Irish Strength

[MalachiMcMullen]

Grippers

Just used some 3 in 1 oil on all my grippers and it made a HUGE differance! Really makes the whole of the movement smooth with no weird binding and no squeaking. I'd still guess I managed to buy a Hard set of grippers from IM The way Aaron's easy #3, medium #3, Scott Harris' Hard #3, and the easy elite felt I'd have to say that my #3 is still abit Harder. The only thing I can compare it to is Lipinski's Thor Elite I squeezed. My #2 is still a great bit harder than Aaron's #2 also. I remember Aaron saying it was pretty stout compared to some other's he's tried too. I'd say his #2 is around my 1.5. I concede though that I could've been pumped up on adrenaline and everything, at least at first, felt easy but I highly doubt that.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Now I suppose I should start training for my next contest, Gripmas Carol. These events, with the exception of bending and the 100lb plates for time, are VERY thumb dependant, since my thumb strength is equivalent to the stiffness of a wet rag I'll be focusing on it.

Grippers in chokers held at parallel (If I can get my #3 closed MMS[yeah right ] by this time I think I could come close to a 3.1 or 3.2)

Euro Pinch – the normal(my plates compared to the ones I tried at John's are super wide/slick so they should be a good tool)

IronMind Apollon Axle DL – Sumo or conventional – DO to full deadlift (Building an axle now so I'll be able to train this soon)

Bending – DO or Reverse – not sure which yet – standard IM and FBBC stocks as per Erics chart (thanks to Scott I have a MUCH better idea how to bend steel, perhaps I'll get a bastard? )

Medley – a mixture of increasingly difficult items (I'll play around at work, I'll train with my 2.5" DB's and my slick 30 blobs)

Weaver Stick – front and/or rear (I'll be doing more sledge training for this I think)

Scale Weight Hold for time – the most talked about event at BBB last year – my scale weights are killer OR

100# Plates hold for time – the object is an endurance event to finish up with. (I'll do some creative stuff with towels like holds, perhaps wrap a towel around my 24kg Kettlebell and start some swings for endurance, whatever I come up with)

Edited October 15, 2007 by MalachiMcMullen

[MalachiMcMullen]

I know Doc, don't do anything till Friday but I couldn't help myself! I have to do something, so I did something without much hand involved... I Benched.

A short term goal of mine is to press my baby BFDB, I can get it halfway up but it just falls down

Flat bench

155x8

175x5

205x3

215x2

230x0(close this time, stalled just about 5-7" off my chest, spotte touched the bar with one finger and it went up slow but he touched it )

205x3

185x5

210x3

OHP

125x3(push jerk)

125x3

125x3(push jerk)

JM press

60'sx8

70'sx1(the end of the DB hurt my shoulder so I went to the 65's because they have flat ends)

65x5

Should get my homemade 2.5" axle welded up tomorrow so when I'm back to 100% I'll start mixing it in with my regular DL's, go heavy on normal deads and do all excessory work & warmups on the axle maybe?

Edited October 16, 2007 by MalachiMcMullen

[MalachiMcMullen]

Did some arm stuff today, I'm getting very close to a planche press! My balance is coming along but my strength needs some work.

DB curls

40'sx10

50'sx6

45'sx10

EZ curls

75x10

95x5

105x1

75x10

Chin ups

Wide grip- 1x5, 1x8, 1x8

Wide grip with palms facing me- 1x8

Close grip with palms facing me- 1x10

Close grip- 1x10

Did a few holds at the top under max contraction

One arm pushups(#'s for each arm)

1x10

1x10(with feet raised on 10" platform)

2 Psuedo planche press attempts, balance was there, arms weren't.

[MalachiMcMullen]

WOW! My rhomboids, lats and rear delts were BLASTED after the pull up work two days ago. I've never worked my middle back so well and I will definitely be doing more of that. Thumbs weren't 100%, maybe 75-80% but I couldn't leave well enough alone, it had been too long since I last DL'd.

