Quest To Certify

[Broly]

2/5/13- GRIP

Time: 6- 7:40am (Grippers took 22min, RT took 15min, Pinch took 17min, WD and bending took 36 min)

Energy: Good

Notes: Going for 3-5 rep range for training and not to max out

Grippers (Left pain in palm but I gripped really high so handle was off center and further down)

L: Tx10, BBAx10, #1x10, #2x4, GHP5x1, #1x5, 7, 7, #2x2, 2

R: Tx10, BBAx10, #1x10, #2x4, GHP5x2, Vulcan lv5x5, lv6x5, 3, 2, 2, #2x2

Rolling Thunder

L: 100x5, 105x4, 110x4, 115x2, 110x4

R: 100x4, 105x4, 110x3, 110x2, 110x1 > 105x1

IM PINCH BLOCK

L: 35x7, 40x7, 45x6, 45x2 > 50x2, 50x3

R: 35x7, 40x3, 45x1 > 40x2, 42.5x3, 2

WD

L: Lv3x3, lv4x3, lv5x3, 3, lv4x3

R: lv2x3, lv3x3, lv4x3, 2, lv3x1

IM HUMB
L: 35x3, 3, 3, 3

R: 35x2, 2, 3, 2

Bending: Bent a 6" Grade 2 5/16 in 1+1/3 IM Pads (took 3 attempts with very minimal rest, finger pain made me stop but after kink it was all over). This is an improvement from yesterday where I did it with 1+2/3 IM Pads. Once I can do this in singles then I will be one step closer to singles with reds.

Great morning workout and very good time management. Hands feel nice and burnt from this session.

[Tom Scibelli]

Do you usually workout in the morning? I might have to start working out in the morning due to a change in my work schedule, so I'm wondering how I'm going to deal with it.

[Broly]

Do you usually workout in the morning? I might have to start working out in the morning due to a change in my work schedule, so I'm wondering how I'm going to deal with it.

I have a hectic schedule as well but it does allow me a decent amount of time in the morning but the problem is getting enough sleep for a morning workout. I work best in the afternoon but work doesn't allow it. Mornings seem better than evenings. My last couple of evening workouts have sucked. I come home and all I want to do is relax.

As long as you get like 7 hours of sleep you should be good. What kind of gets me is if I get 7 hours of sleep but wake up at like 9am I feel great and if I get the same amount of sleep and wake up at 6am I feel kind of tired even with getting the same amount of sleep. The best part with mornings is you get it out of the way and can do whatever you want the rest of the day. Weekends are the best because I wake up whenever and get right to it.

Mornings will suck for a bit but you get use to it. I do it about 2-3 times a week and and evening workout about once a week.

[Broly]

2/7/13- PULL w/ some bending

Energy: Crap and even with a pre-workout drink loaded with caffeine. I think after work workouts will always suck. Kind of a waste too because I have the whole damn house to myself on Thursdays now so I'm still going to workout but will have to go for normal lifts that I don't put too much focus on then.

Weighted Pullups

10, 10, 25x8, 50x4, 4, 4, 5, 75x2

FG Preacher hammer curls

30x10, 40x10, 60x4 (partials)

****Bent 2 Grade 5's in between the weighted pullups and failed a some single IM pads with a Grade 2 5/16th and a Red****

Soooooooo this relaly sucked!!!! haha. Had big plans for a 2 hour + workout, was going to do a ton of pushing movements and pulling movements and the bends I went for got me pretty discouraged and that mental state carried over into the workout and killed it. Plus no energy REALLY killed it even further so I decided to just leave it where I finished and do the push movements tomorrow being as how I'm working from home anyway and I can probably squeeze it in the afternoon.

[Broly]

BENDING PLAN

My biggest challenges with bending are my upper body "push" strength and hand conditioning. I had alot of good advice from seasoned benders and tried out some suggestions but feel that I need to get myself to a certain point before I can start back on attempts on Reds and 5/16 Grade 2's and such.

