Shoulder & Assistance work

Overhead Press:
Bar/30
65/12
95/10
135/10,10

Laterals:
30/12
35/12
40/12,12

Chins:
BW/ 10,10,10,9,10

Close Grip Pulldown:
120/10,10,10

Dips:
BW:12,10,10

Pressdowns:
Until my triceps looked like Bertil Fox's

Machine Curls:
Max pump achieved with two sets

Nothing more. Meet prep starts today. Fun times in the resort town of Lincoln.

Past Weeks Training and the parallel between Lifting and Journalism

Past week training:

Shoulders: Sunday:

Behind The Neck Press: 

Bar/ LOTS of reps

95/12,12

135/8

155/6

185/5,5

Laterals:

25/15

30/15

40/10,10

Plate Raises:

25/15

50/12,12,12

Rear Delt Flyes:

4 sets

Pressdowns: Until my arms felt like Kevin Levrone’s

Squats: Monday:

Seated Leg Curl: 

40/12

70/12

100/12

120/10,12

Squats: 

Bar/12

135/12

185/12

225/8

275/2

315/3,3

Leg Press:

2pl/15

3pl/15

5pl/10,12

Leg Extension:

105/12

135/15,15

Chins: 2 sets

Dips:2 sets

Bench: Wednesday:

Bench Press:

Bar/40

135/14

185/10

225/5

275/5

315/3,3,3

Incline Barbell:

135/12

185/10

225/8

245/5,3

Machine Flyes:

3 sets

Dips: 4 sets

Chins:3 sets

This week was better than last week, but still only so so in the strength department in my opinion. It’s coming back though. My technique stinks a bit(I’m being generous) and I’m fixing some minute things on the bench so I can become better at the lift. One thing I’m noticing is that I do too many reps on the lighter sets. I need to bring those down and really exert myself on the work sets. As it stands now, I’m keeping the volume up and pushing forward. 

My squats……..lets just say they are a work in progress. My set up sucked and I have to use back to low bar. It’s going to come. I just have to be patient. 

How Journalism and Lifting are Damn Near the Same. 

I want people to stay with me here for a moment.

We had a speaker yesterday, a sports journalist from ESPN by the name of Shelly Smith. She went into sports journalism when not very many women were in the field. She spoke of getting better by doing reps. So being the meathead I am, I immediately picked up. So here are some things that came to mind as I was listening to her speak. 

You have to do things all the time to get better at it.  

Shelly explained that she doe’s live shot (where she is live on location reporting) and she has been doing live shot after live shot after live shot. This resounded with me. Anyone that knows me knows I have training ADD. I flip flop programs. But the one thing that I do believe is that to press more, you have to press more. To squat more, you have to squat more. The same with journalism. You have to do things repeatedly and refine your approach each time. 

Mistakes happen

Smith also explained that mistakes happen. Her and my professor said it’s what you do after is what matters. I’ve had day’s where I have a REALLY bad session. I mean a complete shit show. Instead of going in a corner and crying, I sit down and analyze what happened. Did I drink enough water? Food intake at a decent level? Did I sleep? What about stress? It’s how you recover from the mistake and keep on rolling is what matters. 

Have Passion:

While she didn't explicitly say this, I picked up on it. Shelly Smith enjoys her fucking job even though she’s only at home for a couple days. You have to love what you do. Will everyday be perfect? No, but if you keep going, what you do won’t feel like a job. I love training and will continue to love training until the day I leave this earth, so theres that.

Have a Social Life:

I'm bad about this. I just have little desire to go out and get drunk on the weekends like so many others do. But if Smith can have a relationship and still have fun in life, then I can get off my ass and be more social. Don't take that as Larry is going to be out tweaking, because it’s far from that. 

Social Media is good, but be careful:

I will not expound on a certain incident in powerlifting this week. It doesn't concern me, however I will say this. Be careful how you use social media. Smith uses it for possible news leads and to network for information for her job. Not as an emotional sounding board(points finger at myself. I've gotten better). Use twitter and Facebook for tips and news in strength training, nutrition and physique building. Connect with people who will make you better. Not to pout your feelings into the Universe. 

Be Observant:

Smith related a story to my class about how she was at a Denver Broncos press conference shortly before they played the New England Patriots. She observed Peyton Manning sitting down on the FLOOR studying practice film. He was using every last bit of time to prepare for the AFC Championship. Pay attention to what your training program is doing. It’s not meant to be just blind walking. Even if you are using a pre set program. Pay attention to what your body is telling you. Be observant of aches and pains and the like. 

That’s some of the lessons I learned from yesterday. Hopefully I can impart to you some of the same things Ms. Smith imparted to me, even though she didn't realize it. 

Delt Training

Behind the Neck Press:
Bar/ a lot of reps
95/12
135/8,8
155/6
185/6,6

Laterals:
25/15
30/10
40/10,10

Rear Delt flyes:
4 sets of 12

Pressdowns:
Until my triceps looked like Kevin Levrones.


DAT'S IT!!

Chest day

Chest:

Decline Press:

Bar/40

135/15

185/2

225/10

275/8

315/3 (WTF?!)

Flat Bench:

135/5

185/5

225/5

275/5

315/3 (Another WTF!)

