Training Log

[easyWeight]

7/16/08

Keg press

6x3x120

6x1x160

First time pressing kegs so working on technique. I tried a different technique right at the end that worked very well. Thanks for the advice Mike.

What was the different technique? I was trying to push press them the other day and it wasn't working. Mitch e-mailed DaveO and he said you pretty much have to clean them straight into a strict press. Were you doing that? Was it easier? I'm probably not going to get anymore time with a keg until Waseca

[Guest drfish]

What was the different technique? I was trying to push press them the other day and it wasn't working. Mitch e-mailed DaveO and he said you pretty much have to clean them straight into a strict press. Were you doing that? Was it easier? I'm probably not going to get anymore time with a keg until Waseca

I was duplicating what I saw on a video. Basically lap it, then roll it up and one-motion it above my head. If it was too heavy, I'd get it up to my shoulders and press it from there, but still lap it first.

The technique that worked better is to NOT lap it. Just grab the bastard, explode up, sort of let it bounce off your chest and push it over your head. So you pretty much one-motion it. I was reluctant to try it with the 160 Lb keg because I thought I'd never get it. Mike encouraged me to do it and to my surprise I locked it out on the first try.

Edited July 18, 2008 by drfish

[Guest drfish]

7/17/08

Speed Box Squat - below parallel

9x2x225

RDL

225x3

315x3

405x3 - tried for 5 but lost my grip, nice grip pussy

405x5 - used straps just to prove I'm a pussy

Good Morning - arched back

225x8

225x8

275x8

Concept II rower

500m

3x300m sprints 58s, 59s, 60s

foam roller

[Guest drfish]

7/19/08

Yoke

340x80

430x80

520x80

630x80

720x40 - 1 drop

Keg Press

1x3x120

3x1x160

1x5x160 - C&P each rep

Log - 8"

1x5x145 - 1 clean

1x8x145 - 1 clean

1x8x145 - C&P each rep

Foam Roller

First time doing yoke since ISM, about 6 weeks. I had it in my mind that I was going to go higher on the yoke, but just for a hold. I decided not to because the other guys said, "hey, asshole, don't be stupid about it." Not in those words, but the same idea. That was good advice since Waseca is 1 week away and I shouldn't push it now.

Edited July 20, 2008 by drfish

[Matt Brouse]

Smart thinking on the yoke, esp. since it's been a while. Waseca tends to be a bit grueling too because of the heat but it's not too bad. Fun more than anything, and you'll get food tickets and your right next to the beer gardens.

[Guest drfish]

Smart thinking on the yoke, esp. since it's been a while. Waseca tends to be a bit grueling too because of the heat but it's not too bad. Fun more than anything, and you'll get food tickets and your right next to the beer gardens.

Food and beer there? So that would be the proper nutrition between events then.

7/10/08

walk 2 miles - 33 min

[Guest drfish]

That last entry should be 7/20/08, not 7/10/08

7/21/08

Should be tapering down a bit now.

Bench - close grip

2x5x135

185x3

225x3

245x3 - switch to medium grip - 78% of 1RM... too high

275x2 - medium grip - 87% of 1RM... too high

225x8 - medium grip - 71% of 1RM... ok weight

225x8 - close grip

185x8 - close grip

Pullups

6x5xBW

Dumbell Tri Ext

40x8

50x4

40x6 - need to stop doing these permanently, elbows are sore immediately

Barbell Row - alternate grips b/w sup and pro

2x8x135

3x8x185

Foam Roller

Depending on which theory you go by, supercompensation/1-factor or fitness-fatigue/2-factor, one might taper down in different ways. Keep your workouts roughly the same, but do them less often (supercompensation), or do more of a warm-up type workout, but do it just as often (fitness-fatigue). This is what Zatsiorsky says... if I comprehended his information correctly.

Anyway, I wanted to do the latter (fitness-fatigue) but it turned out to be like the former. It's not going to matter anyway, but do it right next time.

Edited July 22, 2008 by drfish

[Guest drfish]

7/24/08

Meant to train yesterday, but a work project got in the way.

I've been lowering carbs little by little for 10 days now. Today I only took in about 60g, most of which were fibrous vegetables. I have no energy. If I can drop glycogen, I can drop water with it. BW was 238 this morning. That is ok, I can cut that much water tomorrow before I weigh in.

Concept II - 3 x 500m

Decline bench

Lat pulldowns

Squats

Good Mornings

Abs on ball

Shoulder ext & int rot w/ cable

Reverse Flys

Cable Rows

Tri cable ext

Concept II - 2 x 500m

Abs on ball agian

Ankle stabily ball

Foam roller

Just going for a full body workout to drop more glycogen. Everything less than 50% of 1RM. Superset everything. Try not to rest much or at all b/w sets.

