work
It rained so I got in touch with my feminine side and did not pull the sled
A) Deads 320x5, 370x5, 415x5

B) Box squats high box safety squat bar  405x3, 455x3, 495x3 (had planned on using the cambered bar but had brain freeze and used the one that was left in the rack. Could have also been laziness...)

C1) Glute ham raises 5x11
C2) Lat pulldowns 170x10, 160x12, 150x14, 140x17, 130x21

D) Hanging leg raises 4x5

Wednesday September 29
Part I
Rolled and did mobility work
Started benchpress warmups then a customer came in and the whole thing came to a screeching halt. My free time disappeared then I had a client scheduled soooooo after that, I did it all again.
A) Benchpress 195x5, 225x5, 255x5

B1) Blast strap pushups w/ feet up 2x30, 23
B2) All through the benchpress and the pushups I alternated with close and wide neutral grip pull-ups 55 total

C) Tate press 5x10/ 40, 50, 60 (3)

Stay tuned for Part II.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower and Trivia Winner

Friday September 24

Foam roll and mobility work (with new Cressey stuff)
Upper body sled dragging 6x 45#
Squat work up to 305x5, 345x3, 385x5
Speed pulls sumo style 8x1 w/ 295
Reverse hyper w/ long strap 5x15+ / 165
Band pull aparts w/ monster mini band 4x15+

For upper body sled work I am doing one arm at a time. It is more challenging than the bilateral stuff.  Some of the same movements but alternating guns. The 385 felt good. I left a little bit there but that's ok. I video'd myself squatting and noted a few technique issues that need correction. Happily, I always feel that my squat (or whatever) looks like crap and after looking at the video, I realized that it is not all bad. Got some of the pulls recorded too and they looked good.

Matt 4Board correctly guessed Jesse Ventura as "Blaine" from "Predator" as the person quoted in my "trivia challenge" the other day. I had a very nice gift picked out for him but he did not show up and I felt sorry for the bum in need of a public restroom, so while I deprived him of the use of the facilities he did recieve a lovely parting gift.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Upper

Wednesday September 22

Part I
Sled lower 6x 3/3 w/ 115#
Benchpress work up to 220x5, 250x3, 280x1, 225x5 x2 sets
Blast strap pushups w/ feet up 53 reps 2 sets
Tate presses 5x10/ 40, 45, 50, 60, 70x8, 55x10

Part II
More rollin' and tumblin'
DB rows 5x10/ 85, 95, 105, 115(2) s/s w/ alternating Front and rear wall slides and scap push ups
Seated DB cleans 5x13/ 30, 35, 40, 45, 35x failure more of wall slides, etcetera
Band pushdowns 100 reps purple band 4 sets
DB curls 1 set to failure
OH crunches 5x10/ 60-120

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Big PR!!!!

Ran the hill (not the damn) 8x! Previous best was seven.

All the conditioning you need in 20 minutes.

I ain't got time to bleed,
Ed T.

"What movie was that from?"

Bonus question: "Who said it?"

The first one with the correct answer will recieve a major award.

SE Upper/ 531 Lower

Saturday September 18

Roll and mobility work
A1) Bench 4x6/ 225
A2) Assisted (green band) chin-ups 8x10

B) 3-Board press 275x5 x3 sets

C1) Barbell Incline Press close grip 5x10/ 135, 150, 165, 180x8, 145x12
C2) Face pulls 4x15/ 60, 70 (3 sets)

D1) Band pushdowns purple band 100 reps
D2) Alternated Hammer and DB curls 4x20-25

Monday September 20

Pt. I
Sled upper 8x approx. 40 yds. w/ 90#
Rollin and mobility work (Cressey squat warmup again)
Deads 365x5, 415x3, 460x1
Box squat w/ cambered squat bar high box 275x5, 315x5, 365x5

Part II
Rollin and mobility work
A1) Glute ham raises 5x10
A2) Lat pulldowns 4x15/ 160
Abs

I realize that I should be doing my warmup "before" the sled pulls but I am not. I rationalize it as the sled pulls are light enough to be a "warmup". They are in no way "stressful".

The Infamous Epstein introduced me to his new training program that we call "KOFP" (pronounced "cough"). It stands for Kevin's Own F!#$%^g Program. I asked him what he was doing and he explained it to me and I asked how it was working and he just shrugged. So I said, basically you're on your own        f#$!*&^ program?!? And he nodded in the affirmative. It seems to be working for him. We may try to package it and sell it. We even came up with a slogan; "Turn heads with KOFP" Get it? Turn heads with KOFP? Turn heads and.....COUGH! I was entertained with that notion.

Ketchup

Wednesday September 15


Part 1
Sleddin' lower 6x30 3/3 90#
Rollin and mobility work
Benchpress work up to 205x3, 235x3, 265x7
Suspended (bar) pushups w/ feet up 3x30, 20, 15
Tates 5x15/ 50


Part 2
DB rows w/ wall slides (4x) 5x10/ 75, 85, 100, 110(2)
Seated DB cleans w/ scap pushups (4x) 5x13/ 30, 35, 40(2)
Band pushdowns w/ purple band w/ DB curls 3x20 (light)

Friday September 17

Sledd upper 8x30 yds w/ 70 pounds
Rollin and mobility work (w/ Cressey exercises added)
Squat work up to 285x3, 340x3, 365x5
Speed pulls (sumo) 10x1 @ 50%
Reverse hyper 5x15 w/ 150 (long strap)
S/S w/ Chinups 40 reps (5 at a time) changing grip each set

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower

"Pullin'"

Tuesday September 13

Part I
Rollin and tumblin
* Added new mobility work for hips
Upper body sled pulls 8x40 yds w/ 80
A. Deads work to 340x3, 390x3, 435x8
B. Box squat w/ safety squat bar - high box - 315x5, 355x3, 410x1, 450x1, 475x1 then 345x5

Part II
More rolling and mobility work (same as am)
A1. GHR 45 reps 5 sets
A2. Lat pulldowns H-bar 4x15/ 140-170
B. DB side bends 3x20 side/ continuous w/ 50 pounds

Saw a preview video of a new Eric Cressey product that addressed mobility for the squat. Tried out the movements before I pulled and felt much better after warming up with them. The 435x8, leaving 1 or 2 in the tank, is a PR. Same with the box squat. I had to remind myself that it was supplemental work, not ME work, and stopped with a nice strong 475. And all that after weighing in at 218 that morning. I am very pleased with the day's training.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

SE Upper

Monday September 13

Rollin' and mobility work
A1) Bench 8x3 w/ 225 w/ 3 grips
A2) Chins 50 reps (5 at a time)

B) 3-Board press w/ index finger approx. one-inch from edge of knurl (I call it the "George Halbert grip" 'cause that's where I first heard it suggested) 275x3, 295x3, 315x1 had no spotter and stopped.

C1) Incline benchpress with a wide grip 5x10/ 135, 150, 160, 170, 180
C2) Face pulls 4x15/ 30-60

D) Pushdowns light band 100 reps

Stay strong,
Ed T.

No public restrooms, updates and does training cause incontinence

Last week was interesting for several reasons. In the course of several days, I had three people off the street come blazing into the open front door of the gym, begging for a public toilet so they could take care of business. The last one was a senior citizen with coke-bottle think sunglasses and a Doberman Pinscher. She tied the dog to the outside of the door while she went into the can. That was in the midst of Shawn's deadlifting session. I walked out and left him and 4Board in charge. They had some fun with that one when I returned ten minutes later and told me that the old woman was "still in the can and had requested more paper." Shawn said, 'dude, I think you should call 9-1-1. She's been in there a long time and we thought we heard her crying for help.' Finally, I went back there to see for myself and she was gone. The laugh was on me. Oh, and Shawn finally pulled 700, a PR. And there are "No Public Restrooms" at The House.

