DE Bench

Bench:

185/ 5 sets of fast and furious

Assistance work:

Stuff to get pumped up with and move blood around. Seriously though, assistance work doesn't matter at this point. Get in and get out.

I'm glad my workouts are short because finals hurt......big time hurt.

Everything moved well for this session. I see me and blue heat will be friends because my arms still ache a bit while pressing. Be glad for meet week gets here. I'm getting antsy a bit.

Wednesday Training- Speed squats

Squats
260/5 sets of 2

Speed Deads
430/6 sets of 1

Banded good mornings/ 100 (spread out over 2 sets of 50)

I really, really, REALLY did not want to train last night. Gym closes at midnight, I packed my bag and left to train at about 10 pm. With finals, projects and makeup homework, I was not a happy camper. Add to that my carbs are pretty low right now and you have one lazy sumbitch.

The workout went smooth and stuff felt fast. I wasn't focusing on lots of bar speed (or bar rape as Paul Carter likes to say), but to reinforce technique. Mine always needs tweaking, so it's good to get these days in.

Weight is about 235 right now. I was asked if I was a powerlifter in the rec by a guy who is pretty strong and was told " Damn, you're lean for powerlifter". So I guess I'm doing something right on the diet and cardio side.


Moving forward.

Monday Bench and a couple things

Bench: Worked up to a single of 380 (will be 2nd attempt at the meet)
Pulldowns: 2 sets of 10
Pressdowns: 2 sets of 20
Seated Rows: 2 sets of 10

My nutrition has not been as optimal as it could be. I did some tracking for the past couple days and found out I'm simply not eating enough to facilitate proper recovery. Going to start pushing the protein more (increasing portion size) and continue to have my carb meals around my workouts. I can be doing more at the table for the meet than what I am.

Sunday Training: Max Effort Lower

Squat: Worked up to 500 for a single

Leg Curls: Enough of them to get the hammys swole

Entry form sent in, food intake is still good. Gonna change some things around though with protein sources and such, but everything is rolling right along. Looking forward to May!

Thursday and Friday training

Sunday:
DE Lower:

Speed squats:
230/2,2,2,2,2

Speed Pulls:
405/ 8 singles

Banded Good Mornings
Abs


Friday:
DE Upper:

Bench:175/3,3,3,3,3,3,3,3

Pressdowns: Until my arms were of Phil Heath proportions.
Lat Pulldowns: Enough to do my cockstrong walk.

Back to the normal Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday sessions and there are only two real weeks of training left. Feeling pretty good despite all the stress associated with end of the semester stuff. Tons of work and not much time to do it. Moving forward however.

Check out my article about IFBB Mike Liberatore in the new Flex Magazine. I think I did an ok job. My writing will get better the more I read and write.

Benchius Maximus

ME Bench-Week one, day two.


I found myself over at Goodlife Fitness here in Lincoln doing some low volume bench along with some low volume assistance work. Meet is right around the corner so no reason to push a ton of shit at this point.

Bench:
135/10
185/6
225/5
275/3
315/1
335/1
365/1

Hammer strength press: 2 sets
Lat Pulldowns: 2 sets
Abs

Short, sweet and to the point. Did my weight on Tuesday as well in the am on an empty stomach (with the exception of coffee) and I'm 237 right now. Feeling pretty good. Just a bit tight so it looks like some foam rolling is in my future. Lots of foam rolling.

Final Meet Weeks: Week 1, Day 1: Deadlifts

Didn't train Sunday and instead I opted to shift things down a day so this week I'll be training Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday.  I woke up yesterday and did some cardio as I want to be sure I'm keeping my weight down. Last time I weighed in I was 242 on the nose with underwear on, so I should fine come meet day.

Deadlifts:
135/15
185/10
225/5
275/3
315/3
405/3
495/1
585/1

Leg press: Top set was a heavy wet of five.

RDL: 3 sets

Felt really good with the 585 dead, it moved pretty easy to be honest. So I'm on track to break my 633 pr if I keep this up.

Nutrition wise, I just shifted some things around and make sure my carbs are ingested around my training and post training. I've been using Gaspari Glycofuse or True Nutritions Karboload (depends on my taste for the day) and adding some creatine and aminos to it. It's been working very well in terms of recovery and endurance during training sessions. Food's I've been ingesting have been basic as well. Chicken, Grass Fed Beef,  Wild Caught Salmon (canned kind from Trader Joe's)

Thats about it. Just a basic plan for some great results.

My heart goes out to Boston right now. Its a damn shame what happened.

Bench training

Bench:

bar/20
135/10
185/4
225/1
275/ 8 sets of 3

315/5 singles with a shoulder saver pad

Floor db extensions:
30/10
40/10
50/8

Pulldowns: 6 sets

Seated Rows: 4 sets of 12

Solid workout last night. Started off shitty but the last two workouts ended on good notes, so I'm happy about that.

Next week will be a deload and then rock and roll right into the meet. Hotel room is reserved. All I need to do is send off the entry fee and pay for a membership card. I cant wait!

Some notes about training

I dont have my log in front of me so I don't have exact numbers on every exercise, but I do for the main ones.

Monday: Bench
Worked up to 350

Wednesday:
315/ 8 sets of 2
Worked up to 560 in the dead

This has been a LONG prep and the light is at the end of the tunnel now. A 16 week prep is a longer prep than anticipated and I'm pretty beat and slightly irritable. Meet training goes that way sometimes I guess. I will say I feel pretty strong going into Nationals. The Illinois State Bodybuilding Championships are that same day. So as soon as I kick some ass, I'm going to see some up and comers and watch the guest poser Mr. James "Flex" Lewis rock the house at the Gateway theatre.

After the meet is get lean time. I've already kind of started with doing cardio, switching carbs carbs around, etc and I'm coming down some. We'll see where this little experiment takes me in terms of body comp. I will include a before pic and current pic post nationals.

On that note, it's time for lunch!

April Squats

In week one of final preps for the USPF Nationals and went in yesterday to do squats and hit around 525 for 2 sets of 2. Mentally I was ready to go and felt good. Here's how it went down starting out.

Squats
135/10
185/5
225/2
275/2
315/2
405/1
455/1
500/1

Now at the 500 for one is where things got really iffy. I had two spotters on each side (as you can see in  the video). When I unracked the weight and with the exception of coming a little forward on my right side (you'll see a bit of hesitation when I unrack it, I had no issues. As I came down I don't I spread my knees apart like they should have and ended up carrying more load on one side. I think the kid on the right touched the bar but whatever.

Wasn't a bad day, but wasn't a good day.

Rest of the workout:
135/10
225/5
315/1
405/1
405/1,1,1,1,1,1,1,1

Leg press
Leg Abductor
Leg Curls
Planks.

I almost left because I was so mad, but I kept going. Finish what you start no matter how long it takes.

Bench is tonight, so that will go better. If it doesn't, I'll just eat some sweet rolls.