Last day of working out in 2009

1st Work Out
Bench Press singles
Gear: Titan Fury Shirt, EFS Wrist wraps, old belt found in the weight room
405, 415, 425, 435, 445 yet another new PR

2nd Work Out
Jerk 5x1 worked up to 220
P/W
Straight bar curl 5x3 155
Curl to press 65# 5x3

3rd Work Out
Close grip floor press 275 + 60# of chains 5x3
JM DB Press 70# 5x5

A good way to bring in the new year, the 17th PR in the last 8 weeks. 5 lbs away from my original 2010 goal, that might need to be redone. I am going on a cruise tomorrow for some well needed R&R 3 times a day 6 times a week for 8 weeks will wear one out. So I'm pumped about all my PRs because I am currently in a state of overtraining, so the idea is after my cruise I will be supercompensated a little and be stronger! Next work out isn't scheduled until January 11th where I will continue to Bulgarian Burst!

PRs

I know this could be premature beings I have my last 3 work outs today but I went through my blog and found all of my training PRs that I have reached in the last 8 weeks. Keep in mind I'm somewhere around the 140 work out mark since the beginning of my Bulgarian Burst in early November. A lot of people don't get 140 work outs in a year. Also, it's not like this is my first time training, I've been lifting heavy for over a year now and lifting all my life. So anyway here are my PRs...

Deadlift
585x1
405 5x6

Bench Press
Raw 375x1
Geared 435x3 off a 2 board
315x6
5x5 @ 315
325 + 60# of chains x 3

Squat
Raw 585x1
460x6
435x8
455 + Blue and Green Bands (100# at top) 5x3

Close Grip 4 Board Bench
400x3

Rack Pulls (from just below the knee)
585 3x3

SSB Squat
510 + 80# of chains x 5

Shrug
675 x 3

Push Press
235x3

16 PRs in 8 weeks.

Hopefully I can add a few more after my work out today!

Lowerbody Singles

1st Work Out
Squat
Worked up to 2 singles @ 675

2nd Work Out
Deadlift
Pulled Conventional toady
Worked UP to 585!
New PR, a training goal I've been working on for quite some time. I then got home and found my new Inzer Max DL suit waiting for me! I tired it on and it is extremely tight, it will take a while for me to "slip" into it.


3rd work Out
Wide grip pull ups 5x5 used micro mini, it's my safety blanket
T-bar Rows 5 plates on the end 5x5
Back ext rows 135 5x5

I tried to get video of my 585 but my phone recorded the video and then told me that it was recorded in an unsupported format, such is life...Next time I hit it I will take a video of it.

5x3

Monday
Got back late and all I had time for was my squats
Worked up to 585 x3 (suit and knee wraps)
4x3 @ 445 W/ choked green bands and 30 lbs on chains

Tuesday
1st Work Out
Bench Press 5x3 @ 315 W/ 60 lbs on chains
20 min walk, 4 mph 1.5 incline

2nd Work Out
Neutral Grip Shoulder Press @ 165
P/W
Straight Bar Curl 135
Band shoulder press green bands W/ 15lb weight
P/W
Hammer Curls 85
5 min EDT
Straight Bar curl @ 85
P/W
Neutral Grip Shoulder Press 135

3rd Work Out
Close grip fat bar floor press 275
Tri Push Down 120
P/W
WTD dips 45#

Sauna for 20 min. The new sauna in the locker room is really nice...i mean really nice

pre-Christmas training

Wed of last week
Squat,
Worked up to 675, killed it, 705 got stuck on the way out of the hole.
Deadlift,
Hit 545 for 1

Thursday
Bench 5x1 @ 405
2 min Chest Iso Hold

Here is a video of my 675 squat any thoughts?

5x3 Upper Gear

1st Work Out
Bench
warmed up then added shirt off a 2 board, 405, 435 and stalled out at 455, set up was wrong, board was wrong...the whole lift was wrong,
took off shirt and hit 315 + 60# of chains for 2x3
Fat Bar Incline Bench, 275

2nd Work Out
Push Press 225#
P/W
Fat Bar drag curl 125#
Band military press, standing on green bands and doing a military press w/ them
P/W
Hammer Curls 85#
DB Side raise 50#
P/W
Hammer Curls 85#

3rd Work Out
Close grip 4 board press 385#
Tri Push Down

Pissed about my bench, but it is what it is...

5x3 Lower, geared up

Squat
Warmed up
added suit and loose wraps 585, 605, 605
took off the suit and warps and hit 495, 495

2nd Work OUt
Bar shrugs
P/W
Pull ups
Back ext. rows 70#
P/W
one arm shrugs
Dynamic Lat pull 255#

3rd Work Out
Rack Pulls worked up to 585 for last two sets
SL Rev Hyper 250#
Incline GH Hyper, inclined as far as I could!

I will add my gear on both the 5x3 days and the 5x1 days, need to get used to it!

finals...

So this week has been finals week, thus the disorganization of my updates.

5x1 benching went well, i got to put my shirt on again!
hit 365 off a 2 board and it flew up
385 off a 1 board...made it look stupid
405 off my chest was like nothing
415, the first one I jacked my shirt up and hit 415 real easy,
the second one I didn't jack my shirt and it was more of a struggle.

The 5x1 bench work out signified my 100th work out in the past 6 weeks. Wow how the time has flown so Ben, my training partner brought an ice cream cake from DQ and we took a good healthy bit of that cake down, that really messed up our 2nd work out, jerks and log press


5x5 lower today,
SSB squats to a 12 in box 505 5x5
did a lot of back work in my 2nd work out
3rd work out did some snatch grip RDLs....good stuff

Finals is over so I am half way done with my masters degree!

A lot of Catch up

Tuesday was 5x3, nothing really new. I even kinda went light due to the finals load. Bench went well as did my shoulder presses.

Wednesday was 5x1 lower

1st WorkOut
Worked up to 2 solid 615 squat singles with my suit on and straps down. Very nice.....
Back was back...whatever,
I pulled 535 for 2 singles too I can tell my squat has gone up a lot but I'm always so gased when I get to my pulls that I think they have gotten better.

I'm going to continue to load up until the beginning of January, I'm going on a cruse Jan 1-8 and I don't plan on touching a weight during that time. so hopefully I will supercompensate a little. Then it's back at it Bursting untill my meet in Feb. I will just continue to drop volume lower and lower until I peak myself. I dig it.

5x3 Lower

Everything was done 5x3 today

1st Work Out
Power cleans 220#
Squat with big Blue choked bands (100# at top) 450# on bar
Dead start box jumps, sitting on 12 in box jumping to 30 in box

2nd Work Out
Pull Ups
P/W
Shrugs 585
DB BO Row 140#
P/W
One Arm bar shurgs, holding on to the end of the bar, 6 plates on the side I was holding onto
Bar BO Row 315#

3rd Work Out
Rack Pulls, from just below the knee, 2 sets at 495 3 sets at 585
SL Rev Hyper 225#
P/W
Incline GH Raise

I really feel like my hamstrings are getting stronger, I just wish my upper back was making the same type of gains.

5x5 Upper

Everything was done 5x5 today

1st Work Out
Bench Press worked up to 315 for last 3 sets
Cowboy bar bench used 225
Dual action DB Bench, 40# on the kiser air machine and 50# DB in my hand
the kiser air machine is set up to pull my arms out while I do a DB Bench, a real fight of a lift.

2nd Work Out
Military Press worked up to 185#
P/W
EZ Bar curl, 80# + 30# of chains
DB Shoulder Press 65#
P/W
DB Curl 50#
OH Lat Raise 35#
P/W
Incline DB Hammer curl 50#

3rd Work Out
Dips BTW+40# of chains around my neck (I looked BA)
Tri Push Down 105#

A full 18 work outs this week.......wow all of a sudden sets of 5 is a real struggle!

5x5 lower

Everything was don 5x5

1st Work Out
SSB Squats with 80# of chains, 510# on bar
Front step up onto 18 in box

2nd Work Out
Lat Pull down 225#
P/W
bar shrugs 585#
DB BO Row 140#
P/W
Neck 100#
Bar BO Row 225#
P/W 3 sets of 100 135# trap bar shrugs

3rd Work Out
RDL worked up to 335#
SL Rev Hyper 225#
Incline GH Raise

5x1 upper

everything was done 5x1 unless otherwise noted

1st work out
bench press worked up to 375 new PR
Bench Press Iso hold 2 in above chest

2nd Work Out
Jerk worked up to 220
P/W
Bar Curls 5x3 175#
Cowboy bar standing military press 185
P/W
DB Hammer Curls 5x3 90#
Snatch Iso hold 275
P/W
Partner rest. curls

3rd Work Out
Narrow grip floor press w/ 60# of chains 315# on the bar
California Press 200# 5x3

Good Day, it's nice to see PRs falling when I'm 5 weeks in on extremely high volume training!