Wednesday Sept. 8 was a two parter.
Part I
Sleddin 6x w/ 100# 3 each way
Bench 190x5, 220x5, 250x5
Suspended pushups 2x25 w/ feet up
Tates 5x13/ 40-60

Part II
DB rows 5x10/ 75, 85, 95, 105 (2) w/ wall slides
Seated DB cleans 5x13/ 25-35 w/ scap pushups
Pushdowns w/ light band 100 reps as many sets as possible to get done (4)

September 10 Friday
Sled upper 90# 8x various movements
Squat 295x5, 340x5, 385x2 felt very freakin' heavy (or I am very freakin' weak). I explain it as a textbook example of how stress, lack of sleep and a crappy diet can really screw up one's training. So it is with a heavy heart that I will once again; reset my squat max. And get my s^%t together in the diet and sleep departments.

September 11 Saturday
A1 GHR 3x15
A2 Back raises 2x20
A3 Chin-ups various grips in between 1 and 2: 5 reps a crack for a total of 40
Farmer's walk 8x 40 yds.

The highlight was a visit by "The Angry Coach II" aka Big Auto. I got to listen to him vent about barfights with the parents of the little kids on the middle school football team that he coaches, among other things. A visit with the Large Automobile is always welcome.

This week I noticed that everyone, without fail, who comes in to train, eventually barricades themselves in the can to "do work". I am not quite sure what that means other than I will have to stock lots of toilet paper. I, myself, prefer to "work" at home. Unless its an emergency.

TCB,
Ed T.

531 Lower and The C-word again

"Pullin'"

Sept 6

Sleddin' upper body 6x w/ 2 plates various movements
Rollin' and tumblin'
Deadlift work up to 315x5, 365x5, 415x5
Box squat w/ safety squat bar to high box (an inch or two above parallel, I think) 3x3/ 315, 345, 365 someone said the bar weighs more than a regular bar so I don't know exactly what I did. I felt strong...
GHR raised the back another pin hole 5x8 S/S with Wide grip lat pulldowns 3x15/ 160

Sept 7
Ran the damn dam 5x

And then it poured.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

SE Upper

Sept 5

Sled 8x30 w/ 115 4/4
Rollin' and tumblin'
A1) Bench work up to 3x8 w/ 225 3 grips
A2) Eccentric chins w/ pronated grip 5x3 (five count lowering)

B)3-Board press medium grip 3x3/ 275, 315, 335x2 then 275x5

C1) Barbell Incline press medium grip 5x10/ 135-175
C2) Assisted chin ups neutral grip w/ blue band 5 sets 61 reps

D) Band pushdowns 100 reps light band

The board press was interesting. The only person there that could help me was my girlfriend. So she got the board detail and I handled the unracking and the rest. We set up a set of Spud Straps to catch the bar if everything went sour and away we went. Fortunately there was nothing to report. Digging around in my old training log, I found an entry for a 3-board press 345x1 w/ a wide grip from last year almost to the day! The entry says I weighed 225. So I am a bit lighter now and 'in the ballpark' strength-wise. I was happy with that.

Thanks Shell,
Ed T.

Aug 29 to Sept 3

I am going to cop out on this week. It was a deload week so not much exciting went on. And it beats me typing out weights I am embarassed to say I did. But that is why I deload.

On a positive note, I went to buy car parts Sunday and the salesman asked me for my ID when I presented a check. As luck would have it, I had literally left my ID in my other pants. I begged and I pleaded (because I did not want to make a second trip). I told the salesman how I buy stuff here all the time (I do) and 'can't ya pullllllleaze accept my check???' He said, well, I can but I need the operator's license number and a phone number on the check. That's easy I replied and rattled off the seven digit ID number like it was my phone number. The guy looked at me oddly and said, 'uh, ok, but how do you know that?' Easy, I replied, Donato's always asks me that when I write them a check for pizza. 'You musta bought a lotta pizza from them,' he said. I just nodded.

Deload makes deload lighter thus maketh one strong(er),
Ed T.

531 Lower and 531 Upper

Friday August 27, 2010

Rollin and mobility work
Feeling absolutely crappy; sick, shoulders sore, blah, blah, blah

Heavy sled pulls for 40 yds. 2x 2 plates, 2x 3 plates, 2x4 plates (all forwards and backwards) then 2x5 plates (both forwards)

Deadlifts sumo 10x1 @ 295 30 sec rest in-between (did some TKEs too)
GHR 3x15 and Back raises 3x15 and Lat pulldowns with a neutral grip 2x15

Sunday August 29

Warm up
Sled 6x40 w/ 90 (3/3)
Benchpress 6x4 reps w/ 225 and Assisted chin-ups 6x10 w/ blue band
3-Board press w/ close grip 2x3/ 275, 315

DB Incline press 5x10/ 65, 75, 85 then 70x12 and 55x16 and Neutral grip chins w/ 5+ second eccentric.

Pushdowns 100 reps over sevral sets w/ purple band and Pull-aparts w/ monster mini band 4-5x15

*I was in a hurry so I combined everything. Worked ok.

Stay strong,

Ed T.

531 Upper & The 'C' Word

"Stupid Human Tricks"
Tuesday August 24

On a beautiful summer's eve, I took to the Dam hill and since I only ran the bottom half, did it ten times.

Wednesday August 25

Rollin' and Tumblin' (by Johnny Winter?) aka foam roller and mobility work
Sleddin' 6x30 yds 3/3 with 115
Benchpress work up to 320x1 then 255x3 and 5
Suspended pushups (on bar) w/ feet up 100 reps several sets
Low cable rows w/ V-bar 5x10/ 185, 210, 235, 260, 285
DB shrugs 5x15/ 120
Landmines 3x5 each side
Band pushdowns 100 reps (purple band)

And I engaged in a lively debate with Cosmo as to whether one had an increased risk of keeling over dead from endurance events as opposed to lifting very heavy weights. We found studies on folks dropping dead during and post endurance events from heart problems but the leading cause of weightlifting related deaths seemed to be from aysphixiation. From choking to death. From a barbell laying across one's throat. Take that Monkey Boy!

The 'C' word is conditioning,

Stay strong,

Ed T.

The Women of Summer

Once again, this summer, I have the honor of working with some very special and talented female athletes. One is RE, who is back from that little ol' Ivy League school in Boston, Massachusettes. She is in town for a minute. And thanks to her referrals, I am training AF who is entering her sophomore year at a very large, very competitive school on the west coast. Hint; NCAA 2010 Final Four team.


So RE and AF are training together while RE is in town and I was thinking to myself; here are two student-athletes from the number one and the number five colleges in the nation. And they both come from the same town. I guess it would be safe to say; we're bad, we're nationwide. It is always a pleasure to work with such quality people and athletes. I want to share with you some of their trainings.


There workouts last between 1:30 and 1:45 depending on whether we add some conditioning at the end or not. They use foam rollers, do mobility work and some prehab exercises then perform a dynamic warmup. This is followed by some jumping and landing drills and movement work; including change of direction conditioning. We move into the strength training then. This is a little different than before.


We have two full body days and a upper and a lower day as well (four days total). AF needs to get stronger. She is looking at a possible position change and more lean muscle mass will help her get there. I only have RE for a very short time so we are very limited in what we can do with her. Two days a week we follow the weights with conditioning; usually trips with the Prowler. Either way we finish the day with some stretching. (I have been reading a lot of Eric Cressey stuff lately which has had an influence on what I am doing. Check him out. Its good stuff!)


I will show you a sample of what the ladies have been doing in the gym.


From last Saturday (after the usual warm-ups, etcetera) here is what they did; a full body day.


Box squats (parallel box) Used Safety Squat Bar 4x6 reps (AF 135, 155, 175) (RE 155, 175, 195)
Supersetted with Regular pushups for AF and Suspended pushups for RE 3x12 for each
One-arm cable rows 3x12 side (AF 25) (RE 25, 27.5 x2)
Supersetted with Walking DB lunges 3x6 side (AF 20-30) (RE 20-30 using Fat Gripz)
Landmines 3x5 (AF and RE both used the same weight)
Supersetted with supine N0-moneys 3x4
Farmer's walk 4x40 yds. Each implement weighed about 80 pounds.