DEADLIFTS!!!!!

215x5 clean pulls

305x1 DO

345x1

375x2 PR

395x0

375x0(it hovered though)

305x1

2.5" Axle DL's(my axle is between 43 and 66lbs so for now I'll say 43)

223x0

213x0

183x3

133x5 clean pull singles

Lots of hub lifts of my 25 plate, and 1 attempt at curling it

3 or 4 Double 25 pinch lifts per hand

some playing with my 24kg KB

alittle bit of sledge levering

[MalachiMcMullen]

Whoa, just realized I forgot to add that I did some rows with my baby BFDB. 1x5 each arm and did one set of 10 with a 75 db.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Had a few minor workouts between my last entry and now, nothing worth mentioning really. Bicep day. I don't remember alot of it today.

Hammer curls

40'sx10

45'sx10

50'sx6

50'sx6

40'sx10

Reverse curls

75x8

75x5

65x8

65x8

DB rows(#'s for each arm)

75x10

75x10

75x10

Lat pulldowns

120x8

120x8

120x8

Close grip pulldowns

170x8

170x10

150x10

Wide grip chins

BWx6

BWx6(close grip)

One arm pushups with feet raised 1ft(#'s for each arm)

BWx10

Wrist curls

125x10

145x5

155x3

170x1

145x8

125x10

I'm pretty sure there was more but I don't remember what.

[lone Wolf]

Good workout Zach

I'm going to have to start a full bicep workout myself soon

when do you do your bending I want to see you get that 1/4"x5" G5 once you get that you should be

able to do some serious damage to 1/4"x6" G8. I just did the 5.5" G5 in my last workout took my about 1 min.

mine was the (triangle) I'll try one of the ones I got from John next week.

[MalachiMcMullen]

I'm pretty inconsistent with bending, to be honest I'm still healing from the BBB. Not to say I haven't tried to give it a go, but not without pain after 1 attempt. I'm nearly 100% though so I'm thinking either the weekend or early next week I'll be giving that 5" G5 a try. I'm going to need more wraps though, going to order some more from John this week.

[nockowt1]

I'm pretty inconsistent with bending, to be honest I'm still healing from the BBB. Not to say I haven't tried to give it a go, but not without pain after 1 attempt. I'm nearly 100% though so I'm thinking either the weekend or early next week I'll be giving that 5" G5 a try. I'm going to need more wraps though, going to order some more from John this week.

How much does he sell the wraps for? I didn't see them advertised on his site.

[MalachiMcMullen]

How much does he sell the wraps for? I didn't see them advertised on his site.

Suede is $7 and leather is $5, I heard he offered wraps alittle while back and I asked him at the BBB. Just email him at FBBC and he'll cut you some.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Deadlift is still going up, it's slowing abit but still going up.

Clean pulls

215x5

DEADLIFTS!!!!!!!

305x1

355x1

380x1(wanted 2, but it was not to be

375x1

365x0(to the knees but my back rounded forward, had to drop it

355x1

325x3

335x3

SLDL's

305x2

305x2

285x3

285x2

Chin up holds at top (I have not done an exercise that hits my middle back so directly and so well)

wide grip holdx1 until chin was below the bar

close grip holdx2 until chin was below the bar

DB rows(each arm)

75x10

75x10

I'm definitely getting stronger by the week, last week I pulled 375x2 with a failed 3rd attempt and couldn't get much after those attempts while today I pulled 380, 375, 365 to the knees, 355, and then 325 and 335 for triples. No way I could've done that last week. Goal #1 beyond all else is to reach 400+ by the end of 2007. I'm going to be starting squats up soon, not for squat's sake but for my DL's sake since my quads are a major weak point. I stink off the floor and squats will definitely give me the quad strength needed.

Also, just for fun I gave my #2 and 2.5 some squeezes throughout the day. My #2 is finally falling for reps, I'm less than 1/8" from a TNS of it, my 2.5 I can consistently get down to sub 1/8". Haven't tried my #3 yet, not going to... After all why ruin a great day with humility?

