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.