When ur math teacher calls U a geek, U know it's serious...

[ralst]

All right, I guess I'll give this a go. I've been keeping a training journal for several months, just started a food log this week - I think for now I'll only be posting the training side of things (as far as food goes, I eat...a lot)

I work out in a weight room Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, at 9:00 am, and usually supplement that with some at-home training over the weekend.

Focused on the deadlift today: (weights are in pounds)

DL:
5 X 135
5 X 185
3 X 5 X 225
4 X 225 (failure on the fifth rep)

Military Press:
8 X 80
6 X 80
4 X 80

Chins:

I'm not very good at these...the most I've ever done at one time is four. Today my arms were done in already. I was going for three sets of five, I did one, and then I did another one, and then I sat down and rested.

Finished up with some one-legged squats using a wall for balance and a set of incline sit-ups, 25 with a 20 lb medicine ball.

- Eric

[buzz]

PS Quick question. I can never seem to remember which order to put the numbers - by "80 X 8 X 1" I mean 80 lbs, 8 reps, and 1 set. Is that the correct way to write it out?

It's sets x reps x weight, so 3x6x80, but if it's just one set it's usually written as just 6x80. Hope this helps

Good lifting by the way!

[ralst]

It's sets x reps x weight, so 3x6x80, but if it's just one set it's usually written as just 6x80. Hope this helps

Thanks

[Frostfire]

Nice workout , it did look oddly familier though because I started doing one-leg squats recently myself, they are hardcore .

[ralst]

Fri, Apr 13

Jogged 1 hr, ~5 miles

[ralst]

I didn't make it to the gym today (hope to get a makeup session in tomorrow) - instead doing some BW exercises during my break at work:

Pushups: 5 sets of 8, one set of 10, for 50 total.
Hindu pushups: 5 sets of 10
Hindu squats: one set of 50

Also, I had another go at unsupported one-legged squats. I managed a grand total of zero complete repititions, but many many half-reps and falling on my butt

A bit disappointed I didn't get to the gym. Spent all weekend mentally preparing and eating for an attempt at a new one-rep max in the deadlift. 250 is my current best, but I think I can hit 300. Hell, I know I can hit 300..probably.



- Eric

[Frostfire]

Also, I had another go at unsupported one-legged squats. I managed a grand total of zero complete repititions, but many many half-reps and falling on my butt

Gotta start somewhere! How do you do these anyway? I find it helps a TON if I hold the other leg out straight in front of me with both hands. Then they are called "pistol squats" because your body looks like a giant pistol as you do them . Helps with balance and keeping everything tight.

[ralst]

Gotta start somewhere! How do you do these anyway? I find it helps a TON if I hold the other leg out straight in front of me with both hands. Then they are called "pistol squats" because your body looks like a giant pistol as you do them . Helps with balance and keeping everything tight.

I try to do them as "pistol squats". With a twenty pound weight in my hands I can control the descent and keep my balance, but I can't press back up. Without the weight, I still can't press back up, and I fall over most times But I've been working at it and I already feel a lot closer to achieving a one-legged squat than I was just two weeks ago.

Thanks for linking to that great site, btw. It's exceedingly overambitious, lol, but a freestanding clap handstand pushup looks like it'll be my next goal. Those guys are amazing.

- Eric

[ralst]

Tuesday

I didn't have a regular workout today, but still made some progress. My girlfriend and I went to a local gym`and we went over some basic free weight lifts. She works out all the time, but hardly ever with weights - she likes it, but says she is uncomfortable in a room full of mainly big, scary men, who are pretty much the only people using any of the weight equipment there. That's just encouragement for me to become the biggest, scariest guy in the place, I guess, so she'll feel more comfortable

Anyways, other than some chin-ups and lunges, I got this done:

First time really using a power rack. Worked up to 125 lbs on an overhead press off the rack. Then I took the weight to the floor and clean and jerked 125 lbs, a new PB

Did deadlifts off a rack at 295 lbs. Three sets of 5, my left hand was starting to lose its grip by the end. Need to work on that. The deadlift is rapidly becoming my favorite lift.

Lastly, I did a set of 10 front squats with 95 lbs, the first time I've done this exercise with anything more than an unloaded bar.