2 days to waseca. 1 day before weigh-in. Won't eat much tonight. No food or water tomorrow until after weigh-in.

Edited July 25, 2008 by drfish

[Guest drfish]

7/26/08

Waseca

Truck Pull - rope assist - semi tractor - 100'

41 secs. Started ok, but as I got faster I couldn't keep the rope tight. I was focusing on taking up the slack in the rope and I slowed down. I should've ditched the rope like the others did at the end. Disappointed because I know I could've done better on this today.

Deadlift - regular old deadlift - 495, 535xmiss

495 felt good enough where I thought I had more in me, even though that matches my pr. They changed the event to 40lb jumps, rather than 20lb jumps, so 535 was next. I broke 535 off the ground, which usually always means I can finish from there, but my lower back wasn't going to have it. I was suprised at the deadlifts of the others at 231... many hit 535, some hit 585, Ben Bittner hit 625! Alex hit 585 at 200 lbs BW!

Keg Press - 160, 182, 205xmiss

I was really disappointed in the scoring of this event. They didn't keep times on the first 2 kegs. So even though I got some good advice from Mike and James to bang out the first 2 kegs as fast as possible, it didn't help me. I know that Darin and I both got the first 2 kegs faster than most others. I one-motioned the first 2 pretty easily. The others lapped them, then cleaned and pressed. I think only 2 or 3 guys got the 3rd keg, so not scoring by time on the first 2 kegs just doesn't make sense. The 205 shouldn't be that hard to lockout if I could get the keg into the right position on my shoulder, I couldn't though.

Yoke - 650 - 80'

This was my best event. I got 4th place out of 10, even with a mistake at the start. My feet were too far back and I picked and dropped it immediately. Once I reset, I went the whole way without a drop. I felt good about that because that was the worst yoke I'd ever felt. Very unstable. A lot of people had trouble with this yoke, so I think they'd agree. It had 2 loading pins on front, 2 on back. They loaded more weight on the front right and left rear pin, which I think made it even more unstable. I think only 4 people didn't drop this yoke (I'm including myself, I'm not counting my mistake on the pick as a real drop).

Stones - 240, 276, 316, 325xmiss, 356x no attempt

What can I say, I'm not good at stones. Not that it matters, but these particular stones had some type of sealant on them which made them slick. Seemed like many people were having troubles. Darin did really well on them though.

Now I know why people puke after truck pulls. I puked after the truck pull. I felt so shitty I was thinking about not finishing the contest. But I stopped being such a pussy and got ready for the deadlift. The worst part is the truck pull made my confidence go way down. I didn't really have a lot of energy and I didn't really get psyched up for the rest of the events. It was still a fun day, although I sort of wish I would've went to Altona now.

[Guest drfish]

Just want to document my weight cutting technique here so I can reference this in the future.

7/24 - cut carbs way down. am BW 238. Full body workout, pm BW 239.

7/25 - am BW 235.5. drive to contest. BW 234. Hot bath trick, 25 min soak, 20 min sauna. BW 230.5 Drive to weigh in. 230.4 on different scale.... but with clothes which added 1.5 lbs.

I was able to cut 3.5 lbs in 45 minutes. Was pretty painful, but could do it again.

[carusom1]

Great job man! Hit some PRs and it looked like the weight cut was right on.

[Matt Brouse]

Now I know why people puke after truck pulls. I puked after the truck pull. I felt so shitty I was thinking about not finishing the contest. But I stopped being such a pussy and got ready for the deadlift. The worst part is the truck pull made my confidence go way down. I didn't really have a lot of energy and I didn't really get psyched up for the rest of the events.

Every single one of these thoughts went through my head after the truck pull at Waseca in 06. My first contest, the first event and I was first up. Like 51 seconds and I hit the dirt and puked. Did the same thing the next year. Few do well on the truck their first try but 41 is a dang good run, friend. Kudos.

Good job, overall. Wish I could have been there.

[Guest drfish]

Thanks for the comments Mike and Matt. I wouldn't have made it this far without good guys around to train with and learn from. Matt, you must remain a virtual training partner. Maybe we can setup web cams between Reese's garage and your gym?

[Guest drfish]

7/28/08

Shoulder Rehab w/ band

Board Press - close grip - 3 board

225x3 - index finger at edge of smooth

255x2

285x2

315x1

325x1 - switch to medium grip here, index finger ~2 in. from smooth

335x1

First time doing board presses. I liked these. I planned on pressing off rack pins instead, but I'm glad I didn't. It's easier to keep my form correct with board presses.