5x1 lower

Everything was done 5x1

1st Work OUt 9:00
Squats worked up to 585 with just a belt, cut it about an inch to an inch and a half high but the weight moved real quick

2nd Work Out 1:30ish
Lat Pull Down (5x3) 255#
P/W
Shrug (5x3) 675#
Lat Pull Iso 4 sec hold 225#
WTD Back ext. 45#

3rd Work Out (230ish)
Dead Lift 500, 520, 520, 500, 500 weight moved well excited I hit these numbers with all the training I've been doing...
Dead start SSB GMs 295#

Pumped about my numbers today, 585 felt really good esp. for a raw squat, my DLs went well especially since it was my 9th work out of the week!

5x3 upper

Everything was done 5x3 today

1st Work Out
Bench Press + 60# of chains, worked up to 325 for last set
Incline Fat Bar 285#
DB Incline bench 110#

2nd Work Out
Push Press 225#
P/W
EZ Curl 120#
DB Push Press 85#
P/W
Straight bar curl 135#
DB Hammer curl 65#
P/W
Arnold Press 65#

3rd Work Out
Close grip 3 board press 365#
DB OH Tri ext 100#

5x3 Lower

Everything was done 5x3 today....

1st Work Out (7:30)
Power Cleans 220#
Squat onto a 12 in box w/ green and micro-mini band (100# of tension at top) 455# on bar
Rack Squats 600#, went a little lower with the bar
P/W
Squat OCs (12 reps)

2nd Work Out (9:00)
Pull ups
P/W
Bar shrugs 675#
DB BO Row 140#
P/W
Farmers Shrug 200+#
Bar BO Row 315#
P/W
Neck

3rd Work Out (12:45)
Rack Pulls worked up to 575#
Incline weighted glute ham raises 45#
One Leg Rev. Hyper 200#


Done and Done! Weight moved really well today......really well, pry should have squatted more weight but it is all good I want to get crazy on Wed.

5x1 Upper

1st Work OUt 1:30
Bench Press 350
Bench Press Iso @ 2 in off chest (4 sec)
DB Incline Bench 110# 5x3

2nd Work Out 3:30
Jerk 225
P/W
DB Hammer Curls 80#
Cowboy bar press 185

The weight room got crazy busy at like 2:15 so the second work out got cut off and the third work out is non-existent. It is what it is. 350 felt okay, my elbows really hurt at the bottem and I think that hindered my speed off my chest but it was okay

5x1 Lower

Everything was done today 5x1

1st Work Out 7:30
Squat
550 (92%)
Tried to pull afterward but that wasn't happening so I just shut it down

2nd Work Out 9:00
Lat Pulls 5x3 250 (stack)
P/W
bar shrugs 675 x3
Lat Pull Iso at the bottem 4 sec.
P/W
DB Shrug Iso at top 140#
WTD back ext. x3

3rd Work Out (1:30)
GM worked up to 300#
RDL worked up to 425#
SL split ISO 4 sec.

I'm really worn down right now, my elbows were hurting so bad after my squats my hands were shaking, it's weird they don't hurt when I do any pressing movements, or any pulling movements, just when I squat...

5x3 uppper

Everything was don 5x3 today

1st Work out 8:30
Bench Press w/ 50# of chains worked up to 315
P/W
bar pike abs
Fat Bar incline bench worked up to 265#
P/W
Gopher U abs
DB Incline bench worked up to 110# (there is no 120# dbs)

2nd Work OUt
Push Press 225#
P/W
EZ Bar curls 120#
DB Standing military press 85#
P/W
straight bar cursl 135#
Arnold press 65#
P/W
DB Hammer curls 65#
"what you miss in form you make up in effort Tommy." - Y

3rd Work out 2:00
Close grip 4 board press worked up to 365#
EZ OH Tri ext w/ 50# of chains, 86#
tri push down 120#

felt strong today but I could have gone heavier on the bench.

lets go heavy!

Everything was done 5x3 today.

1st Workout (7:30)
Power Cleans 220#
Squats on 12 in box medium ban (green) and micro-mini band (purple) about 80-100# at the top +450#
Rack Squats 585#

2nd Work out (9:10)
Pull ups
P/W
Shrugs 675#
DB BO Row 140#
P/W
Farmer's walk apparatus shrug 220#
Bar BO Row 275#
P/W
Neck 100#

3rd Workout (11:30)
Rack Pulls rack just below knees 550#
P/W
Calf raises, sets of 6
Incline GH Hyper 15kilo
one leg Rev. Hyper 225#

Total volume for today is 41.5 tons...pretty sweet!

Finshing up the volume

Only got to get one work out in yesterday and today. Everything was done 5x10

Friday
DB RDL+ shrug 100#
P/W
Lat Pulls 230#
Leg Press stack
P/W
Low Cable Rows Stack
Pull Thrus
P/W
Angle shrugs

Saturday
DB Bench Press 100#
P/W
Incline Sit ups
some sort of chest press hammer strength knock off machine 2 plates and a 25 on each side
P/W
Gopher U abs
Straight bar curl to press
P/W
Dips
Low cable curls
P/W
Tri push downs


That was it, good little work out saturday. Pumped to get crazy on monday with some heavy shit! It's been a while sence I've had some heavy weights moving around and it's time!

OH SNAP!

At the in-laws for thanksgiving and had to work out at snap fitness today. Everything was done 5x6

1st Work Out
Bench (on a smith machine) worked up to 315, but does it count on the smith machine?
P/W
Gopher U abs
Floor Press (closeish grip) worked up to 275
P/W
Incline sit ups
DB Flys worked up to 80#
P/W
Dips

2nd Work Out
DB Standing military 75#
P/W
EZ bar preacher curls 70#
machine type military press only with plates worked up to 3 45s on each side
P/W
Drag Curls 110#? I think I don't know how much that bar weighed
Arnold Press 65#
P/W
DB Hammer curls 55#

Had to use my imagination with some of my lifts, and I'm thinking I will have to ALOT tomorrow. By any means Happy Thanksgiving to anyone who is reading this! I hope you and yours are having a good time!

5X6 lower...killed it

Everything was done 5x6 today

1st Work out
Squat off a 12 in box worked up to 455, this weight burried me on my 4th set last week
Step ups @ 65#
Leg Press 4 plates and a 25

2nd Work out
Dynamic Lat pulls
P/W
Shrugs @585
DB BO Row @ 130
P/W
4 way neck
one arm lat pull
P/W
DB Shrugs

3rd Work out
DL @ 405. again I only got 3.5 sets of this last week but crushed it this week for all 5 sets
Incline GH Hyper
P/W
CoC #1 gripper
Rev Hyper @ 250lbs


Tired, soar and with a great feeling of accomplishment!

5x8 upper

Everything was done 5x8

1st Work Out 830
Fat Bar incline bench up to 235
P/W
USSR twist
DB Flat Bench 105#
P/W
Incline sit ups
DB Fly 75#

2nd Work Out 10:00
Standing military press 155#
P/W
EZ Bar Curl 90#
Standing DB military 60#
P/W
BAr Curls 95#
OH Lat Raise 30#
P/W
DB Hammer 50#

3rd Work Out
Close grip 4 board press 315#
Dips
Tri Ext 90#


I'm tired......

Last 5x8

Everything was done today 5x8

1st Work Out (9:00)
Back Squat (14in box) 405, 405, 415, 425, 435
Bulgarian Squats 75#
Leg Press 675

2nd Work Out (1:00ish)
RDL 275, dropped down to work on form
P/W
Calf Raises
SL Rev Hyper 150#
P/W
DB SL Calf Raise

3rd Work Out (6:00pm)
Pull ups
P/W
Bar Shrugs 495#
DB BO Row 100#
P/W
DB Shrugs 100#
Bar BO Row 135#
P/W
OH Shrug


My last work out wasn't a great one, I think the combination of out of order + so late doomed it form the begining. New squat PR I guess you could say I don't really keep "PR"s with high rep stuff but I'm 99% sure I've never done more than 435 for a set of 8. Cool stuff, this is the last week of the high volume, next week we start doing 3s, 1s and 5s! I'm pumped!