Here is another example: an upper body day

Benchpress 5x3 (RE 65-105) (AF 65-95x2 then 75x3)
Supersetted with Assisted neutral grip pullups (AF blue band and RE red band) 5x3
One-arm DB push press 3x8 (side) (AF 30-35) (RE w/ Fat Gripz 25-35)
S/S with Seated cable row 3x8/ 75-85 pounds
Band resisted Ab wheel rollout 3x8 (AF Swiss ball rollouts)
Side lying external rotation 3x10/ side
Prowler 8x 40 yds with 140 pounds

They work hard. They don't complain. And they are...

Strong(her),
Ed T.

Go! Big Dog Go!!!

"Puttin' Strength to the Test"

Matt 4board did it. Friday. He singlehandedly beat the Canadians at the Police-Fire Can-Am Games. Took home a gold medal in his class (220 open). More importantly he set 2 pr's. Which means Matt is getting strong(er).

But the day did not start out so sunny. Well, ok it actually did. But M4 did his best to cloud it up. He appeared a little peak-ed after dropping weight for the weigh-in. He bloated back up but was not his usual shiny self. He opened with a strong 600 in the squat. (And his coach did not cough in lieu of an 'up' call. Ahem.) We decided on 635 for a pr. But fate had other plans (see my last post about life-not-being-fair). He got out of his groove on the way up and the spotters had to take it. OK, no problem, we would retake the weight and still get the pr. In the third attempt he got buried in the hole. It was so awful I could not look (well not really). Even with that he was still in the meet. I think he was a little rattled but WTF; it happens. We marched on.

Warm-ups went well for the bench. He opened at 410 and came down a little too slow and a little too low on his chest and it came up very slowly. So much for this being a confidence builder. (And he had the lovely Mrs. 4board and The Two Little 4boards in attendance. In the front row. No pressure though. I mean who wants to look bad in front of family. Me personally, I find if one does it enough on a regular basis no one gets surprised anymore. But thats off the subject...) We were very very very conservative for attempt number two; 420. It would give him a 5 pound pr. Well that one went down and up much better. Still a little slow but good. Sticking with the conservative theme, we decided on 435 for number three. And he smoked it with pounds to spare. It was the prettiest benchpress yet.

So on to M4's pet lift. His bread and butter; the deadlift. I think El Fourboard-o was starting to feel a little better. He complained his back was a little tight. We thinks it was from doubling over during the third squat attempt. Someone backstage had some Blue Heat (Horse lineament folks. For horses and hairy Irishmen. And cranky Pollocks too. Get some. It works.) and Matt tried some of it. He took it easy in the warm-up room to conserve energy. (In the midst of all this, Grandpa called and asked how M4 was doing. I gave him the rundown about the squat, and, the artful dodger that he is, Gramps asked, WTF? Is he a head case too?!? Confidence, friends. It is most reassuring when one feels the overwhelming support and love of friends. I told Matt that Gramps said 'hi' and left it at that. M4 smoked 600. Numero duo had 635 on the bar (another pr) and The Matt-meister ate it up. We discussed the third attempt. I said how did it feel. He said, a little heavy. I replied, well it sure looked easy. So he said, pick whatever you want. So I did. 650. It's what he blacked out during in his last meet. Now it was payback time.

The Board came out, moved the bar around a bit to where he wanted it and attacked it! He rolled it forward and back, then I swear he actually jumped off the ground, then, set to pulling that bitch off the floor. Well, it was a magnificent lift my friends. The jump threw me off a bit, but once the bar left the floor I knew it was his. It was his best pull yet. And it sure was p-u-r-d-y.

What a nice day. We learned some things. We have some things to work on in training and we had a great time. I spent some time talking to Larry Pacifico, who was coaching some lifters there, and enjoyed that. What a neat man. I think it is pretty cool that in my small area there are so many legendary powerlifting figures around. It is very humbling to be able to speak freely to them and call some of these guys my friends.

So congrats again to Matt, "Go big dog! Go!" He went alright.

And I didn't realize you were such an emotional person. I owe you a hug, big guy. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. (You can hit me later. And I'll remind you...)

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Squeezin' It In

Feeling like crap so in classic brainiac fashion, I forgoed (is that a word) any real semblence of warming up in exchange for getting right into the iron pills. Now I am paying the price.

Sunday

Missed my squatting cause I was busy (more later)
Squat 310x3, 350x3, 395x3, 315x5
Benchpress 4x6 reps w/ 225 changed up my grip each time
Rack lockouts dropped the pins a notch close grip 335x3, 370x3, moved hands out a bit and some freakin' creep of an Invisible Welder dumped on my parade ground when he welded the 405 to the pins. I got one.

Tucked it between my legs and went home. Drowned my sorrows in Moose Tracks and chili (blatant plug for Carroll Shelby's Chicken Chili "kit". Try it. It's good. I used turkey too.)

Monday

Trying to make up for a lack of manliness on Sunday. Said screw warmups again to prove my mettle.
DB incline press 5x10/ 50, 60, 70, 85, 90
S/S w/ Assisted neutral grip pullups 4x15
Purple band pushdowns 100 reps (took me 5 sets to do it)

Waited awhile. Told a disinterested client to go home. Things are looking up...Maybe I will pull (normal Monday routine) and finish off my spine. Why the **** not?

Pullin' 360x5, 410x3, 455x1, 365x3 x2 sets (used 100 pound plates. It made me feel more like a man.)
Box squats w/ safety squat bar (parallel-ish box) 275x3, 315x3, 345x3 all good (Then was reminded that bar weighs a bit more than a regular bar. At this point, who the $%^& cares). Lower back toasty. RX is 4x12 of reverse hypers/ 150, 300, 390, 480. And yes this was about the only thing that made me feel better.

Remember kids; life is hard. Its not fair. And I have a knack for making it more difficult. In some old movie, one guy asks another (I think they were in a foxhole), 'when do I get a break?' To wit, his pal replied, 'Neverrrrrr!'

That's what friends are for.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

More Hills and stuff

August 17 Tuesday

Ran the hill at Wright Bros. park again 7 times.

Aug. 18 Wednesday
Part I
Sled lower 8x30 4/4
Floorpress 215x3, 250x3, 280x3, 225x5x1-2
Suspended pushups (feet up) 5x20, 20, 20, 12, 10

Part II
Low cable rows 5x10/ 175, 200, 225, 250, 275
S/S w/ DB shrugs 5x15/ 115
Monster mini band pushdowns 100 reps 1 set(!)
OH band crunches 2x30 OH side bends 2x15 ea. side used blue band

Thursday I woke up with a sore throat and have felt like crap ever since.

Sleepin' it off,
Ed T.

SE Upper/ 531 Lower

Sunday August 15

It was my mom's birthday. Happy birthday and thanks for putting up with me.

Sled lower forwards/ backwards 4 each w/80# for 30 yds.
Benchpress 8 sets of 3 reps with 225 using different grips
Rack lockouts (pin #11 - lower) close grip 315x5, 365x4, moved hands to medium 385x5, 405x5
DB Incline press 5x10/ 70 S/S with Assisted pullups (blue band) 5x10
Pushdowns w/ monster mini band 100 reps (3 sets)

Monday August 16

Part I
Sled upper body 8x30 yds
Pullin' 333x3 383x3 436x3 348x5 for one or two

Part II
Box squats w/ cambered squat bar 275x5 315x5 335x5
GHR 3x20 raised the back of the GHR

A boring but productive, I think, two days. I wanted to do something different for my supplemental work for deads and I think the box squats will do. Plus I really like 'em. We shall see...Prefaced all my training with foam rolling and mobility work so I will not be like Matt "Stiff-as-a-four-board". Who got catcalls from the crackhead at the drive thru while he sled pulling in the parking lot. What did the guy say, uh, "Go big dog, go!"???

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower

Friday August 13

Foam rolling and mobility work
Squat 285x5, 330x5, 375x5, 300x5 x2
Suspended Good mornings - seated 3x3/ 315, 335, 355

Saturday August 14
Couldn't make it to the hill so pushed the Prowler in the parking lot. 10x for 30 yds alternating between high and low handles aka "The Hell That Is New Jersey".