Dips:

BW/13,13,13

Machine Flyes:

90/20

120/12,12

Good session yesterday. Strength was down a little bit but will come back soon. Not too worried about it. 

Leg Day: First Week Back

Leg Curls:
65/15
85/15
95/15
110/10
125/10,10

Squats:
135/12
185/10
225/10
275/8
315/8
335/6

Leg Press:
3pl/12
4pl/12
5pl/10
6pl/10

Leg Extension:
3 sets

First week back was a bit rough but it went well. Really tried to emphasize the negative portion on each rep after listening to a podcast with Ben Pakulski and John Meadows. Legs are a bit wrecked and my endurance went down some, but this block of training will yield some good changes.

Happning and stuff like that

I haven’t made a blog or an update in quite awhile and the reason is simple. I just didn’t feel like it. After sitting in front of a computer for the majority of my days in school and working for Flex Magazine, I just simply didn’t want to waste my Christmas break on a computer. And I don’t regret my decision one bit. I just used my smartphone and enjoyed break back home

Surviving “Chiberia”       

Ok folks, unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know Chicago was damn cold. Like insanely cold. Yes, Lake Michigan froze over some. Yes you had to bundle up. But really, IT’S CHICAGO. Half of the assholes where I live at don’t dress at all for the weather, so they deserve to get frostbite and have a foot amputated. Meanwhile me and the other smart people just decided to, you know, DRESS FOR THE WEATHER and go about our daily damn business. I did drink some rum to warm up though after I got home. Say yes to the Kraken people.

Training

I ramped up training volume and intensity quite a bit before I left for home and while I was at home. I haven’t really discussed what I’ve been trying to do, so here goes

After WPF Worlds, I took about a week off and started another Cube cycle. I knew after the first week that it wasn’t going to work. So instead of pushing I went into a hypertrophy phase to get some variation, volume and just something different.

-For the sessions I used John Meadows “Mountain Dog” system. I strongly suggest getting a membership to his site and employ some of his techniques and methods. Will bring a new dimension to your training.

-I’ve been pushing the volume up there to the point I was pretty run down and lost a lot of motivation. So as of right now I’m taking this week off. The reason is two fold. First week of classes so I can get used to a new schedule and I just needed a break. I start back training on Sunday and I’m starting to get a bit hyper from not training. I’m looking to add more muscle, but I’ll also get back to employing the classic lifts. I haven’t pulled since the meet because the thought of deadlifting absolutely horrified me. Now I’m ready to pull and row........A LOT!

-I’m not sure what I’m doing on the powerlifting front although I am actively looking for meets. USPF National’s in Pittsburgh is a strong possibility. No bodybuilding shows until after I graduate though. So I may not see a stage until 2015. Thats fine as I have my goals on and off the stage.

My training split will resemble the Cube Kingpin split. Tuesdays and Thursdays are basically fucked because of class, but Monday, Wednesday and Friday are pretty cool as far as training schedules go. The rotation will be centered using mountain dog precepts but I will be using the classical lifts. I plan to go back into using the cube around 10-11 weeks out from Nationals. So either I will compete or hold a mock meet here in Lincoln and smash some five guys after. But I’d rather smash some shit on the platform. And considering I’ve never had a run of good luck at Nationals, I’m looking forward to some redemption.

School

It’s going to be a bitch. Plain and simple, but I’ll try and sprinkle in some levity here and there. I’m in some pretty difficult classes and the only thing thats driving me right now is knowing I’ll be crossing the stage in August. The most difficult class I'll have is an advanced broadcasting class that will produce two live newscasts a week which can be streamed (information forthcoming). Will this help with my bodybuilding journalism stuff? No idea, if it does, great. If not, then that's fine too. I'll just move on.

Don't wait

You know what time it is, or at least will be soon.

The "New Year". An amalgam of "I'm doing this" not "that", going the spiritual route by "naming it and claiming it" (who made that up anyway) and getting the people out of your life that don't mean anything.

Well, I ask why didn't you do any of that last year? Oh, of course......the shit would've required you to look in the mirror and possibly say "You know, I don't think I'm measuring up to my own standards. Let me change something."

We shouldn't find ourselves in the exact same spot we were in at the beginning of the year. We all should have grown in some form or fashion and not necessarily in a financial sense. Maybe a physical sense, maybe a spiritual sense, possibly intellectual. The bottom line is that growth needs to occur in order to move forward.

If you have resolutions every year, I'm going to help you by streamlining it. Stop biting off big chunks of what you want to do in the new year. Make a commitment to something now. The new year means dick if you don't take the steps to clean up some shit now. If you have the goal to write a book, sit down TODAY and type the first page.

Want to eat better? Make a commitment to shopping the outsides of the grocery store today and not messing with the chips, crackers what have you.

Want to be a better lifter?

Then take eating better and combine that with consistency in all aspects of the iron game. Make sure your technique is on point. Make sure you get a good amount of rest. Don't bog your life with bullshit and people who don't help you become a better lifter.

I have my goals, and they extend beyond the new year. I won't share (maybe a few in the future) because I don't need people shitting on them, but know they will be accomplished.

Take stock of what you did during the year now and make corrections now. That way, when January 1st does come, you are a couple steps ahead.