12, 13, 14

Everything was done 5x10 today

1st Work Out 7:40
Saftey bar squat @ 420
DB Lunges @ 65
Leg Press 3 plates and a 25

2nd Work Out (9:45)
Dynamic Lat Pull
P/W
DB Shrugs
One Arm lat Pull
P/W
Bar shrugs
DB BO row
P/W
Trap Bar Shrugs

3rd work out 12:00
Saftey Bar GMs
P/W
Calf Raises
Band ball leg curl
P/W
ant. tib...idk why
Glute raises worked up to 220


I'm just beat, I can't tell the difference if I"m holding 140lb dumbbells or 100lb dumbbells. All the weight feels the same. Next week is our last week of doing this high volume then we are going down to 3s, 1s, and 5s...I'm pumped

It's my birthday

Everything was done 5x6 at "The Gym"

1st Work Out 2:00pm
Bench Press, worked up to 305
P/W
Gopher U Abs
DB Incline BP worked up to 120s
P/W
Incline sit ups
Incline fly worked up to 80s
P/W
Machine sit ups

2nd Work Out 3:30pm
Fat Bar shoulder press 155ish idk how much the fat bar weighed
P/W
Fat Bar drag curl 100#
Machine seated military press 140# (it was all that was available to use)
P/W
DB Incline hammer curls 45#
DB Curl to press 55#

Don't think I"m going to get in my 3rd work out today because it's my birthday and I"m going to relax....and do homework :(

beat

Everything today was done 5x6

1st Work Out (7:30am)
Squat to 12 in box, worked up to 460
Step Up @ 75# db
Leg Press worked up to 10 plates

2nd Work Out (9:00am)
Lat Pull @ 255#
P/W
4 way neck
Bar BO Row @ 205
P/W
Bar shrugs @ 495
One Arm Supine Lat Pull @ 115
P/W
DB Shrugs @ 140#

3rd Work Out (1:30ish pm)
Dead Lift @ 396
Incline GH Raise
P/W
CoC gripper #1
Rev Hyper @ 200#


I am so tired. Sometimes I wonder what I was thinking about when I put dead lifts in my 3rd work out of the day.....I'm an idiot

Feeling Strong Today

Everything was done 5x8

1st Work Out
Fat Bar Incline Bench worked up to 225#
P/W
USSR Twists
DB Bench Press worked up to 100#
P/w
Incline sit ups
DB Fly @ 60#
P/W
Partner band abs

2nd Work Out
Standing Shoulder Press @ 155#
P/W
EZ Bar Curl 110#
Standing DB Shoulder Press @ 65#
P/W
Straight bar curls @ 95#
3 way shoulder @ 25#
P/W
DB HAmmer curls @ 45#

3rd Work Out
Close Grip 4 board press worked up to 275# for last two sets
Dips
EZ Bar tri ext (120#) + 30# of chains

Felt real strong today!

From the Top

Everything was done 5x8

1st Work out
Squat worked up to 425, got all my reps this week!
Bulgarian Squats
Leg Press

2nd Work Out
Pull ups
P/W
Bar shrugs 405
DB BO Row 105#
P/W
4 way neck
Supine Row
P/W
DB Shurg 140#

3rd Work Out
RDL 315# I need to work more on form!
P/W
Calf Raises
SL Rev. Hyper
P/W
DB SL Calf Raise
Nordic Hams


I feel a lot better today than I did last Monday, I'm always a slow starter, I used a lot of Equi-bloc on my back about 20-30 min before my squats and that helped a lot...good stuff

#16

16th work out for the week.

Everything was done for 5x10

1st Work out
Cowboy bar BP 185#
P/W
Leg raises
DB Bench Press 80#
P/W
Side Crunches
Chest cable fly 55#
P/W
Cable abs

2nd Work out
DB shoulder press 65#
P/W
Cowboy bar curl 100#
Cowboy bar front raise 70#
P/W
Zottman curls 45#
OH Side Raise 20#
P/W
DB Curl 45#

3rd Work out
Close grip floor press 185#
Tri push down 80#
Dips


Pretty tired after my 16th work out... Went a little crazy with the cowboy bar today, it was fun to change things up though. In case anyone was wondering about what I'm going you can get videos of all the exercises at XLAthlete. Day off tomorrow, looking forward to a big hockey win tonight for the gophers!

5x10

Ugh,
All was done 5x10 and with in 40 min.

1st Work Out
Safety Squat @ 445
DB Lunges @ 65lbs
Leg Press
Hear rate after my second set of lunges was reaching the 160 bpm range...

2nd Work Out
Dynamic Lat Pull @ 195
P/W
DB Shrugs @ 140lbs
One Arm Lat Pull @ 90lbs
P/W
Bar Shrugs @ 315
DB BO Rows @ 90
P/W
Hex Bar Shrugs @ 308

3rd Work Out
Safety Squat GMs @ 160
P/W
Calf Raises
Rev. Hyper @ 150lbs
P/W
DB Calf Raises
Bar Glut Lift @ 188
P/W
20kg plate hold


I F#$king HATE sets of 10!

5x6

Yeah, I lifted yesterday, I had a family thing during the day and was only able to get to an LA Fitness at night....My work out was nothing to talk about, pretty disappointing to be exact.

Thursday
Done at "The Gym"
Everything was 5x6

1st Work out
Bench Press, worked up to 300lbs
P/W
Gopher U abs
DB Incline Bench 100lbs
P/W
Decline sit ups
Incline Fly 75lbs
P/W
Machine weighted abs

2nd Work out
Push press 165
P/W
Fat Bar drag curls 100lbs
Arnold Press 65lbs
P/W
DB curl 55lbs
Hammer Strength military press 2 plates
P/W
Incline hammer curls 40lbs

3rd Workout, done in the shitty fitness room at my apt
Tri push down setting was at 10
Overhead tri ext weight was the stack
close grip push ups

I feel good after the 5x6 days, tomorrow is 5x10...oh boy

Day 2 Bulgarian Burst!

Everything was 5x8 and each work out was done in 40 min.

1st Work out
Fat Bar Incline Bench, worked up to 205
P/W
USSR twist
DB Bench 100lbs
P/W
Incline wtd sit ups
DB Fly 55lbs
P/W
Partner band abs

2nd Work out
Push Press used 135
P/W
EZ bar curl 90lbs
DB Shoulder Press 65lbs
P/W
Straight bar curls 95lbs
3 way shoulder fly 25lbs
P/W
DB Curl 45lbs

3rd work out
Close Grip 4 board Press 245lbs
Dips
lying tri ext. w/ chains 120lbs, 30lbs of chains

I'm swol...

Bulgarian Burst Day 1

1st work out
Back Squat 5x8 worked up to 425
Single Leg Squat 5x8 65lb dumbbells
Leg Press 625 5x8

2nd Work out
Pull ups p/w bar shurgs @ 405 5x8
DB bent over rows 100# P/w 4 way neck 60lbs 5x8
inverted rows p/w DB shrugs 140lbs 5x8

3rd Work out
RDL @315-365 p/w calf raises 5x8
SL Rev Hyper @ 100lbs p/w DB SL calf raise 5x8
nordic hams P/w gripper 5x8

I am dead, word to the wise...don't start the Bulgarian burst after a week off after a meet, do some more GPP stuff first....tomorrow is upper body!

Next Week

Next week I start to lift again. I'm pumped to get back at it. I have convinced a friend of mine to Bulgarian burst with me....so 3 times a day 6 days a week here we go. USAPL Minnesota State Open is the second week in February, so there my goal is to total 1700, what I wanted to total this past weekend. I know my biggest thing is to work on my depth of squatting, I'm cool with that, I will squat to a 12 inch box on my heavy squat days, it's a long way down but it's for sure good. Should be a good time. Updates to come next week.....

Hudson Meet Video

Here is a video of my lifts this weekend, I wanted to get this up quick, I'll write about it later.

Meet Week, Lower

Walking neuro warm up

Back Squat
barx5
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1

Deadlift
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
425x1

Elipticle 20 min

BW: 245

Feel really good, I was hella sick all weekend long but feel a lot better now. Weight moved well today, felt strong today. Right on track!

DL opener

Dead Lift
Worked up to 515 2x1 Weight moved real easy.

I think I'm getting sick, this is no good. my weight today was around 245 which is sweet but then I'm sick, i really hope this isn't a sign of overtraining, Luckily my weight is down and so I can relax this weekend and not have to spend it traveling between the sauna and bike.

Bench Opener

A lot of shoulder stuff to warm up

Bench
135x5
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Shirt
390 3x1
The last one was by far my best one...I don't know I haven't taken any prework out drink in a while, and if you know anything about me I dig my caffeine! So I think that has something to do with my slugish feeling the last two days. Also, I've got 7 lbs to go so that should be interesting. Off to the sauna!

Squat Opener

Squat
I used kilo plates instead of regular plates, I don't know if the meet will be in kilos or lbs, if they are in kilos I'm going to open at 639 if pounds 635. Just so ya know, all these numbers are actually kilos, I'm just pretending that a 20k is a 45lb
135x7
225x4
315x3
505x2
Added Belt
495x1
Added suit straps down
585x1
Straps up, knee wraps on
639 3x1

Here is a video of my 2nd set



Weight felt good, as much as I hate tapering, the anticipation is building!

Biking

Well today starts my taper/ final weight loss

big time prehab warm up 32 min interval bike work out, various restoration means........

