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.