Got some straps to hang chains from the rack so I decided to try concentric good mornings with the bar suspended. And seated. Wow, what a good time that was. Epstein was watching me and apparently could not determine if I was an idiot or a genius. (It's a fine line.)

Congratulations again to my friends Allison and Dave on their wedding! Went to the reception and had a wonderful time. Great family and two very special people. I wish you the best for the future!

Meanwhile, I am, keeping stupid popular,

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Upper

Wednesday August 11, 2010

Part I
Sled lower 90 x 30 yds. Eight times (4 forwards and 4 backwards)
Foam rolling
Floorpress 200x5 235x5 265x5 then 215x8 x2 sets
Tate presses 5x15/ 40, 50, 60x10, 60x15 x2 sets S/S with DB curls 3x15/ 25, 30, 35

Part II
More rollin' and mobility work
Low cable rows 5x10/ 150, 175, 200, 225, 250 S/S with DB shrugs 5x10-15/ 90, 100, 110, 120, 130
Ab circut 2x Elbow-to-knee situps x10, Russian twist x30 seconds, V-ups x10 and repeat
Barf

Not really but that ab circut crap bites.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Chuck Norris Ain't Got Nothin' On J$

"Slacker 24/ 7"

Not really. I saw this on a shirt today,"Slacker 24/ 7", and it seemed appropriate when I thought of the blog. So I am back. My only excuse is work taking up the majority of my time and trying to have something of a life in between. Whaddayagonnado? Snivel? Whine? Make excuses? Yeah that sounds about right.

Training is going well. I am still doing the split (am and pm) and it is working well. I pulled 450 for an easy six, with a bit left, in my last 531 cycle. My weight has been holding right around 220+/-. I added some more conditioning to my training in the form of running hills and besides being incredibly stupid (like doing it today in the 100-plus heat), it's kinda fun. You see, Cosmo B!#$%^n runs marathons and falls off, er, rides bikes, in his quest to make the rest of us look bad. I, however, have found a way to do it myself (look bad that is), in twenty minutes or less even; run hills. Time is very valuable to me so if I can get maximum stupidity in minimum time and get in better shape in the process, well, I am all for that. Besides, if its gonna kill me, I would rather have it over quickly than a long and drawn out process i.e. don't bore me.


I have also started playing around with benchshirts again as I cannot let Matt and Shawn have all the fun. My super duper used Katana actually fits now so maybe I can finally use it (besides just giving on-lookers the show provided by my exceptionally large friend Shawn shaking my formerly bloated self into a garment made for a guy who weighs around 210. It looked like a dog shaking a cat by its neck). My former best in it was what would be the equivilent of a 1/2 board press with 475-500. So we shall see.


I came across this "Top Ten" list penned by Cosmo-don't-mention-my-name-I-don't-wanna-die-B!#$%^n. It is indeed a klassic and may soon find its way onto a t-shirt in honor of my legendary friend. When you read this, recall the Chuck Norris t-shirt...

• Jim Cash can kill two birds with one stone.
• Jim Cash can eat just one Lay's potato chip.
• Jim Cash can sneeze with his eyes open.
• There is no 'ctrl' button on Jim Cash's computer. Jim Cash is always in contol.
• Jim Cash once ate a whole cake before his friends could tell him there was a stripper in it.
• Jim Cash can't finish a "color by numbers" because his markers are filled with the blood of his victims. Unfortunately, all blood is dark red.
• Jim Cash's house has no doors. Only walls he walks through.
• Jim Cash can believe it's not butter.
• The grass is always greener on the other side. Unless Jim Cash has been there. In that case, the grass is most likely soaked in blood and tears.

Watch out Joey V. ....

Stay strong my friends,

Ed T.

531 Lower Part 2

Reverse hyper 5x12/ 200, 290, 365, 440, 530
OH band pulldowns 2x20 ea. side (green band)
OH band side bends 2x15 ea. side (green)
Bench sit-ups 2x20

Moved a bunch of stuff afterwards so I got my GPP in...

Boring, I know,
Ed T.

531 Lower Part I

Friday
Sleddin' upper 6x30 w/ 80(?)
Squat work up to 275x5, 325x5, 370x5 then 295x8
Pullin' 6x1/ 265 sumo style

I hit a new low on the scale this week; 215. I haven't been that light since high school. I went to my nutritionist, Shawvlanka Brookskoff and had two words for me; super size and extra value meal. Fourboard, being the big help he usually is, asked if I had a Golden Corral near my house. Actually I do not mind the weight loss as much as the strength loss that has accompanied it. Most notably in my squat and benchpress. I reset my 531 maxes for the first time since I started it in September last year. I drew up a new plan of attack for my training (mainly getting more quality training time in) and have begun. I think the two best things you can do in regards to training is 1) have a plan and 2) execute it. (Not said is perfect technique which I would hope would go without saying). Instead of doing many things half-assed choose to do a few and do them well! And have patience. Whenever I get around to writing my training manual, I am going to be realistic and call it "365 days to a better you". Rome was not built in a day. And neither was Ed T.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

July 11-July 14

Sunday
Sled draggin' lower body 6x30 yds. 70
Benchpress work up to 6x4 reps with 245
Rack lockouts (#10) medium grip 3x3/ 365, 405, 435

Part 2 Sunday
Foam rolling and mobility work
DB military 5x10 S/S with Lat pulldowns (medium grip) 5x12
Gun Show

Monday
Foam roll and mobility work
Deadlift work up to 311x5, 355x5, 405x5
Good mornings with cambered squat bar 3x5/ 225, 255, 275
Reverse hyper 5x15
Gun Show part 2

Part too
Sleddin upper body 8x30 w/ 70#

Wednesday
Sleddin' lower 6x30 w/ 70 forwards and backwards
Floorpress work up to 200x5, 230x5, 260x5 then 210x8x 2 sets
DB rollbacks 25x15, 30x15, 35x15, 40x13, 45x12
Hanging leg raises 4x5

Part two
Rollin and mobility stuff
CSR 5x10 2, 3, 3.25, 3.35, 4 plates (hows that for mumbo jumbo?!?)
S/S with barbell shrugs 5x10/ 315, 405, 495, 545, 405x20

Shawn pointed out that my blogs are rather lackluster lately and very dragnet-like (as in just the facts). Guilty.

I resolve to say more stupid things in the future.

I wish I could say something spectacular but quite frankly training is headed in a direction, and going well. I am getting better at managing my time for the business and that helps A LOT. For the business AND my training.

Just do it,
Ed T.

June 29-July 7

June 29

Part 1
Warmup
Sleddin 8x30 w/ 90# 4/4
Pullin 331x3, 375x3, 425x3
GHR w/monster mini-band around neck 3x8, 6, 6

Part 2
Sleddin
Reverse hyper 4x15/ 150, 300, 390, 440
Hanging leg raises (toes to bar) 3x6, 5, 5

July 1
Part 1
Sleddin' 6x 30 w/ 45 (upper-this is when I determined it would be prudent to perform upper body sled pulls on a lower body day...)
Floorpress work up to 235x3, 270x3, 300x2
DB flat press w/ Fat Gripz 3x12/ 90

Part 2
Warmup and mobility work
CSR 4x12/ heavy

July 4, 2010 "Happy Independence Day!"

my favorite holiday

Sleddin 6x30 w/ 90 3/3
Warmup and mobility work
Squat work up to 300x3, 345x3, 385x5 w/an easy 1-2 left (very happy) then 315x5
RDL's 3x15/ 143
RH 3x10/ 240, 330, 420
Green band OH crunches 4x15 ea. side
Bent knee sit-ups (legs on a bench) 3x20

July 6 (I think)

Warmup
Sleddin' 8x30 w/ 90 4/4
Benchpress work up to 4x6 w/ 245
Rack lockouts (wide grip) 405x3, 455x3, 475x3
Inverted rows 20+15+13+12 Superset w/ Pushups 45+25+25+21
Retract-row-rotate 3x25+/- w/ mini-band
2-hand triceps extension 5x12-15 Superset w/ DB curls 5x12-15 ("da gun show")

July 7

Part 1
Warmup
Pullin' 354x5, 400x3, 443x6 w/ a couple left (felt great!)*
GHR w/ monster mini-bands 4x8

Part 2
Reverse hyper 4x12/ 180, 270, 420(2 sets)
Hanging leg raises 4x6
Landmine 3x12-15

*wanted to make the deads look easy b/c I was showing off for a hot chick lol. Thanks Shell!