Good stuff

I burnt my hand

Back Squat
153x7
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1
Added Suit
405+ green bands 3x2
Added 60lbs of chains 2x2

Rack Pulls
495x3
515x2
545x1
565x1

Rev Hyper 3x12
DB BO Row 3x12

Iso Rack Pulls 2x6sec
Lat Pull down 2x12

When I got home I went to the sauna. I got my bottle of water to dump on the coals to keep it hot and when I went inside the sauna I noticed it was already a little warm. I dumped the water on the coals and the steam burnt the shit out of my hand.........it sucked a lot! Now I would say that I have three swollen fingers and a few blisters on my hand.....this is not what I had envisioned Thursday night to be like...However, I had an ok work out, my last big heavy lower work out, just openers from here on out!

Dragin *

27 min interval bike work out

tons of prehab stuff

weight check: 247, in celebration to this I drank a monster for the first time in a month and ate a candy bar....I'll be okay ;)

Big Benchin

Bench Press
45x10
135x5
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Shirt
375x1
385x1
405x1

Weight moved real easy,

Got backstage tickets to Metalica last night! It was awesome but I'm dragging ass today....such is life

{{{{{{-------}}}}}}

Back Squat
135x7
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1
Added Suit straps down
550x1
Staps Up
615 2x1
650 x1

Dead Lift
135x5
225x4
315x2
405x1
505 2x1
515x1

Weight moved really really well. I really sunk my 650. I wanted to go at 90% this week but I"m thinking that 615-625 and 515 or so will be my openers just because of the ease of movement!

15 min. restorative bike
10 min on elipticle
body weight = 250.5 in shorts and a t-shirt

Camp Ripley

I lifted at the wellness center at camp ripley today so I didn't have a lot of equipment, but as always I made it work.

HammerStrength iso chest push
1 plate x 10
2 plates x5
2 plates +50lbs x3
3 plates x 3
3 plates + 20lbs x3
3 plates +50lbs x 3
3 plates + 70lbs x3
4 plates x 3
Paired with DB Rear delt x 8

standing overhead press 3x6
P/W
DB preacher chair hammer curls 3x8

EDT
Curl to press/pump x 6
Tri push down x 8
5 min worth.

10 min. on elipticle

I have really began to like to do edt stuff as part of my cond. on my upper body day, it gives me a good lather and a good pump. Lifting again at camp ripley tomorrow so we'll see what I can do for legs.

Max Effort Deadlift

Deadlift
135x5
225x4
315x2
405x2
495x1
500x1
515x1 Tried using my squat suit but couldn't get in the right pos.
515x1
550x1
565x1 Miss
565x1

Below is my video of my squats. Kind of disappointing with only 565 but it is what it is. Right now with my weights I moved this week I would total 1654 which is a respectable total....I want more though!

Max Effort Bench

Bench Press
135x5
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Shirt
385x1
405x1
415x1 - Blew it up!
425 2x1 missed them both

It sucks I blew up 415 and missed 425, such is life, I will be able to get 425 at the meet so it'll be all good.

Max Effort Squats

Squat
135x7
225x4
315x3
405x2
Added Belt
495x1
Added Suit, Straps down
585x1
585x1
605x1 miss
Added Knee Wraps
605x1
Straps up
635x1
655x1
675x1 About an inch high but the weight moved really easy! Here are the videos of my 635, 655, 675





I finally was able to reach the right depth. I pulled my squat suit down as far as I could keeping the legs high, then I found that I can't tighten my belt as much as I usually do. I'm just so relieved I can get down! Thanks Kev for your help. Tomorrow I'm reaching up and hitting as heavy as I can on the bench, looking forward to it!

Speed Squat

Squat
135x7
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1
Added Titan suit
315+Big blue bands
1x10 All above 1m/sec

Wide Grip Rack Pulls
405x3
455x3
495 2x3

Shrugs 495 3x6
OH Lat Raise 3x12

Pulled 400+lb Sled back and forth in weight room.

Great workout today, I needed a real good lower body workout with my squats. I did not use a belt in my squats and the suit worked well. I got real deep with each rep to the lowest box we have, it felt really good. The sled pull was interesting as usual today. I pulled it the length of the weight room with what I had on last week (280#) then I added a 45 to pull it back, its amazing how much of a difference 45# can make. I am swol and soar so I feel good about myself, especially because I cheated last night and had pizza, it's alright my weight after the work out is still around 252 or so, right where I want to be. Next week will be a max out week 4 weeks away from the meet so it should be interesting, let the drama of the squat suit continue!


Stay Strong

squats

Squats
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1
Added Suit
585 x1to a red box+10k
635x1 tried to get to just the box
635x1 wasn't able to get to box
655x1 sat on box and had a lot of trouble getting out!

405x3
675x3 quarter squats
Did 3 sets of these

Farmers walk 2 laps, 140,180 in each hand

Really dissapointed with my suit, I just don't feel comfortable with it especially when I try to get down. Didn't have a problem getting down when I had the straps down and no belt with 405, but once I get more weight on the bar i get really uncomfortable and I don't like it. It doesn't help that I have no one around that has any idea of how to use a squat suit.....damn you kevin......So I"m wondering if I should just compete raw in my meet coming up.....we'll see


Stay Strong

Bench day

BP
135x5
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Shirt
385x1
405x1
415x1 missed, I jacked up my shirt too much and had trouble touching, I brought it down to far to my stomach and I couldn't get it off my chest
405 2x 1,1 0:0:0:30

Close Grip Bench
245x3
275 3x3
Band Rear Delt
4x8

Dips 2x12
DB Curl to press 2x10

EDT
Bar curl to pressx8
Tri push downx8
did this for 5 min, ended up getting 10 sets out of it...

Big Squat day tomorrow, looking forward to it!

Finally...pulls

Deadlift
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
495 3x1
515x1
535x1
545x1
555x1
455 2x1,1,1 0:0:0:20

Finally I pulled over 550. Thank God, I did ankle mobility drills between sets and I really think that helped, the 555 was strong with a little pause just above my knees. I'll try to post video later

Rev Hyper 2x12
DB Bent over Rows 2x10

GM 2x5
lat pull down 2x12

10 min interval bike ride.

Bike/Sled

32 min. Interval Bike

Then I pulled a 400 pound sled down and back in the weight room, Yesterday everyone did it and I didn't because I had an upperbody day, but I knew I wasn't going to do anything else today so I gave it a pull. It moved well, I liked it a lot, my legs felt like they were going to fall off but I did like it a lot.

Weight 255lbs

3 Board

Bench Press
135x5
225x5
275x3
315x1
3 Board Press
365x3
385x3
405x3
415x2
425x1
435x1, the board slide down and hit me in the mouth which sucked so I called it.

Not really feeling it today, as I said earlier this week just not feeling the training so much this week, I've got a lot going on in my personal life with school, work, and that damn squat suit.

Tomorrow I'm going to do a little cardio and thats it for the week!

Cambered bar squats

Cambered bar
150x5
240x5
330x3
420x3
510x3
Added Titan Superior suit straps down
650x3
690 x3 onto a 24in box with a 20K eliko on top
690 x 3 onto a 24 in box with a 10 K eliko on top
700 2x3 onto a 24 in box
weight moved quick out of the hole, I tired a 3rd set where I sat on the box for a second but that weight wasn't comming up at all!

SL Rev Hyper
100# 3x10
Gripper
100# 3x20

Added my sweats and put on a 40lb weight vest, and grabbed a 30 lb sand bag and walked a 4 corners in marriucci

Haven't had a great week of training, I think mainly because of my suit and trying to break it in. I got some more good ideas from my buddy bigger kev so gonna take friday off of weights and be ready to hit it hard again on Monday. One more week of hard loading, then a 90% week and a down load before the meet!

Max Effort Bench

Bench
135x5
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Titan Fury Shirt
385x1
405x1
415 3x1
Weight was OK today, nothing to get excited about

DB Bench
100 3x6
DB Rear Delt
3x6

120sec chest iso hold

10 min. on elipticle

Getting Down

Squat
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1
Added Titan Superior Suit
550x1/2
585 5x2 Tried to sit down on a box that was about parallel, couldn't get there untill the last set, still at least 2 inches above where I need to be
495 sat down on box with a 20K plate on it for a 1 count, 2 reps
495 sat down on box with no plate for a 1 count, felt the pop of the suit but took a lot to get going again.

Sumo DL
225x3
315x2
405x1
455x1
495 3x1
Weight moved well...

Bike 20 min.

My suit is really tough to get down in, I taped my last few sets to see where I got down to, I found my knees moving forward a lot, gotta remember to sit back and fight the suit.

20lbs to get off

My first Squat Suit!

My squat suit came in today...pretty pumped, so I squatted...
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
Added Titan Superior Suit
Squatted to a box about 3 inches above parallel because I don't think I could get all the way down to parallel.
495x3
550x3
585x3
605x3
635x3....easy!

Then I pushed a Jeep around Velocity. It was a lot longer than I thought it would be.