Pullups

3x6xBW - 3 different grips

Barbell Rows

135x8

225x6

245x6

245x6

Dips

BW+45x6

BW+90x6

BW+90x5 cheat the last one

Dip Shrugs

3x10xBW

Dumbell Rev Fly

30x10

40x10

40x8

Cable Tri Ext

65x8

80x10

80x10

I'm going to try to increase my bench and deadlift in the next month to get ready for the push/pull meet in perham. After waseca I realize my deadlift needs to go up a lot, so I need to deadlift anyway.

[Matt Brouse]

http://media.putfile.com/Vision-Quest-Minn...e-Championships

[Guest drfish]

7/31/08

Speed Deadlift

doubles

9x2x225

Sumo Deadlift - just to see what sumo feels like

doubles

3x2x225

RDL

315x5

405x5 - used straps, weak grip. Dear grip, go f**k yourself!

455x5 - this destroyed my lower back... in a good way

Good Morning - arched back

135x8

225x8

275x8

325x8 - lower back was sore, range of motion not good here, worthless set

Concept II rower

3x300m

The GMs with a regular barbell irritated my left shoulder biceps tendon. Same pain as usual. Need to use a SS bar instead.

Edited August 1, 2008 by drfish

[Matt Brouse]

If your grip can't handle it but your back still has some in the tank then strap up. No biggie. It'll get there.

[Guest drfish]

8/2/08

Shoulder rehab

Speed Bench

9x3x135 - 3 grips - just for kicks used my blue theraband and wrapped it around my back and held with hands

Pullups

BW x8 x6 x6

Dips

BW+45 x5

BW+90 x6 x6

Barbell Rows

3x8x225

Flat Dumbell Press - Elbows in - neutral grip

sets of 6

55s, 75s, 85s, 95s, 105s

65x10

Dumbell Reverse Fly

3x10x35s

I should have a pack of Jump Stretch bands by Tuesday, looking forward to that.

Need to change up my accessory work, it's gotten stale, even though these excercises have served me well to this point.

Not a bad workout today considering I had some gastrointestinal difficulties. Had a close call with a shart, had to do a glute pinch all the way to the crapper.

[Matt Brouse]

Did you get mini's?

Start doing regular incline DB's and these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJJwvJ9i7Mo

Or do dumbbell press seated or standing...we move weight overhead in strongman.

[MalachiMcMullen]

For shoulder rehab, give these a go. I saw them on Rick Walker's blog and had a pain in my LH shoulder at that time. The pain had been there for months and I had tried a plethora of different exercises that didn't work. These got rid of the pain after 1 workout and I've been doing it ever since.

[Guest drfish]

Did you get mini's?

Start doing regular incline DB's and these: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJJwvJ9i7Mo

Or do dumbbell press seated or standing...we move weight overhead in strongman.

Yea, Matt, I got mini's, monster mini's, light, average, strong, and while I was at it picked up Supertraining by Siff

I know I should be doing more overhead work that flat on my back work, but my shoulders don't tolerate overhead well. Flat work seems ok. incline is right in between, pain is there, but not as bad as when doing overhead.

According to the MRI and ultrasound I had, my long-head biceps tendon is inflamed and has fluid in the sheath. At the insertion in the shoulder.

So... basically I don't really know what to do now. The surgeon recommended 1 cortizone injection, which I did. If the pain came back, then discuss surgery. Well the pain is back. I don't want surgery though. All the shoulder rebab and rotator work I do doesn't seem to help. Not sure if I just need to live with it or what. Maybe I'm doing the wrong rehab excercises.

[Guest drfish]

For shoulder rehab, give these a go. I saw them on Rick Walker's blog and had a pain in my LH shoulder at that time. The pain had been there for months and I had tried a plethora of different exercises that didn't work. These got rid of the pain after 1 workout and I've been doing it ever since.

Thanks Zach, I have not been doing those as part of my regular routine, so I'll definitely add them in.

[Jul54]

G.Halbert calls it "H-rolls". I like it & it will be a regular exercice in my bench routine.

Band pull-aparts and face pulls are good too

I don't know if you know it: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=A0ONHZmsFec

Edited August 3, 2008 by Jul54

[Matt Brouse]

Band pull-aparts and face pulls are good too

I don't know if you know it: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=A0ONHZmsFec

Mike has been using this protocol in large part. Talk it with him to get a first hand account.

Work your rear delts, too. A lot.

[easyWeight]

It looks like you're still incorporating some type of OH here and there. I'm sure your shoulder problem is different than mine, but on top of the rehab stuff just cut everything out that aggravates it for a while. I didn't so much as do one thing OH between IA and Waseca (well three days before, but that doesn't count!), little before IA, and minimal bench (also doesn't bother my shoulder) and my shoulder is feeling 96.479% better. As it stand now, the only competition left is Perham so you have plenty of time to heal and get back into OHP for SM next year. That's just my two bits.