In an everchanging economy, your health is one thing you cannot let depreciate. Rock on!

Stay strong,
Ed T.

BIG PS! Congrats to Shawn Brooks for setting an Ohio state record in the deadlift with a 675 pound pull at an SLP meet in Hamilton a few weeks ago! ...Good to see ya again buddy! I'm glad you're back!

June 28-Upper

Monday

Part 1
Warmup
Sleddin' 8x30 yds w/ 90# 4 forwards/ 4 backwards
Mobility work
Benchpress 4 sets of 6 reps w/ 245
Lockouts-wide grip 405x3, 455x3, 500x1 (ugh.barf.) then 475x3

Part 2
Sleddin' 4x30 w/ 90 2/2
Inverted rows 3x20, 19, 17 Superset w/
Pushups 3x45, 35, 26
Retract-row-rotate w/ mini-bands 3x25

As I may or may not have said earlier. I have been breaking up my training into two sessions a day when necessary. Each is precluded by sled dragging. On lower body days I do upper body sled work and vice versa. Lately I have been skipping the second session. The reason is I use these sessions as a form of conditioning. And my bodyweight is where I want it, between 220-225, and that is where I want it to stay. From a time management position it works well.

My diet leaves much to be desired. I am eating good just not enough. Or I won't eat all day after breakfast or stupid crap like that. The biggest commodity I am deficient in is sleep. All those are are...excuses. I post them as part of my training because all these things, undoubtedly, influence the progress of my training. Re-setting my 5-3-1 maxes was a big step in the right direction. It is the first time I have done so since I began it in September, 2009. Otherwise my progress has been steady.

On the business front we signed four more members last night! Three of the four were brand new, i.e. people I did not know from the old place. I am very happy with that.

So, back to my training!

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower

June 26

Warmup
Sleddin' 6x30 w/ 90
Squat work up to 280x5, 325x5, 365x5
Good mornings w/ cambered squat bar 3x5/ 225, 275, 315
RDLs 3x20/ 133
Monster mini band pull aparts 3x15

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Upper

June 23

Part 1
Sleddin' w/ 90 6x30 yds. forwards and backwards
Floorpress 220x5, 250x5, 285x5
DB flat press w/ Fat Gripz 70x15, 85x12, 90x12, 95x8
Side bends w/ 45 3x20 ea. side
Hanging leg raises 3x5

Part 2
CSR 4x10
Monster mini band pushdowns 100 reps
Face pulls w/ mini band

I used my new Fat Gripz today. I like them so long as I refrain from dumping the DBs on any part of my body.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

We're here!

The House of Health2 is now open for business! We have limited hours until we get a few more things in place and then we will be open 24 hours a day/ 7 days a week!

It feels a little weird training in my gym but I have to say, I think I can get used to it.

Monday AM
Sled drag 6x30 w/ 70 (3 front and 3 back.)
Deadlift 301x5, 348x5, 393x5
GHR w/ mini band around neck 3x8

PM
Reverse hyper 4x15/ 150, 220, 310, 400
Monster mini-band pullaparts 3x15

My first work out with the reset deadlift max and it felt good.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Come check the gym out! We are at 2340 Grange Hall Rd., Beavercreek, Ohio. See us on Facebook on our webpage and in the group, "The House is comin'".

Take it to The House

of Health2 that is...

Matt, J$ and The Mole came in Sunday am for a little pre-opening training at my baby, The House of Health2. Still a little rough around the edges but a long way since we got the keys on June 7. Anyway it was great to train with everyone again. Matt has a meet coming up in August and was starting his shirted cycle. J$ and The Mole were preparing for the IPA World Championships this coming Saturday and were in winddown mode (as winddown as J$ can be).

Warmup
Benchpress 8x3 with 245
Rack lockouts 365x5, 405x5, 495x3 wide grip
Sled dragging 6x 30 yds w/ 90 forwards and backwards

Came back in the afternoon for the second session. Tricked John Adams into training with me.

Part duex
Sled dragging same as before except it was hotter
CSR 3x15/ 100, 125, 150
Seated DB cleans 3x15/ 25, 30, 35

I am going to split the training into two sessions from here on out in an effort to make the most of my time.

The House is here!
Ed T.

Punt!

Friday June 18 @ A51

Warmup
Squat work up to 255x5, 405x3, 450x1 (hard)
Floorpress work up to 240x3, 270x3, 305x3
Deadlift work up to who cares...got 475x1 of 3

Excuses: no sleep, crappy diet, long days, significant weight loss and everything else everyone else has to go through when they work hard. Not recommended for long term success (which I knew getting into it). I was/ am in the Blast phase of the Blast and Dust business model.

The floorpress is going well and I ain't changing nuttin'. I am resetting my maxes for the squat and for pulls.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Happy Flag Day!

Monday June 14

Trained at Larry's
Warmup
Benchpress worked up to 245 for 6 sets of 4 S/S with Inverted rows 3x20, 18, 15 reps

Then my phone rang. The drywall guy was at the gym early and waiting on me... and thus ended my training for the day. Great way to start a week...

(Trying to) Stay strong,
Ed T.

...But Big?!?

5-3-1 Lower/ Upper

Friday June 11

@Area 51 with M4
Warmup
Squat worked up to 335x3, 385x3, 430x3
Floorpress work up to 215x5, 250x5, 280x5
Dips 100 reps (5 sets) S/S with Seated 3-way band leg curls (average band) 3x21 (7 ea. way) and Band good mornings (avg. band) 3x15

I caught up with Matt at C51 Friday and a classic scene occurred. The bar was loaded and I was wrapping my knees for my last set of squats. A pretty thing walked right up to the power rack, threw a set of Ab Straps over the chin up bar, set down her iPod, placed a box under the straps so she could reach them. Then she climbed up on the box and went to work. I was sitting about 5 feet away from the bar while this was happening. I was sitting here with my knees wrapped wondering how to handle this 'cause she was kinda cute and I looked around the room and another guy doing leg extensions just looked and shook his head. I just shrugged. There here comes Matt, and he's shaking his head, just looking disgusted. I was more amused than pissed. So Matt shows up and she finishes her set looks around and finally says i'm sorry, "I'll come back when you're done." No problem.

I talked to her after I was done squatting to tell her I was done with the rack and she apologized again and was very sorry and sweet over the whole thing. And what I took away from it was: make sure I have enough chin-up bars at the gym.

And don't be a dick. She's a nice girl if a little oblivious.

Stay strong!
Ed T.

Boring...

5-3-1 Lower

Wednesday June 9

Warmup
Deadlift work up to 335x5, 385x5, 440x5







and that was it. From first set to last it took 20 minutes. Then ate crappy fare from Tim Horton's on the way to the gym.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

RE Upper

Monday June 7

@ Larry's
Warmup
Benchpress work up to 245 4x6 s/s w/ Inverted rows 3x20, 16, 15
Retract-row-rotate 3x25 w/ mini-bands s/s w/ Pushups 84 reps (3 sets)
OH band crunches w/ light band) 80 reps total s/s w/ Gun Show (2 sets each DB curls and Two-hand tricep extension)

Training is going well when I can squeeze it in. I really sucked at pushups today. Not sure what that was all about...

Stay strong,
Ed T.

The Whole Enchilada

The Kitchen Sink

That's what you call it when you have missed two training sessions in one week (I did walk 'round da hood everyday) and you cram everything into one day. Well, whaddaya gonna do.

So here goes. Today. Friday June 4.

Squat work up to 310x5, 360x5, 405x5
Benchpress work up to 225x5, 245x5, 265x5 (deload)
Deadlift 205x5, 255x5, 305x5 (deload)
Gun Show

Not bad for a day's work.