Impressive feats of Strength

Kevin Kocos 180lbs Clean and Jerk 308....this is a jerk PR for Kevin.....Impressive!

Floor Press Thursdays!

Floor Press
barx10
135x5
225x5
275x3
315x1
335x2
345x2
355x2
365 3x2

Weight felt good and moved fast!

DB Incline bench
95x6
100x6
105x6

Push up Iso hold 120 sec.

Short and sweet today, I'll come back later after class and do some cardio.

Sumo Deadlift

Sumo DL
135x5
225x3
315x2
405x1
455 5x1
Worked on form and pushing my hips forward. Any suggestions from people that may stop by would be helpfull.

Bar Bent over rows, supine grip 2x15
TKE 2x8

Lat Pull Down 3x12
overhead squat 3x5

GH Hang 120 sec w/vibration to hamstrings, glutes, back then quad

Very easy stuff today because I killed it on Monday and my squat suit should be here thursday so I want to do heavy singles Friday. Here is a video of my DL

Shirt Bench

Bench Press
135x5
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Titan Fury Shirt
385x1
Locked shirt down with a belt
385x1
405 4x1
Weight moved easy

DB ecc. Bench press
95, 105, 110 x6 (5:0:0:0)
DB Rear delt

Shrugs 3x12
Close grip 3 board press 3x4

Bar 21s+press
(rev shoulder press on the full range curls)

Quick easy and dirty today, will come back after class to finish some cardio....Thanks bigger kev for the help with the DLs and the tip to lock the shirt in with the belt, liked that a lot!

Squating on Monday

Squat
135x5
225x4
315x3
380x2
415x2
510x2
540x2
550 5x2
Weight felt light, see the video below

Sumo DL
135x5
315x3
385x1
405x1
455 4x1
495x1
Switching up my deads cuz bigger kev told me to. Weight felt alright, i'll try to post some video soon so we can critique it

Rev Hyper 200# 2x15
TKE 2x10

20 min on bike

Ate really really poor this weekend, just made bad choices and my weight got up again, I'm sure it'll come off easy again, it just sucks taking a step forward and then one back

Box cambered bar squats

Cambered bar squats
To a box that is at parallel
240x5
330x5
420x5
Added 20lbs of chains
420x5
510x5
Added 10lbs of chains
510x5
Added final 10lbs of chains
Total chain weight 80.8lbs
600x5

That was pretty sweet, I held onto the bar infront of me but it still seems impressive to me

Rack Pulls
495x1
495x1
515x1
545x1
545x1/2
Still not deadlifting well.....please help!

ISO rack pulls from below parallel 2x 6 seconds each leg
One arm lat pull, 2x10 each arm

one leg Rev hyper 2x10 (worked up to 150lbs)
DB BO Row 2x15

Good day today, looking forward to next week already, here is a video of my 600lbs(+80lbs of chains) cambered bar squats

Floor Press

Floor Press
135x5
225x5
275x5
315x2
315x3
325 4x3
335x3

DB Incline Bench
3x6 2 sec iso
DB Rear delt
3x8

DB Shoulder press
2x8
Drag Curl
2x15

Dips 50 reps (20,15,10,3,2)

Going to go sit on the elliptical for 30 mins, should be a good time

toasting my nervous system

Squat
Barx5
135x5
225x5
315x3
380x2
415x2
475x2
510x2
510x2
520 5x2

Weight moved well, took to long between sets ended up squatting for 40 min.

Dead Lift
330x2
365x2
415x2
440x2
440x2
455 5x2

Weight moved quick, total time was like an hour and 15 min so decided to put the sauna suit on and run sprints and call it a day

mph time
6 1 min
30 sec off
8 1 min
30 sec off
8 1 min
30 sec off
9 45 sec
30 sec off
9 45 sec
30 sec off
10 30 sec
30 sec off
10 30 sec
30 sec off
11 15 sec
30 sec off
11 15 sec

Total 12 min.

ME Upper

Bench
135x5
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Titan Fury Shirt
345x2 - couldn't touch
365 2x5
385 2x1
385x1

DB Bench 3x6
DB Rear Delt 3x8

Shrugs 3x16
DB Curl 3x12

Close Grip 3 board Press 3x4
DB Shoulder press 3x6

DB Curl to press 2x10

First day of school so I had to work around BBall players and swimmers as they did their 50 station circuit, weights moved alright, first day in my shirt in like 2 weeks. Elbows hurt again, I've got to figure something out about these things.

Kinda a light day

Squat
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
515x1
425 7x3
Light weight moved really easy

DL
315x5
365x3
455x1
425 7x1
Lighter weight moved really quick. Concentrated on form

Step up 2x8
Lat Pull down 2x12

Rev. Hyper 2x12
DB BO Row 2x8

GH Hang 1x120sec

Lifted at Okoboji Community High school so I kinda struggled to find 45lb plates. Today was kind of a ramp up day concentrating on form getting ready for Wed. School starts tomorrow so I will be adding another stressor to my life, but naturally in true Tommy Miller fashion I don't care I'll still lift till my eyes bleed

Download

The rest of the week I'll be downloading. I hate download week but it's something I've got to do. Instead of taking a total of 9 days to DL I'm decided I would lift hard monday and tuesday and then down load wed. thur. fri. sat. sun. giving me a good 5 days to relax. The next few days I'll do multiple restoration exercises so I hopefully supercompensate a little going into next week when I'm going to get after it. Things I'll do every day the rest of the week:

• Epsom salt bath
• foot bath
• today I have schedualed a deep tissue massage
• 2 gallons of water a day
• plenty of inversion
• flush bike work outs
• sauna

That should do it for the rest of the week....wish me luck!

Stay Strong

Benchin with my boy T. Riley

My old college room mate is in town this week so I brought him up to the U and got our bench on...it went like this...

Bench
153x5
225x5
275x3
335x1

335x3 2 sec pause on chest
DB rear delt x 8
Rack Band PU x 6
Did this for 5 sets

DB Incline
9,7,5 6 seconds eccentric

DB Shoulder press 3x8
Bar 21s 3 sets

shrugs 3x16
close grip 3 board press 3x4

DB Curl to press 2x10
Dips 2x10

ISO chest hold 120 seconds

Walked 4 corners with sauna suit, sweatshirt and weight vest.....good times.

Going to cut way back the rest of the week and just do restoration stuff the rest of the time. Went to the State Fair last night, ate a lot but my weight didn't show it today which was good.

Kind of a download

Squat
Barx5
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1

Isometric French Contrast
495 x 2 (2 second pause at bottem)
Depth jumps x 4
495 x 2
Acc. Band Jump x 6
Did this 3 times

A few pin pulls with 495

Sled push/pull

In and out today, tough getting going after a long weekend of camping and all morning on the computer finishing my supertraining paper.

2 board press

Rough one today, all the hard training from this week has came up and kicked my ass today.

Bench
135x6
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added 2 Board
365x2
385x2

Elbows hurt like hell and I'm excited for the weekend. So I shut it down pretty quick, did some restoration stuff so I can hopefully feel better monday! Going to Duluth to camp with some friends of ours this weekend, should be fun. I love sleeping outside!

Max Effort Dead Lift

Dead Lift
Barx5
135x5
225x5
315x3
405x1
455x1
495x1
515x1
550x1/2

F*in Dead lifts how I hate you!

Rack Pulls
495x3
495x3
550x3
585x3

Step Up 3x8

Rev Hyper 2x12
Lat Pull Down 2x12

Ran sprints with Kieth Ballard today after I think it went like this....
60sec at 8mph
30 sec off
60 sec at 8mph
30 sec off
45 sec at 10mph
30 sec off
45 sec at 10mph
30 sec off
30 sec at 11.4mph
30 sec off
30 sec at 11.4 mph
30 sec off
15 sec at 11.4
30 sec off
15 sec at 11.4
Took 10 min. total, wanted to go faster but the treadmill was maxed I like doing things as heavy as I can, or as fast as the machine lets me!

Other than my fun run, my lift sucked. I'm not really surprised after the past two days, but I wanted 550 real bad. Same sticking point as always, I asked Cal Dietz to watch it and give me his input, he said bad glutes/hamstrings I find this hard to believe when I can squat 600+ and have bad glutes? Anyway, I'm going to try to find another person to watch and give me some input.

Max effort Bench Press (3rd week)

Bench press
barx5
135x10
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Titan Fury Shirt
345x1
365x1
385x1
405x1
425x1 BIG PR

It was hard to touch with 345, 365 and 385. After that the weights moved easy. My butt came off the bench a lot during the 425 but when I'm still 10 weeks out from the Hudson Natural Open I'm happy with this..

DB Shoulder press 3x8
Bar 21s x3

Bar shrugs 3x16
Close grip 3 board press 3x3
worked up to 325 (new PR)

DB Curl to press 2x10
Tri push down 2x16

Chest Iso Hold 1x 120seconds....