[nockowt1]

Nice job on the deadlifts. I think 400+ is right around the corner. You're doing more weight than I am for doubles. Have you actually made an attempt at 400 yet? If you haven't give it a try. You may suprise yourself.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Nice job on the deadlifts. I think 400+ is right around the corner. You're doing more weight than I am for doubles. Have you actually made an attempt at 400 yet? If you haven't give it a try. You may suprise yourself.

The way my form goes to crap on 90%+ lifts, I made an attempt at 400 and 405 off 5" blocks about 4 or 5 weeks ago but that was before the 375x2 and todays. The way 380 went up was very odd though, I always used to be the guy who would have trouble 2" or less from the ground but past that the weight flys up. Today was different, I actually slowed down quick at mid thigh on the 380 and 375 pulls. I also don't think I'm doing enough volume for my back, next week I'm going to do less pulling from the floor, I'll go for a 2 rep max again(hopefully 380 or 385) with the usual warmups, after that I'll do 3x3 with 330-340 to help my form issue then get into some rack pulls from the knees, shrugs, GM's, rows, and then I'll wait 2 or 3 days and start some squats. Honestly it's been so long since I did squats but I don't feel I've really lost that much, just that I've stagnated on them. I'll probably do something like heavy 5x5 front squats, leg press(I know it's shunned upon but the one at my gym puts my legs in the same position as my DL form, I'm just not using my back), leg extensions and PLENTY OF STRETCHING ALL THROUGHOUT. I'll do something like that for maybe 3 or 4 weeks and by December I should be ready to pull 400 if I don't do it as a 2 rep max during those 4 weeks. My gains are slowing down because I've been doing something similar in my DL's for the past few months so I think a big change will do me some good.

Feel free to comment on my "plan" everyone. I left it very open ended because I never like to follow routines or rep schemes, I'll do what I feel and hopefully a change is what I need.

[nockowt1]

To help increase my deadlift from 415 to 425+ I have been doing rack pulls. I warm up with 135,225, and 315. I do 3x3 with 405. I started with the pins in the 4th hole (right above knee level). I have been doing every height for a month (4 deadlift workouts). Next week will be my last week of doing them with the pin in the 3rd hole. With a little luck I will be doing 405x3 from the floor in a couple of months.

[MalachiMcMullen]

To help increase my deadlift from 415 to 425+ I have been doing rack pulls. I warm up with 135,225, and 315. I do 3x3 with 405. I started with the pins in the 4th hole (right above knee level). I have been doing every height for a month (4 deadlift workouts). Next week will be my last week of doing them with the pin in the 3rd hole. With a little luck I will be doing 405x3 from the floor in a couple of months.

Where is your sticking point? I'm going to be proactive with the lockout portion. By starting the bar just below the knees I'm in my weak spot, I usually blow right past that area witht the momentum from the floor so killing that momentum will teach me to be strong in that portion of the pull just in case of future slowdowns.

Good Luck with the 405x3!

[nockowt1]

I can't really say that I have a sticking point. For the most part if I can get it off the floor I can fully deadlift it. I thought about doing platform deadlifts to help off the floor, but my lower back and hamstrings didn't agree with those.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Bench day

OHDB press

70x5 decently strict RH and some body english with the LH, definitely getting stronger on these

Flat bench

135x10

175x5

205x2

230x1 PR

205x3

185x5

Incline Bench

135x8

155x3

155x3

175x2

145x5

Decline Bench

135x10

175x5

205x3

JM presses

50x8

50x8

55x6

[nockowt1]

Nice job getting the pr on bench press.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Ok, had a great feeling during todays workout. Amazing what workout partners coupled with a good attitude can do for your workout.

DB Hammer curls(Full ROM, I don't just bring it to the nipples and put it back down, I touch the ends of the DB's to my front delt)

40x10

45x8

50x6

45x10

Pullups 4x5 going from wide chins, close chins, close pullups, wide pullups, also did some towel pullups, 2x8.