On a very exciting note, I have in hand a lease for my gym, The House of Health2. We are located at Grange Hall and Kemp in the Beavercreek Commerce Center in Beavercreek, Ohio. I have some cleaning to do and then we can start moving equipment in. We will be doing some remodelling as well, so, as they say, pardon our dust. The remodelling will not affect the day-to-day operation of the gym. Additionally, we will be open 24/7 as a key club! Someone asked me about the name, The House of Health2. So allow me to explain.

I started lifting weights in Gerry Bosworth's basement in my old neighborhood. Me and several other neighborhood kids. Gerry, or "The Boz", as he was called was an engineer, a powerlifter, a bodybuilder and a helluva guy. He helped to instill in me a love for iron pills (what you call 45 pound plates) that I carry to this day. Boz was a member of The House of Health, which was located over a bar on East First Street in downtown Dayton. When we outgrew the weight pile in his basement he would take us down to The House with him. (Imagine one very large man and 3 or 4 high school kids stuffed into a compact Olds Starfire). Anyone who was and wanted to be anyone, trained there. There were bodybuilders and powerlifters and all kinds of meatheads there. It was great! There were wooden floors and handmade "machines" and every now and then the bar downstairs would call up to the gym and complain about people dropping weights on the floor, dispersing dust onto the bar patrons (and into their drinks!) (And just to date myself, I remember when the first woman came in to train. The owners were going to train her and she walked in, everyone stopped what they were doing and stared. I think the music stopped too. No one knew what to think of a woman coming into a gym. Hell, there was only one bathroom there and the locker room had no provisions for women!) I loved that place and scrapped nickle and dime to keep my membership there all through high school. It was a sad day when The House closed its door for the last time. So, my venture is The House of Health2 in honor of the original and the "2" is because it's the second, and if anyone asks, well yeah, it's a chain and there's a number one and a number two and a number three and...you get the idea (cheap marketing tactic I know). When I think of that place today I still smile and when this crazy notion of opening my own place popped up, well, the name seemed more than appropriate. I hope I can do it justice.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Deload week

May 29-Saturday

At the end of a very long day I trained at Larry's...

Squat 225x5, 255x5, 280x5
Seated leg curls w/ green band (3 way) 3x18 (6 ea. way)
Band good mornings 3x15 (blue)
Band pull aparts 3x20 (mini) and TKE's 3x15-20 worked in between sets
Leg lifts 3x 60 seconds

May 31-Monday

@Area 51
Warmup
Benchpress work up to 245x3 x6 sets

Then they closed. And there were several very disgruntled lifters. There was no sign posted but it was a holiday and obviously there was bar-b-que to be had...So I took care of some things and finished at Larry's a few hours later.

Part duex
Inverted BW rows 3x19, 16, 15
Retract-row-rotate with mini-bands 3x lotsa reps S/S with
Pushups 103 reps (3 sets)
Gun show
OH crunches 3x15
Ball crunches 2x20

I have been walking every day. And trying to get in the Prowler/ complexes or whatever whenever. The biggest challenge since the gym closed has been consistency. Larry's is great because it is 5 minutes from my house and I can do whatever I need to do there. It is not the best equipped but it is enough. And with a little creativity one can get A LOT done. Poor Matt on the other hand, with babysitting issues, rotates between 3 or 4 places (!!!) And he is not alone. So the moral of the tale is to make the best of what you have. Just because you do not have what you used to have or what you THINK you need does not mean you cannot still get the job done. It IS a very frustrating situation but, like my dear old grandmother used to say, "it is what it is." She was also very fond of, "whaddaya gonna do?" (Like "fuggedaboutit" these can be used as nouns, verbs, adjectives and interjections. A very multi-purpose phrase(s).) For example:

Matt: "F&^%$#g gym's closin' early!"
Me: "Aa, whaddaya gonna do."
Matt: "They didn't even put up a f!#$%^g sign!"
Me: "It is what it is."
Matt: "This place sucks."
Me: "Fuggedaboutit."

See? Try it. It works. Three phrases that can get you through virtually any situation. (I am also partial to Charlie Sheen's "I understand" from Two and a half men. Couple that with "Interesting." and one has a rather complete vocabulary at their disposal.) But I digress...

Do the best with what ya got. Look at what you DO have instead of what you lack. 'Cause kickin' ass is still kickin' ass. Be like Nike.

Just do it,
Ed T.

531 Upper

May 27

Warmup
Floorpress work up to 245x5, 275x3, 310x1, 340x1
Dips 39 reps 2 sets w/ 45-pounds
CSR 4x8/ 70, 115, 160, 190
Rear delts (on pec dec) 3x12/ 90-110
Gun show

The 340 was heavy. And truthfully, the only reason I took a shot at it was because M4 did 335 and I wanted to one-up him.

Happy belated birthday to Allison! The best coach HWS ever had!

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower and a funny story

Tuesday May 25

Warmup (including overhead band side bends 4x12)
Deadlift work up to 380x5, 430x3, 480x1 then 385x5 or 6
Good mornings (arched back, squat stance) 2x6/ 205, 245
Seated 3-way band leg curls (green band) 3x18
Band good mornings (ol' blue) 3x15
Hammer Hi-row 3x20-25
Skull crushers (BB) 5x8/ 95, 115, 135, 165, 185 (actually they were to the throat)
Barbell curls 5x8/ 70, 80, 90, 100, 110

I trained at Area 51 today and overheard the following conversation:

Dude #1: This place sucks. They moved everything around.
Dude #2: Yeah, now I gotta do the neck machine in front of everybody (sounding disgusted)
Dude #1: And they moved the benchpress next to the cardio equipment so when I'm throwin' up 350, some idiot better not come off the treadmill and bump me!
Dude #3: (to Dude #1) Maybe you should get to 350 first...

Classic.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Something from (almost)nothing

Monday May 24

Walked in the morning (need new shoes)

Warmup
Benchpress work up to 4x4 w/ 235 S/S with
Inverted rows (bodyweight) 3x16, 14, 13
Push-ups 3x40, 30, 30 S/S with
Retract-row-rotate w/ mini-bands 3x max reps
DB curls 5x12 S/S with DB triceps extension 5x12-15
Overhead crunches(on lat pulldown) 4x15

I trained in a small key club I found about 3 miles from my house. It is spartan but has everything one needs. It has (literally) 10 pieces of equipment (including 3 flat benches) and some dumbbells. I had a great workout. I have decided to substitute some submaximal-effort work in place of the (usual) dynamic effort work. My bar speed is not an issue so I have decided to work this in. In the past I have learned that if I take a few weeks from DE work, my speed may slow a bit but after adding a cycle of it back to my training, I can return to where I was.

I have read an article by James Smith (aka "The Thinker" on www.elitefts.com) wherein he referenced some SE work in his own training. That is where the idea came from. He writes that DE work is very central nervous system (CNS) intensive and SE work is less so; allowing one to recover quicker before performing another CNS-intensive training later in the training cycle (week). Therefore one should be able to demonstrate greater strength on a second day (in this case, a ME day or in my case a 5-3-1 day). I used that percentage based on what he wrote. Smith's stuff is very thought-provoking and I would encourage others to read his stuff.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower/ Upper

May 21, 2010

W/4B
Warmup
Squat work up to 355x5, 400x3, 445x1 then 365x5
TKEs sets of 15 each leg in-between squat warm-ups (about six sets)
Floorpress work up to 230x3, 260x3, 295x6 (3) then 235x5
Dips 3x20, 20, 18

See the previous post. After moving stuff all week I had to get some training in. I combined the 531 Upper with the Lower since I had missed upper day earlier in the week. It didn't go bad.