Pumped about my new bench max, the weight felt good, my elbows kinda hurt now but my wrists are good.. here is the video of my 425 PR...

Heavy ass Squats (3rd Week)

Today I wanted to go up and see where I'm at with my squats. I used a belt and knee wraps but no suit.

135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
495x1
Add Wraps
545x1
585x1
605x1
635x1
655x1/2 got about half way up and started to fall forward.

Lunges 3x8
Lat Pull down 3x12

RDL 2x8
DB BO Row 2x8

I had drill this past weekend and got little to no sleep so I got a lot of caffeine in me but I was shot after my squats so I shut it down. Here is a video of my 635 squat...

Acum, shirt work

Bench press
135x10
225x5
275x3
335x1
Added Titan Fury
3 board
405x3
455x3
475x3
495x1
455x0 off a 2 board


DB Bench
100x6
105x6
110 2x6
P/w
Full can x 6

Push Press
168 3x8
Drag Curl
105 3x12

DB Curl+pump
55 3x8

Dips
2x20

First time ever benching with a shirt...495 off a 3 board. I'll take that. I bombed out on the 2 board, I think the shirt needs to get broken in some more. I've never felt 495 in my hands before...it felt heavy but the shirt popped it off the board, it was pretty cool

Damn Suit!

So last night I got my new squat suit, however after an hour of Kevin K and I squirming into the suit I've decided it was too small. That sucks because it took me about a month to get this one and it pretty much ruined my work out

DL
315x3
365x2
405x2
445x2
hour break trying to get my suit on
445x2
495 3x1

Step ups 2x6
Lat pull 2x12

Glut ham raise
1x12

then I said F**k this s&&t and decided to save it for friday.

Acum Upper ME ecc.

Bench Press
5,3,1 warm up
335x2
345x2
345x2
350x2
All were 5 seconds down, I got a good push off my chest on all of them but the spotter grabed it the rest of the way.
Paired With
DB Rear Delt,
Rack band push ups

DB Incline press
90 4x6 6 seconds down
Paired with
empty can x 6

DB Shoulder press 4x8
Bar 21s

Shrugs 3x16
close grip 3 board press 3x3
worked up to 315 on close grip bench new pr

DB curl to arnold 3x10
fat bar tri push down 3x16

Good lift today, again weights felt light. Went to uptown nutrition after wards and dropped a cool 3 digits on sups. It's my weakness if I've ever had one. Also, my gear came in today. I got the furry shirt and the superior squat suite, I obviously tried to put both on and got it half way...I need someone there to help me in it. Good stuff, I'm looking forward to seeing how this gear works out for me!

After writing this I looked at my boy kevin's blog. He ran....so I ran.......
3 min at 1.5 elevation at 8 min pace
sprints 30 sec on 30 sec off
8 mph
8.5 mph
9 mph
9.5 mph
10 mph
11 mph
12 mph
I forgot how good a sauna suite feels when I have a good sweat going....mmmmmm perspiration!

Acum, Lower ECC French Contrast

Squats
5,3,1 warm up
450 8 sec. eccentric x2
Hurdle hops x6
Squat 495 x 2
Acc Band Jumps x 6

Did this 3 times, droped the weight for the eccentric part by 100 lbs (to 75%). Went a lot better today.

Rack Pulls
495 x2
550 x 2
550 x2
585 x 1

Walking Lunge 2 x 8
DB Bent over rows 2 x 16

Rev. Hyper 2 x 16
TRX Rows 2 x 10
Gripper 2 x 20

Inversion 120 seconds.

Felt really good especially after a hard weekend of adult beverages.

Acum Upper ME

Bench Press
135x10
225x5
275x3
315x1
Added 3 board
385x2
405x2
425x2
450x2 (PR)

DB Bench
Worked up to 110s x6
P/W
Empty Can x8

Push Press 4x6
P/W
Drag Curl 4x12

Curl + Press 3x8

Dips 2x15

Inversion 90 seconds

20 min. on bike.

Pretty cool, never felt 450 in my hands on the bench so that was neat. I got to watch one of the U's guy b-ball players do jump squats with 265. He did 1+1+1.....10 times, keeping every one of them above 1.2 m/sec. Thats some crazy shit!

Acum Lower ME

Dead Lift
360x5
360x2
440x2
440x2
468x2
468x2
495x1
495x1
507x1
507x1/2 Got it to just above my knees

Step Up
100lb DBs 3x6
Squat Lat Row 3x16

Good AMs
185 2x8

Walking DB RDL 2x8
Bent over rows 2x8

Twisting Rows
2x16

Kinda a rough day today, blew my load on Monday so today was real hard. I was suposed to do another pull but it wasn't happening. Then Jason Blake turned my music off right before my last set of twisting rows. That shit pisses me off!

Acum, Ecc Upper

Bench Press
315 3x3 5 Seconds down
335 2x3 5 seconds down
Paired With
DB Rear delt x8
Rack Band Push ups x6

DB Incline Bench
85 4x6 5 seconds down
P/w
full cans x 8

DB Shoulder press
75 3x6
P/W
Bar Curls 21s

Shrugs 315 x 16 3 sets
Close Grip 3 board press 3x3

Tri push downs 3x16 (fat bar)
DB curl 3x16

Good one today took me just over an hour.

Acum. Ecc FC Day 1

Squat:
550 x 2 8 seconds eccentric
Hurdle Hops
495x2
Acc Band Jumps

Did this French Contrast 3 times

Rack pulls, 1.5 inch below the knee
550 3x2
585x2

Walking lunge 185x8 up a hill 2 sets
DB Bent over Rows 95 2x16

DB RDL + Shrug 95 2x16

rough day. Heavy ass weight. I got helped up on the eccentric squats, that shit made my eyes turn red real quick.

Download week...

Download weeks suck ass....

Squat
135x5
225x4
315x3
405x2
455x1
500 3x1 with belt

Bench Press
135x5
225x5
275x3
315x1
335 3x1

DB RDL +shrug 3x12
P/w
Curl to press 3x8

Short and sweet today. Weight moved super easy. I also ended up running 4 pro agilities against various high school hockey players. I went 3 for 4. Yeah I still got it!

Friday Morning

I had to lift in the morning friday because we headed out of town this weekend to help celebrate my Mom's birthday. I was alone in the weight room so I had no spotter. My work out went like this:

Floor press:
135x5
185x5
225x5
275 3x5

Overhead press
3x8

DB Bench press
100s 3x8

OH Lat raise
3x12

DB Single Arm preacher Hammer curls
3x8

Done and Done

Next week is a de-load week. I need to get my BW under control. I'm going to find a good hill here in burnsville and run the shit out of it!

DL Day

Today was DL day. I've been training for this day for some time now, ever sence the meet in Duluth I realized everyone and their brother can pull 600lbs. So, it is now my goal to pull 600 lbs. Anyway worked up to 545 for two singles. The second one was kinda a double knee bend. Then I popped an amonia cap and gave it my all for 585. I got up to about my knees but that was it. Good times though. After that did some front squats 5x5 first time in years worked up to 245, then some GMs 3x8 at 135. Then some glute ham raises paired with bench hops. Quick and dirty today. Tonight is the opening night of kickball playoffs, I'm about to go get me some!

I have got to keep doing this...

So, a lot has changed since I last wrote up here. I did the USAPL meet in the end of June I totaled 1362 raw. a 507 squat a 349 bench and a 407 gift of a dead lift. I'm really digging this powerlifting stuff. I've given a few trys on geared lifting and I like it. In fact I have a squat suit, a bench shirt, and some knee wraps on the way, so I'm pumped.

PRs laitly

I hit the 600 squat mark last week, the bar rolled up about 2 inches on my back so it was really uncomfortable.
I've done a lot of rack pulls in the past month, tomorrow I'll attempt to hit 585 raw from the floor this should be good.
Yesterday I hit 495 for a triple off a 14 inch box and I benched 365 for a 1 + 1 with 15 sec. in bewteen. That was huge I've never been able to do that and it popped off my chest. I'm in the process of writing my next 11 weeks up to my next meet. October 31st I'm planing on doing it equipped so I've got a lot of work to do.

but if you are just checking out my blog welcome, if you were here when it all started thanks for comming back!!!!!

Fargo

Well tomorrow I set out on a new journey. I'm being mobilized to go help fight the good fight up in fargo against that nasty river. So my work outs will probabbly stop beings that I don't know where I'll stay or if there will be a gym that is available to me. Be sure to know that I will be doing push ups and sit ups...good old Army PT! Hooah!

So you won't hear from me for a while, I don't know how long I'll be gone but it shouldn't be too long. So as always....

Stay Strong
Tommy

Week 3

By now my body has adapted to the high volume and I can't get enough of it. I feel great and I feel huge. I haven't really moved up my weights, mainly because I don't feel I've achieved as much as I can out of these percentages. This is a technique I've wanted to try out on myself ever since I read it in Supertraining.