I'm comfortable doing a dip with about 75lbs added to my body weight of 150lbs so I'm thinking once i feel comfortable with 90-100lbs then my chest is at a great point. My chest crush has improved and my max lift on a chest crush lift is at a nice 165lbs. Figure I want to be at least 15lbs more on that. I also need to start incorporating some heavy tricep movements as well to get my upper body pushing strength back to it's former glory.

As far as hand conditioning goes I feel that what I'm currently doing is working great. I'm bending about 3 times a week as an average and doing grade 5's again in singles (I actually couldn't do this in singles a few weeks ago, I kind of back tracked some). i'm struggling with Grade 2 5/16ths with less wrapping and can kill them with 1 +2/3 wrapping but it's not helping my kink which is where I need to start if I want to do big nails in singles. My theory is when I can bend 5 Grade 5's in a row in singles then my hand conditioning is doing great and can move on to attempts on the Grade 2 5/16th or take a trip to home depot and try and get some drill rods (pretty sure they don't) or some longer 5/16th CRS or HRS (crossing my fingers they have these).

I have about 70+ reds right now and don't want to waste them with feable attempts. I want to make sure I can kill them and use them towards certing so once I'm feeling stronger and more confident then i'll get back to trying these out, first in 1+2/3 then 1+1/3 then eventually in singles. I'm not going to waste trying them in doubles then transitioning to singles because i keep off kinking the crap out of them and screwing up the bend with the transition.

Last thing I'm doing for conditioning is rubbing tuf-foot into my hands in the morning and at night. I just started this last night so I will do this for a week or a bit more then switch to once a night for consistency.

Anyway, that's my bending plan.

[Mephistopholes]

Standing One arm dumbbell press. That is all

[Broly]

Standing One arm dumbbell press. That is all

Can you post a picture or describe this? I can't picture it. In my mind it sounds like a shoulder movement.

[Mephistopholes]

Well, I just saw in your last post you were saying you needed to strengthen your triceps. In my opinion, the one arm dumbbell press is the best move for this... Yeah it's a "shoulder" movement, but it's a great compound arm move. In my own training, I really only do compound stuff, but I've found that the one arm press hits the triceps harder than anything else and really jacks your arms.

Clean it to the shoulder from the ground, press it overhead, switch arms, repeat... Bonus points if you do it with a thickdumbbell or fat grips. Haha.

Anyway, what I meant is that, if you're looking for an assistance move to beef up your pushing strength, that's maybe my favorite.

[Mike Sharkey]

I had some similar issues with kink strength. We are not all as titanic as Chez & Nate. For me, i didn't even have to go that heavy, but OHP on the barbell is pretty awesome. Like Mephistopheles said (I can't believe I just had to type that, I need to know people's real names haha ) For sweep strength, one hand ring lifts actually wound up helping a lot, as I was able to lock my arm in place and put my obliques into the push.

For working on your reds, I could also recommend you kink them to varying degrees and do isometrics in IMP's. You'll be surprised how much this can help. I train without relying on the nail to heat up, kinking 3-5 at a time and letting them cool off at 4.5", then coming back and sweeping them to 3.5", then letting them cool again and crushing them. When I go for an actual bend, it feels pretty easy. EJ taught me this technique of kinking and crushing on separate days and I have to say, it has really changed things for me, breaking the 'bend' down into trainable movements.

[Mephistopholes]

I had some similar issues with kink strength. We are not all as titanic as Chez & Nate. For me, i didn't even have to go that heavy, but OHP on the barbell is pretty awesome. Like Mephistopheles said (I can't believe I just had to type that, I need to know people's real names haha )

Please, call me Satan.

[Mike Sharkey]

Stan. Got it.

[Mephistopholes]

Stan. Got it.

It's Bobby.

[Broly]

The only issue I have is my workout area has very low celings so I'm limited with standing overhead movements. The one tricep movement that I use to do and need to start doing again is single DB behind the neck presses. It's a great exercise that builds massive triceps.