One arm cable rows(#'s for each arm)

100x10

110x10

150x8

110x20

110x20

EZ curls

75x8

85x8

95x1

75x10

Flat bench(just a quick lift for kicks but surprised the hell out of myself)

205x5

225x1(1 rep max is 230 and I did that yesterday)

Reverse Curls

80x8

80x4

70x8

70x8

Did a bunch of closes with my #1 and #2, mostly NS with the #1 and some easy MMS closes of the #2 and a few NS attempts on it.

I think I did more than this but it was a few hours ago and I was more focused on getting done in time to watch Boston Legal so I don't remember much. It could be that I feel I did more than I actually did, maybe.

[MalachiMcMullen]

DEADLIFT DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Ok, everytime I post the word deadlift it will be seen as !DEADLIFT! 'cause I'm annoying and wierd like that

Warm up

2x5 Chin ups, 1st set wide grip, 2nd set close grip

1x5 Clean pulls with 215

!DEADLIFTS!

335x1

380x2 reset reps PR(set it down, stand up then dip down and regrip the bar, I call them reset reps

345x3 reset reps

335x3 reset reps

RDL's(forgot my straps at home so I couldn't do them like I wanted, grip failed

285x2

305x2 singles

Clean pulls

215x5

235x5

Front squats

155x5

165x5

125x8

125x8

I was good for 390 today if not 400, that's how easy that 380 went up first rep. Second rep stalled at the top of my thigh again but I pulled it up, I'm not sure what it is that is slowing me down right there but I'm going to be proactive and work the upper back harder and work on perfect form. Went easy on the squats today, haven't done them in months and I can feel it but I will be building up to more and more volume. I'm close and I have less than 2 months to pull 400 to achieve my goal. As far as grippers go I can MMS my 2.5 just about everytime I try so long as I'm warmed up and not fatigued, my #2 I can close with nearly no set but that damned last 1/32" fights back pretty damn fiercely. Steel for the Inch DB's should come in next week, the pieces are coming from about 80-100 miles away so it'll take abit of time to get here.

[nockowt1]

Nice job on the deadlifts. Make sure to take a vid or pics when you go for 400.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Nice job on the deadlifts. Make sure to take a vid or pics when you go for 400.

I'll try, if I think about it. Like I said I forgot my straps and I was telling myself to bring them all week

[MalachiMcMullen]

Decided to do some axle work today. I still don't know what my axle weighs but I'll be getting a scale this weekend. It's 2.5" and 10ft long(length was an accident) and weighs at least 40lbs so that is what I will count it as, could be as much as 66lbs though.

Clean Pulls

130x5

Power Clean

130x2(attempted a 3rd but ended up trying to continental it and hit my chest pretty hard... it hurt)

!DEADLIFTS!

180x5

190x1+alot of attempts to the knees before the successful lift

Clean Pulls

150x5

Pinched some slick and wide 2 25's for a few reps. Damn, after trying all the stuff Beatty had I realize I've been training with some pretty hard stuff, I DL'd his 25's no problem, could've done it with 2 fingers almost garaunteed but mine are pretty tough. A few hub lifts with my 25's, getting easier and easier to do. And I did a small bit of pinching afterwards with my thin 10's but couldn't get 4 of 'em, hands too sweaty Perhaps I'll try to get some chalk over the weekend also.

[MalachiMcMullen]

Been squeezing my grippers a bunch over the past week, no actual training session but some good squeezes. Figured I'd post some PR's right now, I finally MMS'd my 2.5 and felt strong with it, I also repped it for 3. I'm still about 3/8" off from closing it LH but I'm getting close, my LH is feeling A BUNCH stronger with the #2 now. I was never able to get my #2 from wider than parallel LH but I actually repped it today letting it open past parallel every time for 4 reps and have been doing strong singles with it also LH. Finally No setted my #2 RH, kept gettting it down to the last sub 1/8" and the handle slipped just enough to stop me. More to come tonight!