My diet has not really changed, I'm just trying to eat healthy. Yesterday I asked my boss what he thought I should have for lunch after my 2nd work out. He told me to go to Burger King, get a triple whopper and eat it with out the bun. Then eat a chicken salad. I was stuffed and I didn't eat very many carbohydrates. It's important for people like me (highly sensitive to insulin) to not eat a lot of carbs. So I load up on meat and then get my carbs from salad and spinach.

A friend of mine asked me what my protocols for my epsom salt baths are. While running my warm bath I hold two cups of epsom salt under the running water, this allows the salt to dissolve into the water. I also add a table spoon of hydrogen peroxide, I like the idea of the extra molecule of Oxygen floating around in the water. There are many unknown benefits of hydrogen peroxide, especially if it is injected into the body in a diluted form along with some sailene.

Easter is this weekend and I'm pumped. Alex(the wife) and I are going down to Okoboji Iowa, that is where my parents live. I'm excited for two reasons. One is the fact that I haven't been home and seen my whole family since December and two is the fact that I'm getting my summer wheels put on my truck, it's about to look sweet again! The only problem with this is that it is about to get real nice out here and then I'll ride my motorcycle everywhere. But I have two sweet vehicles that I can choose from.

Stay Strong!
Tommy

Week 2

Well it's been a while, I know. However, I've been very busy. I finished out the week with day 5 and 6, sets of 10 suck, no matter how you put them. My Epsom slat bath helped a lot and I felt really good after it. I started week 2 Monday with my incline bench and shoulder presses, I got a huge pump out of the work out which I enjoy. I also started working more at Velocity Hockey Center on Monday, this will be a good chance for me to try some new things out on some young athletes. Also, it will make me extreamly busy over the summer which is good.

Yesterday, I did my squats. 5x8 is so much, but I did them with Sara Wiley, she can always get me going...one tough chick. Did my squats and my RDLs, It was good and I'm not nearly as soar today as I was this time last week. One of the more troubling things that is happening on this work out is the fact that I'm gaining weight. I've been around the 257 range now, I was hoping that I would lean up some more, but I'm only 1.5 weeks into it, so I should just be patient.

Thanks for all the notes, on my previous blogs. It's nice to hear that people are actually reading this. I'll post more later!

Stay Strong
Tommy

10,11..the grind

Today I found out how much of a grind this work out is. I didn’t get to work out until early afternoon. I also didn’t have any pre-workout drink. So immediately wasn’t feeling into it, I started with dead lifts. My warm up felt really heavy, I know that I’ve said that a few times in my blog, however my warm ups usually don’t feel heavy. Anyway, I worked up to 374. I wasn’t pulling good sumo so I put on some straps and pulled conventional. This made it feel a lot easier, so I go back to the question of whether or not I should pull sumo or conventional. I paired my dead lifts with chin ups. After my pulls I did some Bulgarian squats, why wouldn’t I have Bulgarian squats in the Bulgarian burst. Then I did dumbbell RDLs. Everything today was 5x6. My back tightened up really bad during my first work out, so after I was done I did a glute ham hang and then got hooked up to the Russian stem. There is a lot of real good information on electro-stim in my favorite book Supertraining, by Mel Siff.

My second work out started with safety squats. I use a cambered bar that I can really load up, I used 480 for 5x6, then I did Nordic ham curls paired with real heavy one arm dumbbell rows. I really enjoy dumbbell rows, especially using heavy loads. I used 140s, which was way to much weight if I needed to keep perfect form, but I am a firm believer of training the movement not the muscle. After my Nordic ham curls and rows I did piston squats. Just not feeling it today.

I didn’t get my 3rd work out in today. I’m just drained, this work out is a real grind. I do feel bad about not getting it in, but I’m sure that I’m producing enough stress on my body that I’ll supercompensate. So that’s all for today, I’m off to a relaxing Epsom Salt Bath.


Stay Strong
Tommy

Hump day

I take a pre-work out supplement called JP8, it does not taste good at all, however it has around 200 mg of caffeine which is the reason I take it. A friend of mine is doing a study on the effects of energy supplements and work outs. You can read more about that if you click on the Mike T Nelson blog on the right of the screen. I hope that JP8 is not in his study; this stuff really gets me going, but is like drinking dirty urinal water. I cringe every time I drink it. Anyway, I took it today, and I think it did more harm than good. I started with Bench press my sheet said to do 5 sets of 6 at 275. During my warm up the weight moved good; however, once I picked up 275 and it felt like 340. So heavy! I did 3 sets of 6 then finished with the last 2 sets being 5. After bench I moved to DB incline bench, I worked up to 75s, this too felt extremely heavy. I paired those with DB shrugs using 140lb dumbbells. Between my 3rd and 4th set I took my heart rate, it was 150 beats per min. Now this is higher than it normally is when I lift, but doing so much work in such little time will increase my heart rate more than normal. So I thought it was just my hard work that was increasing my heart rate, until the next set, when I ran over to the garbage can and gave a good old fashion dry heave. My burps and the dry heave tasked like JP8. I didn’t feel comfortable finishing my work out with the garbage so far away, so I brought it closer. I finished my work out with DB flys and over head shrugs. The over head shrugs were interesting and I wanted to use more weight, but holding 45 lbs over my head felt pretty heavy.

My second work out started with push presses; I have problems with these because my shoulders are not very flexible. In fact, a few weeks ago I squatted 5 times in a week and I had real problems with my right elbow. I first thought it was just tendonitis, but then I figured it was because I’m a low bar squatter and I should be flexible in my shoulders, however, I am not. My elbow has started to flame up again making me think it is tendonitis and there is nothing I can do about it. So push presses 5x6, EZ bar curls 5x10 and 2 way neck 5x10. After those were done I moved to Arnold press and rev. grip curls. Then finished with curl + pump and the other 2 ways of the neck.

The rest of the day at work was used to debate the results of a death match between an African Elephant and a Silverback Guerilla. If you would like to weigh in on this debate, let me know your thoughts in the comments section at the bottom of this post. I came home to a pleasant surprise, there was a letter waiting for me from the U telling me I got into grad school. So I will start working toward my graduate degree in Applied Kinesiology: Sport and Exercise Science this summer.

My nightly work out was more of the same as always at my night gym. Weird looks when I pulled out my 3 board for 3 board close grip bench. This is a great exercise to really load up the triceps. The 3 2x6s stacked together laying on your chest will take your pecks right out of the bench, that paired with a close grip you can really jack up the volume on your triceps. After those I did some tri-push downs. While doing my push downs and sit ups I watched an older Personal Trainer try to teach a woman how to do kettlebell snatches and swings. Now I’m not 100% but I’m pretty sure he is not RKC, this woman looked like a fool doing these kettlebell exercises. Personally I’m not the biggest fan of them, however I do believe there is a place for them in the gym. I had my run in with a 70 lb kettle bell, doing swings to the tabata intervals….not fun, I am still kind of pissed at Y for talking me into them, I got her back with sled pulls/push though. I really wanted to ask the PT when he did his RKC and how was it. But I know I would have gotten the dear in the headlights look. I finished up with dips. These were extremely hard as well.

I am actually pretty excited that 275 was super heavy and dips were crazy hard. I am not worried about this because of the supercompensation principle. The more stress you put on your body, your body will adapt and overcome, actually become stronger. This is a great thing that your body does. To read more about this read this article on the SAID principle. It is now past my bed time so I will be hitting the sack.


Stay Strong
Tommy

Day 2.....

Day 2….well lets start at the beginning. I woke up this morning pretty sore. Like I said earlier I haven’t done a lot over 5 reps. So that was my first struggle of the day. I didn’t get my first work out in by the time I wanted to. I started my first work out at 12:00, I started with back squats. Now the squat is one of my favorite exercise, I love it, however, I don’t love 5x8 of it. I used 365 paired my squats with pull ups. A minor tweak in my squat form in the final reps of my final sets turned out to be a bigger enemy than any weight today. After my squats my lower back clinched up tighter than hell. After I squatted I did step ups paired with reverse grip lat pull down; this hurt a lot because of my lower back. I finished with piston squats, I was supposed to pair them with weighted back extensions, however I didn’t feel that necessary beings my lower back was so tight. After my quick 40 min work out I did a glute ham hang. Now listen up! I will go to my grave singing the praises of the glute ham hang. 5 min hanging and relaxing will cure just about anything. Remember when you are hanging you must relax everything in your body, even your mouth. Monks in India found that they couldn’t reach true nirvana when they meditated, after a series of tests they found out that it was because they were pushing their tongue on the top of their mouths and never truly relaxed. So that loosened me up.