[Broly]

2/9/13- PUSH

DIPS: 10, 12, 25x10, 50x6, 75x2, 3, 65x4, 4

Chest Crush Lifts: 100x6, 120x5, 140x5, 160x2, 2, 2 (holds at the top of each lift. Getting much stronger here and hits the chest alot)

Gripper Chest Crushes: GHP7 @154x5, 6, 4

Starting to switch up the training a bit and stop trying to max out every time and stick to more of a 80-90% effort and save max efforts for days I feel froggy or after a few weeks of good training.

[Mephistopholes]

Hmm... Well I suppose it could be done sitting... Or just take it outside. Haha. But the thing with one arm presses is that, proportionally speaking, you can use more weight per arm, so it hits the pressing muscles harder.

[Broly]

2/10/13- GRIP & FERUPS

GRIP: TNS closes, Tx10, BBAx4, #1x1,

GHP Negatives (timed holds): 60x7, 65x7, 70x6, 75x5, 77.5x5, 4, 4, 5, 5

TTK: 10x8, 15x7, 20x5, 5, 22.5x3

Drywall lifts (skinny):

L: 25x10, 35x7, 35x10, 40x5

R: 25x10, 35x4, 35x10, 35x3

Ghetto Axel: 107x5, 173x5, 223x4, 254x3, 2, 3 (seeing better results with the neutral grip so the bar doesn't roll out)

Ghetto Euro: 90x5, 101x4, 110x3, 121x1, 126x1, 115x1 +1drop (WOW- Feeling awesome with this today and PR'd again. couldn't help myself, was feeling dumb strong in this and needed to try it.)

Plate Wrist Curls

L: 20x6, 25x4, 4 / seated: 25x3, 4

R: 20x6, 25x3, 4/ seated: 25x2, 3

Sledge deadlifts: (cholked): 6lbsx5, 4, 3

Behind Back Axel Wrist Curls: 107x5, 5, 5

Sledge to face: 6x4, 4, 8x3, 10x1

Was running late into this workout so I didn't get to do everything I wanted but woke up, felt good and got to work. Making great progress on my Euro training and it's been feeling good. Below is what I'd like to get done during the week.

1)Few bending sessions

2) Rotators, rear wever sticks, WD

3)VBAR, Plate pinch bounces, RT, Grippers

4) Hercules Bar

[Broly]

2/10/13- BENDING

60D timber tie, Grade 2 1/4"

4x Grade 5's

Failed 5/16 Grade 2 6"

Woke up wanted to bend and destroyed some steel. The grade 5's are feeling much easier and did 4 in a row and easily could've done 5. Some hand pain in the left palm but that's to be expected. Finger skin and joint pain was almost non existent. Couldn't kink or move the Grade 2 5/16 though in singles. Pain right in the middle finger joints kept me from moving further on it. So the hands are getting conditioned good but it needs to get better if I'm going to tackle the tougher steel.

[jchapman]

What do you think of Tuf Foot? I am debating whether to order it.

[Broly]

What do you think of Tuf Foot? I am debating whether to order it.

Funny you should ask because I was about to put an update with my experience so far. As of right now it's still hard to tell. The skin on my hands feels a little bit tougher but it's a very subtle change. I started Wednesday night and from Thursday on would apply it in the morning after a shower and before bed. After this upcoming Wednesday it will be one week of use. After my first week I will only apply at night before bed.

Read a review and a suggestion that if you put it in a empty spray bottle you can get much better coverage and it'll last much longer and this seems to be work best. I'm not super impressed just yet but I think it's still too early to tell. After 2 weeks I think it'll be much more noticeable. I still have faith in it. Alot of guys seem to love it so only time will tell.

[Broly]

2/12/13- GRIP & BENDING

Grippers

L: Tx10, BBAx10, #1x5, #2x1, 1, 1 GHP5x1, 3, 1, GHP5 miss, BBA cut x7, #2 Over crush

R: Tx10, BBAx5, #1x5, #2x2, 2, 2, GHP5x2, 2, V6x5, V7x2, V8x3, V9x1, GHP5 overcursh

****Left Palm pain was very low today and allowed me to work somewhat normal. PR'd 2 levels on the Vulcan to a level 9 now. The Vulcan looks to be making my set much stronger. Takes a LOONG time before my hands get warmed up and geared to go.