"Public service announcement". If you are on Facebook, please join my group, 'The House' is comin'. I will be putting all updates on the gym project on there.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower

Tuesday May16

W/ 4B
Warmup
Deadlift work up to 355x3, 405x3, 455x7 (3)
Good mornings 2x8/ 185, 225
Seated band leg curls 3x12 (blue band)
Band good mornings 3x15 (blue)
Underhand grip lat pulldown 4x12
Overhead band crunches (blue) 4x10-15

It has been a long week. After I pulled Tuesday, I spent the rest of the day moving stuff for the new gym. And that turned into Wednesday. And that turned into Thursday. So I got a lot of GPP(General Physical Preparedness a'la work capacity) work in. Thursday we carried, actually dragged, 4'x6' rubber mats, out of a building to put into storage. 60 of them. Backwards. About 100' each trip. And that included falling down. Barf. But hey its for a good cause.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

DE Upper

Sunday May 16

W/M4 @ A51
Warmup
Benchpress w/ mini bands work up to 145x3 x9 sets. Used 3 grips
3-Board benchpress 3x5/245, 275, 315. Used medium grip
CSR 3x8/ 90, 135, 180
Seated DB cleans 3x10/ 30, 40, 50
Hammer curls 3x12/ 30, 40, 50

J$ and The Mole were there too. $ was doing some shirt work and The Mole was doing mole stuff. I had not intended to train today but my plans fell through at the last minute and I figured today was as good a day as any! Especially when one considers how goofy my schedule has been of late. The weights felt easy today and my bar speed was good. It was a good day.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

531 Lower

May 14 (Friday)

@Area 51 again w/M4
Warmup
Squat work up to 330x3, 375x3, 425x3 then 345x5
RDL 3x8/ 185, 225, 275
3-way band leg curls 3x15 (average band)
Band good mornings 3x15 (avg. band)
Lat pulldowns 4x15
3-way band crunches (overhead band) 10 to front, 10 to each side 30 total (1 set) repeat 3x

Having bands gives us several options as A51 has limited equipment.

Buy bands,
Ed T.

531 Upper

May 13 Thursday

w/M4
Floorpress work up to 225x5, 240x5, 275x5, 315x1, 335x1
Dips 59 reps 4 sets (two weighted 45, then 90 pounds)
CSR 4x12/ 90, 135, 160, 160
Face pulls 3x15
Reverse pec deck 2x15
DB rollbacks 3x8/ 30, 40, 50
Hanging leg raises 3x8

Trained at Area 51 today, a flaccid, pseudo fitness center that plays piped-in music. I told Matt that I never thought I would train while listening to The Outfield again. He was disturbed that I even knew who The Outfield was. I found out that Larry Pacifico has opened a small private gym, with a monolift, very close to my house. I told Shawn and Matt about this and we may try to get in there for some trainings. It's so close to my house that it would be great to get in there rather than the half-hour plus drive I had this morning.

Tomorrow, we squat.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

More Neon Lites outtakes

After one of his patented 'Gut Buster' work-outs, Big Pimpin' gave 935 pounds the universal sign for 'you're-number-one.'

One excruiatingly boring afternoon, Cosmo wondered aloud what the springy Hula girl on his desk wore under her grass skirt......Now we know.

The Golddigger gets in some GPP on a Saturday afternoon. 'No pictures please, I'm supposed to be at work.'

'Unknown' SHW was spotted doing back extensions during his bodybuilding phase. Best known for his phone call, "Edward....why, three days before my bench meet...are my shoulders so sore I can't raise them over my head???" Dunno. Sounds like a bodybuilding problem.
I had a few more pictures than I thought, oldies but goodies. Here Brookszinski takes charge of a 785 pound rack pull.

Stay thirsty my friends,

Ed T.

Sad Day

'It's a long road and a little wheel. And it takes a lotta turns to get there. Thank you dammit.'
-Charlie Daniels


"I never thought I would see the day when the gym would close. Actually I thought it would be sooner than later but it is what it is.

But what a great day! Saturday there was Jim Cash and Joey V. (The Mole) and Brad Olson and Big Pimpin' AKA Shawn Brookszinski, The 4Board, Epstein and me all either squatting or deadlifting. Usually if there are that many guys together they are benching or doing curls in the power rack. I was squatting with Epstein. Matt was doing box squats to the left of us and Brad was squatting on the right with Jim, Joey and Shawn all pulling next to him. I looked around half way through our warmups and realized it. We didn't plan it that way but it sure was kool! I have some fond memories of days like these. I remember when we all came in shirt work and played bench fags for the day (sorry Brad). It reminds me what it was like in the early 1980s when I had just started training at the old House of Health in downtown Dayton. What a great group of guys that was! Boz, Gary, Brian, Karl (God bless him), Dave and Damon(still a friend today) and too many other faces I don't have names for. Jim and Marilyn Rainey had a GYM by God and to my young eyes these men were larger than life to my young eyes. There I fell into the arms of the Iron Maiden, where I have been ever since!

I made many acquaintances at Neon Lites and some good friends. I had some ugly days too, as an employee and a member. Cosmo Buckman and I planning our first million or our (in)famous 'discussion' wherein we both admitted that we thought each other's ideas, boss to employee, were 'stupid'. (I never had a boss I could do that with. And still have a job!).

Or when ADawg, the morning guy, challenged RE, a woman D1 basketball player to a race and nearly lost. He took a long time living that down! Actually, I always enjoyed it when the women I trained would lift and guys would ask them to stop making them look bad! (Buncha sissies. If they did a third of the crap the women did they could kick ass too.) Man, I had/ have some fantastic clients to work with. Strong women who would walk through a wall to reach their goals. They could teach the boys a thing or two about getting stronger! Or Big Shawn not wanting to become a member and paying by visit 'since I only train every two weeks or so'! Shawn taught me how to benchpress and kept me from killing myself in the process. THANKS buddy! Matt would probably rather I forget the 'old days' when we spotted him while he leg pressed a gazillion pounds. And the new nicknames I came up with for him every time we trained. Then there was the day when Matt realized that the deadlift was his lift. He continues to improve and will total Elite soon.J$ really did NOT care for the EARLY Sunday morning workouts but he showed up. And only ONCE did he throw weights at me. He taught me a lot about competition. And how rare is it to have the opportunity to train with someone like him; first class all the way. I remember when we trained together, during warmups, Matt and I would quietly go over our 'monologue'; how we were going to aggrevate Jim that day. Then play it like Abbot and Costello. And as we trained that day and coached and chided and cheered each other, I breathed it all in and inhaled deeply. I felt a little sad and a bit nostalgic. Days like these, far and in between as they seem to be anymore make me remember why I do what I do and that on days like these, there is nowhere else I would rather be. Training with these men has made me a stronger lifter and a better one. One way to get stronger is to seek out and train with others who are stronger than yourself. And once I did that, training with Shawn, then Matt, later Jim and then Epstein, we all got better. That is when my learning curve truly went up and we all were breaking PR's. Good times indeed. So all in all I have great memories from Neon Lites (that's how I would sometime answer the gym phone to aggrevate the manager and placate the occasional inquiry; 'Yeah. Y'all install neon lights?' Yup, that's us buddy, whaddaya need?!?). And no doubt, with the great friendships I have made and people I have met there, with a crew like this looking over my shoulder, the only way to get is, strong(er).

The best is yet to come,

Ed T.

531 Squat & Deadlift

Friday May 7
Did 3 rounds of circut training consisting of about a dozen exercises for sets of 20 reps. Each one took about 9 minutes with about 3 minutes rest in between. Did this in lieu of a barbell complex because my elbows were sore. Trying to get away from doing the Prowler the day before I squat (not a good idea by the way).

Saturday May 8
Squat worked up to 305x5, 355x5, 400x5

Sunday May 9
Deadlift worked up to 330x5, 380x5, 430x5

Skimped on supplemental and assistance work because I was moving...

Which leads to the next sad tale,
Ed T.

Deload 531

For Thursday May 6, 2010

W/ Epstein
Warmup
Benchpress work up to 3x5/ 220, 240, 260
Blast strap pushups 61 reps (2 sets)
Incline Tate press 2x20/ 35, 40
DB rows 2x15/ 135
Face pulls 3x15/ 7, 8, 9 (Cybex)

On Wednesday I pushed the Prowler 8x30 yds w/ 140#. I did it in a neighborhood school parking lot which I entertained the neighbors I think.