35 min. later I did another glute ham hang. This felt good then started my 2nd work out. Naturally coming of the first work out that tightened up my lower back bad I decided to do RDLs 5x8 working up to 315. Paired that with pull ups, I’m not very good at pull ups so I wanted to make sure I got them in early in the week when I can still feel my appendages. After my RDLs my back didn’t feel to bad so I did some good old reverse hypers paired with bent over rows. After those I did Nordic leg curls, although these are a body weight exercise I couldn’t finish them, my back and hamstrings were on FIRE! I paired my leg curls with straight arm pull downs. A protein shake ended my second work out.

I didn’t want to stand up after I got done with that; however some of the mascots came into the weight room. They are always fun to work with because they are just goofy as hell and we crush them when they come in. So I stood up for that. I drove home and went straight to the gym. At the gym I did leg presses. I was supposed to do 550, but that was way to light, even for the 3rd work out of the day, so I bumped up the weight to 770lbs. I paired that with low cable rows. At night I work out at (two letter California city) fitness. I always get some interesting looks when I go in there, however I don’t care I’ve got my Ipod on and my hood up so no one talks to me. I really like watching the personal trainers and criticizing them in my head. After my leg presses I did ball leg curls, I’ll quote a good friend of mine “it’s hard to look cool doing those” I did some dynamic lat pulls with the ball leg curls and then moved to cable pull throughs, this is when the looks really started to come..oh well.

And day 2 was done. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I wanted to soak in an Epsom salt bath tonight but I don’t have enough time. I’m going to hop in the shower and go to bed.

Stay Strong
Tommy

Day 1 Phase 1...

Day one of Bulgarian Burst is finished. I just finished my 3rd and final work out of the day and I am spent. I worked in Ridder arena today so there wasn’t much going on which was nice because I got to get my work outs in with little to no distractions. I took my pre-work out drink (JP8) around 10:30, this shit is so nasty that I have to stand over a toilet or trash can to drink it. However, it gets me going like nothing else, so I guess I’ll continue to drink it. I started my first lift at 10:50 this morning, it started with Incline bench paired with barbell shrugs, 5x8 for all of them. This was a lot tougher than I thought it would be, I haven’t done anything more than a set of 5 reps for a long time so 8 reps was kinda a-robic for me. The whole time I was benching I was burping up JP8, drinking that shit is bad enough one time that I don’t like to have to drink it down again and again. After my incline bench I went over and did DB bench press, paired with DB Shrugs. This time my eyes were bigger than my muscles, I benched with 90s for my first set and after I got done with that I thought to myself there is no way I’m going to be able to do 4 more sets of those. So I went down to 70s which turned out to be just right. When I finished that superset I did DB incline fly and Gopher U abs. I finished my lift around 11:30 right on time. I was all sorts of jacked up, feeling like a true superbeast.

I drank a protein shake and started my next lift at 12:10 with DB Push press, I used 60s and probably should have used 65s – 70s. I paired those with one of my favorite bicep exercises, DB Preacher Hammer curls, again I probably should have used more weight for those. After my 5x8 of those exercises I moved on to DB Military press and standing DB curls. It was interesting that I could have used more weight for almost everything in my 2nd work out. It’s crazy how much that 40 min. of rest really helps. After my military’s and curls I did Arnold Press and concentration curls. This about floored me gritting my teeth on every one of those Arnolds. I was glad to be done with my second work out. Once that was done I ate a spinach salad with various other goodies in it.

Work got done early today and I was able to get home around the same time as my wife which is always nice. She went off to the tanning bed and I got my 3rd work out in. I did the Perfect Push up and sit ups, close grip push ups and sit ups with a twist; and then regular push ups and side to side toe touches. I felt I needed to put more push ups in my work out beings there is an Army PT test coming up soon. The regular push ups were the hardest part, with no surprise after doing 100 of the other types of push ups. However I did see my heart rate getting up to around the 115 range.

Overall after the first day of Bulgarian Burst training I feel pretty good, I defiantly will be going to bed around 9 though to prepare for back squats, RDLs and Leg presses tomorrow. As for now, it’s time to make supper; it’s going to be taco night at the Miller’s.


Stay Strong
Tommy

Bulgarian Burst

So tomorrow I start my Bulgarian Burst experience. Before I dive right in to how messed up I feel I'm going to drop a little knowledge on you and explain the nuts and bolts of this program.

So if you have been living under a rock for the past 20-30 years...or just don't keep track of the Olympics the eastern block has been ruling the Olympic sport world. Yes communism played a significant role in this, however so did sports science. The Bulgarians figured out that athlete's testosterone levels rise about 20 min into a work out and cortisol levels drop, (testosterone = good, cortisol = bad) then after about 40 min the amount of testosterone and the amount of cortisol reach about the same levels. So, we need to keep our work outs to 40 min. or so. On a side note this makes me really wonder how anyone can get anything done in 20 min. in the gym. Now, when you really get into lifting weights you will find out that it is hard to get a lot of high quality work done in 40 min. So we will work out 3 times a day.

This will do 2 things. 1, allow us to get a lot of really quality work done in the gym through out the day and 2, allow the volume of the work to go through the roof.

So, strength coaches measure work outs with 2 measure tools. Volume and Intensity. Intensity if the heaviness of the weight compared to your 1 rep max. and Volume is the total amount of tonnage lifting. You don't need a masters degree and 14 certifications to understand that there is an inverse relationship to volume and intensity. Say your 1 rm is 100 lbs of a given exercise. you can do 100 lbs one time. that would make your intensity be 100, however your volume would be very low. now if you did 70 lbs 10 times your volume would be 700 lbs, however your intensity is 70. I hope that opens it up a little bit for you. If you have more questions about volume and intensity check out The Lost Variable in The Quest For Power on XL Athlete.

Now when I work out 3 times a day, I can lift more weight in each given exercise, so when I continue to keep my intensity up I can still keep my volume up.

Before I get any questions about my diet. I am roughly 250lbs right now, I will not try to eat anything more to gain weight and I will not stop eating so I loose weight. If I loose weight great, if I don't, I'll be okay with it. As for supplements, I'll be taking a lot of whey protein, creatine, glutamine, a multi-vitamin, probotics, Omega-3s and CLA. I will also try to get as much sleep as I can at night, my wife might not think that is all too great, however she likes to sleep too. So, for now I think I'm all set to start this craziness tomorrow. Today, it's a beautiful day out so I think I'm going to go out and ride my bike!

Stay Strong
Tommy

Why I do this to myself...

I often get asked why I put myself through all of this to become stronger. Why do I continue to beat myself up in the weight room. The answer to these questions took me some time, however I believe I have figured it out. With enough drive and balls you can stand up from your computer right now and complete a marathon. You will probably get hurt and feel like complete ass after, however if you REALLY wanted to you could do it. However, not a lot of people can stand up from their computer and walk up and dead lift 500 pounds, or bench press 400 pounds. You can have all the drive and determination in the world but if you haven't put in the time and work you will not be able to successfully complete the heavy lifts. This is why I do what I do.

Stay Strong
Tommy

In the beginning...

So this is my first blog and this is my first post in this blog. I’ve started this blog with a strange thought that maybe somewhere out there there might be someone that would like to read about me and what’s going on my life.
A little about myself. I am married to a wonderful woman named Alex, we met in college down in Mankato and have been married for a happy 2 years. I have been lifting weights since the 4th grade (1992). My dad put me in the weight room and I haven’t left yet. No, I did not stunt my growth, yes I am normal. I am in the National Guard. I am the 2nd Platoon Leader for Alpha Company, 2-135 IN RGMT. I have been in for about 5.5 years now and I have only been deployed once to Kosovo. I enjoy the military as well as the bonding that goes with it. I enjoy everything that deals with a lot of testosterone, I ride a motorcycle, I lift weights, I enjoy shooting my gun and drinking beer, not at the same time.
My life in strength and conditioning started when I was in 9th grade. My dad took me to the University of Nebraska – Lincoln and got us a tour of the weight room. I was hooked; I knew that day that when I grew up I wanted to be a Strength and Conditioning coach. I went to Waldorf College after high school to play football. I played for a year and a half there and then transferred to Minnesota State University, Mankato. After playing football at MSU I did an internship with Chuck Lobe. There I learned more about the S&C world and I met my good friend Jayme. After graduation I deployed, it was a long year but I’m very glad I did it. When I got back Chuck hooked me up with an internship at the University of Minnesota where I am still working. I work under some great strength coaches and I was fortunate enough to publish some articles on a great web site, check it out at www.xlathlete.com. I have also reunited with my boy Jayme at Velocity Hockey. It’s a fun place to work and we get to work with some pretty intense athletes.
So I think that should bring you up to speed with my life. In this blog I will write mostly about my work outs. I do some pretty interesting stuff. Last week I squatted real heavy 5 days in a row. Next week I begin my Bulgarian Burst training which will require me to work out 3 times a day 6 days a week. Should be interesting. I am doing all of this to see how it affects my body and to see how strong I can really get. Thanks for reading.

Stay Strong
Tommy