Plate Pinch Bounces

L: 50x10, 10, 11, 10

R: 50x5, 4, 4, 5

Rolling Thunder

L: 100x5, 110x5, 2, 4

R: 100x5, 110x5, 1, 2

Im Hub

L: 25x5, 35x4, 40x4, Swings: 30x3, 3

R: 25x5, 35x3, 40x2, Swings: 30x2, 2

****feeling a bit stronger with the hub. I think swings are helping*****

Bending (Did my bending in between rest breaks)

IM Yellow- Melted within seconds. Has never felt easier.

IM Red (singles + 2/3)- Didn't budige. Switched to full doubles and initially didn't budge. Waited a few minutes then it started moving and got it to the same spot I always get it from the sweep to crush and then it just stopped. OFF CENTERED again!!!

Grade 2 5/16 6" (singles +1/3)- Failed, didn't budge

Grade 5 6"- Very quick OFF CENTERED bend

Grade 5 5"- Nice little PR with the grade 5. Took down a 5" bolt OFF CENTERED again!!!!! took a few tries but felt like a much harder grade 5 and good for strength training with bending.

I am the freaking OFF CENTER KING of the bending world! This is in no way bragging because when they're off centered I can barely bend them! lol. The last 3 weeks every single bend has been off centered. I've been measuring every aspect of the nail, marking the center and even where they need to be in the wraps. I think my body is just off centered now.

I was wearing a sweater with a zipper and looked down before my grade 5 bend. Sure enough my natural hold on the nail is showing that the center is off to my left. I tried see how it felt to move it towards the center of my body and it feels very unnatural and off. This is why every single bend in the last 3 weeks has been off centered.

SOLUTION 1: Put the left end of the nail 1+1/2 inches in and the Right end 2 inches in.

SOLUTION 2: Try and train my body to pull more to the right so the bend is centered.

[anwnate]

2/12/13- GRIP & BENDING

SOLUTION 1: Put the left end of the nail 1+1/2 inches in and the Right end 2 inches in.

SOLUTION 2: Try and train my body to pull more to the right so the bend is centered.

Solution 3: Bend in front of a mirror AND keep your eyes open.

[Broly]

2/12/13- GRIP & BENDING

SOLUTION 1: Put the left end of the nail 1+1/2 inches in and the Right end 2 inches in.

SOLUTION 2: Try and train my body to pull more to the right so the bend is centered.

Solution 3: Bend in front of a mirror AND keep your eyes open.

Dude that's impossible! The only way it'll bend is once I close my eyes, the bending fairy comes into the room and waives her magic wand on the nail to make it weak. If I keep my eyes open she'll never come!

[wojo]

2/12/13- GRIP & BENDING

SOLUTION 1: Put the left end of the nail 1+1/2 inches in and the Right end 2 inches in.

SOLUTION 2: Try and train my body to pull more to the right so the bend is centered.

Solution 3: Bend in front of a mirror AND keep your eyes open.

Dude that's impossible! The only way it'll bend is once I close my eyes, the bending fairy comes into the room and waives her magic wand on the nail to make it weak. If I keep my eyes open she'll never come!

That's too funny man, it made me chuckle

[Electron]

The only way it'll bend is once I close my eyes, the bending fairy comes into the room and waives her magic wand on the nail to make it weak. If I keep my eyes open she'll never come!

THAT'S how it happens!!!

[Broly]

2/13/13- PULL & RANDOM

Pullups

10, 10, 25x8, 50x6, 60x5, 65.5x3 1/2, 70x3

Pronation/Supination

5x10, 7.5x7,

L:10x3, 8.75x5

R: 8.75x2, 2

Rear sledge deadlifts

L: 6x3, 5, 4, 8x1

R: 6x3, 4, 4, 8x1

***Wrists felt like they were going to snap off when I went to 8. Horrible form at the end. Pain. Maybe I need to relax with wrist work for a few days.

Was going to work with the WD and some reverse wrist curls but I think they are a bit shot lately. Need to back off on the wrist work a tad. Anyway, Worked from home and got very busy so i couldn't focus too much on this workout.