A change is gonna come,
Ed T.

And now...

...For the rest of the story!



First off, congratulations to Matt 4board on a 1670 total at the SPF Iron House Classic April 24. Matt went 630-410-630, setting PRs in the squat and deadlift. He had some issues with his benchpress attempts and was left with his opener. Matt felt he left a little on the platform with his squat. He attempted a 650 deadlift and got it most of the way up before he started to pass out and couldn't complete the lift. That's still a helluva pull! The prognosis was his massive traps (largest seen in the state of California, according to some) cut off the blood supply to his head. Keep your head up GoldDigger! Good things to come!



Anyone who reads this tome may notice that training days have shifted to Monday through Saturday. I did it to have one day a week off from the gym. Between working there and training there seven days a week, it got to be a bit much.

I am going to continue with the 531 program for the squat, floorpress and deadlift and a dynamic effort benchpress day. The DE work will continue to cycle every three weeks (coinciding with the 5-3-1). On the deload week, I will be using a modified repetition method; meaning I will stop a rep or two shy of failure in whatever exercise I use. Also during the deload week, I have been using the benchpress for 3x5 with slightly higher percentages than what is called for. This keeps me familiar with the bench (so I do not find myself simply good at floorpressing!) I have a goal in mind with my floorpress and at the point I reach it, I will consider switching to another exercise (maybe benching). Two days a week I have devoted to conditioning with the various methods; the Prowler (barf), complexes and circuts and hill sprints. (I am still looking for the "perfect hill".) And I have learned not to do the Prowler the day before I squat. It does affect my squat in that my legs feel heavy (and it has woken me in the middle of the night with severe debilitating leg cramps too). We also "start" the new week on Friday with the squat, putting it in its rightful place at the top of the weightlifting chain. (So technically the lifting week would be Friday-Monday-Tuesday-Thursday. I guess I could move the squat around but that makes too much sense. Maybe later someone can talk me out of it but Friday always seems to have been "Squat Day". It just feels right.)

Check out Kirk Kawoski's unedited view of squatting at the end of the powerlifting movie, "Power Unlimited"; "Strap on your #$%^, leave your *&^%# at home, put a bar on your back and bend your knees." Outstanding.

Stay strong,
Ed T.

Deload Week

Saturday May 1
warmups
Squat work up to 185x5, 230x5, 275x5 S/S with (mini band) pull aparts 3x30 (during warmups)
Pull through squats 3x15/ 100, 130, 160 S/S with Lat pulldowns (3 grips) 3x15/ 150
Reverse hyper 3x12/ 290, 380, 470
Overhead crunches 4x8/ 10, 12, 14, 15

Monday May 3
Warmup
Flat DB press work up to 2x15/ 105 then 1x15/ 80
Dips 2x15
DB rollbacks 3x8/ 40 S/S with Pushdowns 3x15/ 40-60
Lat pulldowns (4 grips) w/ prison bar 150-180 S/S w/ Seated rear delt raises 3x15/ 25, 30(2)

Tuesday May 4
Warmup
Deadlift work up to 200x5, 250x5, 300x5
GHR 3x15, 15, 10
Reverse hyper 3x10/ 180, 270, 360
Straight leg situps 3x10/ 35, 45(2)

Thursday

April 29

Trained with Epstein
Warmup
Floorpress work up to 240x5, 270x3, 305x1
Blast strap pushups (feet up) 2 sets 52 reps
Incline Tates 50x8, 60x8, 70x5
DB rows 2x8/ 135
Face pulls 3x12/ 80, 100, 120
Tire swing 3x10 each side
Felt tired and crappy overall

April 30
Prowler 8x30yds. 140 "Back to Joisey"

Tuesday

April 27

Warmup
Deadlift work up to 375x5, 425x3, 475x1
Weighted GHR 33 reps total w/ 45#
Rear delt flyes 4x15 S/S w/ Prone trap extensions 3x12/ 5, 8, 10

Monday

April 26

Warmup
Floorpress 9x3, 3 grips, worked up to 135x3 x3 sets with 2 sets of chain per side (about 40% of my 1RM floorpress). Took the chains off and did 6x3 with 185.
Dips 2x25
DB rollbacks 3x8/ 30, 40, 45 S/S with Tricep pushdowns 3x15 light
Lat pulldowns 4x15 4 different grips 150
Seated rear delt raises 3x15/ 20, 25, 30
Side bends 3x15/ 45
Overhead crunches 3x15

This was my dynamic effort benchpress day and I tried something different that Louie Simmons had written about. Using the floorpress is just another way of doing DE work. I think it will work fine.

Friday

April 23
W/ Epstein

Squat work up to 345x5, 390x3, 435x1, 465x1
GHR 3x15
Rev.hyper 2x8/ 400, 490
Side bends 2x15 ea. side/ 45
Ball crunches 3x15

531 day, did another single for fun. According to Brad Olsen it was "legal, depending where you're lifting in!" Parallel is fine with me.

Wednesday

April 21
W/ Kevin Epstein

Floorpress work up to 225x3, 255x3, 290x3
Blast strap pushups 2x33, 24
Incline Tate press 3x12/ 50, 55, 60
DB rows 4x8/ 115, 125, 135, 145
Face pulls 3x15/ 70, 100(2)
Straight leg situps 5x12/ 25, 35, 45(3)
Tire swings 8# sledgehammer 3x8 ea. side

April 22
Prowler "The Hell that is New Jersey" 8x30 yds 140

BB Complex

"The Big Auto Barbell Complex Redeux"

Tuesday April 20

Hang clean x5
Front squat x5
Push press x5
Back squat x5
Good morning x5
Underhand row x5

7 rounds with 1:30 to 2:00 rest between rounds. Used 111#.

Getting better at not barfing,
Ed T.

531 Lower

Monday April 19

Warmup incl. DB swings 3x15 w/70
Deadlift work up to 349x3, 399x3, 449x3
Weighted GHR 3x10, 10, 5, 5 w/45
Straight-leg pull throughs 3x15/ 100, 120, 140 (Cybex)
Lat pulldowns (underhand grip) 4x15/ 165, 150, 135, 120
Ball crunches 3x15
Roman chair situps 3x15

And I did Zottman curls 2x25 because I read in Brookszinski's "Methods of Strength Training" that this was essential to the construction of superior upper arm development. Or to quote directly from the manual, "you can't shoot without guns." I live in a rough neighborhood, an unloaded gun is useless to me. Thanks to Brookszinski I can go "well-heeled".

Spent my day off watching drunks stagger down the street,
Ed T.

DE Upper

Sunday April 18


Warmup
Benchpress work up to 155x3 x3 sets, 175x3 x3 sets and 195x3 x3 sets. Three different grips @ each weight. Then 2x15 (one close/ one wide) with 165
Rack lockouts 405x5, 455x5, 485x5 wide grip S/S w/Tricep pushdowns 3x20

And that is as far as I got today. I almost killed myself when the (light) bands that were attached to the bar lifted the DBs (supposedly) holding them down, off the ground. Which in turn caused the bar to drift towards my feet dangerously out of control (on one side only of course). Thanks to the quick reaction of the spotter who saved me from harm (and embarassment). So, in the interest of expediting things, I ditched the bands and marched on.

Kids always have a spotter,
Ed T.

531 Lower

Friday April 16

W/Epstein aka Kevin
Warmup
Squat work up to 320x3, 370x3, 420x3
GHR 3x20, 15, 15
Reverse hyper w/short strap 3x15/ 200, 290, 380
Shrugs work up to 455x10, 495x10, 545x10

Kevin went up to 320x3 which didn't go well due to technical issues. Not wanting to end on a bad note, he took one more single with 335 and easily got it. Onward and upward. M4 is a week out from his "tune-up" meet before his big push at the end of the summer and looking good.

I still felt like my leg(s) could cramp up again at any time. Rolled the hell out of them before, during and after squats. They felt fine squatting. It was just sitting, standing, walking, well, moving in general that put the issue in doubt.

Good times,
Ed T.