I have weight training class tomorrow morning, I'll come back with sets and reps and weights and a real workout - today I was just trying things out, but I had fun

- Eric

[ralst]

Wed

Deadlift
5 X 45
1 X 135
1 X 225
1 X 305
1 X 315 New PB - Vegan strength table here I come
1 X 305
3 X 225

Chins
1

Bent-Over Row - never done these before
10 X 40
10 X 60
8 X 80

Power Clean
5 X 95
3 X 115, and on the last rep I added an overhead press, moving on to...

Clean and Jerk
3 X 1 X 135 New PB

[Frostfire]

Nice PB's - looks like it was a good session!

[ralst]

Fri

Squat
5 X 115
5 X 145
5 X 155
4 X 155
6 X 145

Front Squat
2 X 115 - A bit too much weight on these, my forearms didn't like it

Bench
3 X 5 X 135
1 X 4 X 135
f X 185 - Another guy worked in with me for a set at 185, so I gave the weight a try.
1 X 5 X 135

Very happy with these. My bench has improved without benching much over the last few weeks (lots of pushups and overhead pressing during that time, though)

Chins
3 - Losing ground on these. My weights gone up about six pounds, the number of times I can pull myself up has gone down by 50%. Decided to work on it a bit more, this time with assistance.

Assisted Pullups
7 X BW-80
1 X BW-80
f X BW-80 - Spent a lot of time trying on this one...

Incline Situps
25 X BW+25


* * * *


Thanks, Frostfire. I'm going to reduce DL to once a week now and concentrate on the other two power lifts. I'm still getting proper bench technique down, expecting improvements there not too far in the future...unfortunately, that might leave me benching more than I can squat

- Eric

[ralst]

Three friends and I drove up to a local lake on Saturday and had various "strongman" competitions using rocks and logs provided by nature. I didn't have a way to keep track of exact weights and distances, but I kept a log of sorts anyway, along with a few pictures.

Saturday

Rock PickUp and Run: ~50 lbs, ~50 yds. Took 24 seconds.

Stone Shotput: No idea weights/distance, but that first picture is me giving it a go.

Log Drag: A big dead piece of wood that got easier the further we took it, as pieces kept cracking and falling off

Rock Line Shuffle: This involved moving a progessively larger series of five rocks from one spot to another, a distance of about twenty feet. My grip was pretty much shot by then. My digital camera was full by then and I didn't get any pictures.

We had a foot race from the creek where we did most of our lifting down to the shore of the lake: I lose every race, and this one was no exception.

I hopped in the (very cold) lake for a quick swim. Tried to convince one of my friends to go in the water too, by means of olympic-style wrestling, but as he's a wrestler and I'm not, it didn't really work out

Then we all ate burritos at a vegan-friendly shop in Cameron Park. I easily won this event, pounding down two one-pound vegan burritos, a liter of pepsi, chips with guacamole, and chips with salsa

* * * *

Here are some pictures of the day's events. My first time posting pictures, hopefully it works ok. I'm the skinhead-looking sort tossing the rock in picture #1 and sporting the log in picture #4

[ralst]

Monday - AM

Pushups/Chins (supersetted)

5/4
5/2
5/1

Squats

5 X 95
5 X 145

Then I messed around with the power rack, trying to do partials from the bottom up...hardly worked, I tended to get stuck under anything over 175, but I worked up a nice sweat. I finished up with a few sets of squats, this time not going all the way down, though still well below parallel:

4 X 145
1 X 195 New PB, I think
10 X 145

Hang Clean

3 X 45
5 X 95

Push and Press

1 X 115
6 X 115
2 X 115


Monday - PM

Got home from a night class and started watching arm wrestling on TV. So I busted out a twenty pound DB from the closet and did these:

Curl

3 X 10 X 20

Hammer Curl

3 X 10 X 30

Pushups

2 X 12
1 X 10
2 X 8

And a little bit of core work.

* * * *

Not sure how long it'll take me to squat 250, which is my short/long-term goal, but a 200-lb bench should come pretty soon. My chest is decently strong and triceps, which have been the sticking point, are getting strong quick.

- Eric

[ralst]

Wednesday

Front Squat

8 X 95
8 X 100
8 X 105
8 X 100
8 X 95

Bench

2 X 5 X 135
1 X 4 X 135
1 X 2 X 135
1 X 1 X 145

Stiff-Legged Deadlift

8 X 105
8 X 125
8 X 125