foggymountainmuscle Posted November 16, 2004 Author Share Posted November 16, 2004 Thanks Jason. For me personally, no other exercise will I feel so fresh and be so drained as with dumbell curls. Four good reps them BAM, the fith one goes no where, on the first set. I didn't mention it, I must have forgot because it was so out of place. But the last workout with the deadlifts I did some jaw lifting and picked up 100lbs. with my jaw. I like to practice this because it will make for a good strongman show in the future and is some serious neck work. If anyone of you thinks about trying this, your teeth have to be in perfect health. 11-15-04 Upper Body I started with dumbell clean and presses. I wanted to get a max and a PR so I warmed up with 55 and proceeded up the rack with triples at 60, 65, 70, 75, and got a double at 80 but could not get 85. I bet I could have gotten 82.5 if such a dumbell was present. I did a death set at 65 and was only able to eek out 8 reps when I wanted 11. For upper back I did bent over rows with my plate + towel presses. Really great exercise for the biceps, chest, and laterals. I got 5 reps using 2 10Kg plates for 3 sets and added a 5Kg plate on the last set for about 3 reps. I then moved onto thickbar floor presses. Again I wanted a PR so I did triples at 185, 200, 215, and a single at 225lbs. All the set were pretty tough actually despite my climbing weights. I really enjoyed those because with the thick bar and my back against the floor I felt like I was heaving a fallen log off my chest. I ended with a set of negatives with the dumbell curls but the weight was too much, my arms were shot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted November 17, 2004 Author Share Posted November 17, 2004 11-16-04 Gripbash I knew I wouldn't be able to spread the lifts out so I did them all tonight. PRs in every lift. 150lbs. Wrist curl 210lbs. Vbar left, 225 right 2 25s for 10 seconds with the left, and 17 with the right. Yeah these sucked but I've never trained for holds because I want 2 35s so bad. I did have another PR of picking up 2 25s with just the ring and middle fingers. That's it, I've got some serious school work to get going on tonight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted November 20, 2004 Author Share Posted November 20, 2004 11-18-04 Lower Arm Busted out the cards, I don't remember the order but here are some highlights: quartering about half a deck with a layer of duck tape that had previously refused to relent, cornering half a deck, ripping the cornered half deck in half behind my back, ripping 40 cards into eighths, quartering a whole deck from an old longways tear, and abliterating a couple of cards around 30 some thick into eighths. Concentrated on inverted choker closes. Did about 2 sets of 4 inverted closes both hands after warming up with the number one. I was able to close my PDA 280 with the choker, but I believe I failed to close it with my left, though it was too close for me to tell for sure. I did a bit of choker closes on the pda 280 before the inverted work. I'm still a bit off from closing my #2 with the left. I can get the #2 in my right with about a 2 inch set. My problem is the sweep on my PDA 280 is beastly. On a very good day I'm a quarter of an inch away from closing, even with a deep set, and an average day, 3/4"! So anyone got any ideas to help me build up my sweeping power? I plan on getting an ISG for Christmas or at least by the end of the year and I hear that works the sweep well. I'm thinking of cutting down my #2, hitting negatives hard on my PDA 295, or doing strap holds of decreasing width on my #2. I know it needs a little more time, but I'm ready to put the last coffin nail in this gripper because I know how hard my #2 really is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted November 22, 2004 Author Share Posted November 22, 2004 11-21-04 Bending I got my brother to try some bending. Gave him some 3/16" stock to work on. He's a double over hand bender (Not the folding style). He handled the stuff well and was able to get lengths under 5 inches so he's good to move on to some grade 2s maybe. He worked pretty hard and I was impressed with his persistence. I tried out some square, 1/4" HRS and got denied at 7", and again at 8", so that was a no go. Luckily I also bought some 3/8" aluminum, which worked out well. I kinked but could not finish a 6" piece. My hands were sweating and I didn't have any chalk on hand. I succeeded with 7" inches and 6.5" a couple of times and did a 7" piece left handed and kinked a 7"er left handed. Did some light sledge hammer work afterwards and some heavy finger walking. Did a bit with the grippers. The cold weather of our shed toughens up the springs no doubt. Anyone know of some stock inbetween 3/8" aluminum and the grade 5? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danegarreau Posted November 22, 2004 Share Posted November 22, 2004 Whats your bodyweight up to now Foggy? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted November 23, 2004 Author Share Posted November 23, 2004 It's at 158-9ish I'd say. I plan on putting higher reps in more often now because I learned that 18-25 is the prime age for muscle growth. I've been gaining weight but I'm leaner than ever and I like it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted November 27, 2004 Author Share Posted November 27, 2004 11-26-04 Lower Body Zercher deads, warmed up at 135 and 225. Did 6 reps at 275lbs. with the encouragement of my brother, normally I would have saved that rep for the next set. I then did 295lbs. for 4 reps. The last rep was slow, and agonising. I tried to move up to 315lbs. but no go, I was done. I then got to do donkey calf raises since I had my brother along with me. I did 15 reps on the first set, then 20 on the second set, then 15 on the last set. HURT! I almost peed my pants on the last set. I could hear some guys laughing at us when we did these but I didn't even lift my head up to look. If they don't know what hard training looks like, they'll never recognise it. I then did 3 sets of my reverse neck bridge shuffles, very hard on my abs, with 25 extra pounds. I then did 2 sets of neck bridges with my brother sitting on me, putting more and more of his weight on me until I folded. 3 reps per set. I was able to support him completely for a few seconds and he weights about 190lbs. I wanted to do some front half squats but the gym didn't have a power rack so we were trying to do them off a squat rack but got pissed because it wasn't working well at all and we realized we had to leave anyway. I went on a free pass and my brother usually uses the gym where he works. What a piece of dog crap, a gym without a single power rack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 2, 2004 Author Share Posted December 2, 2004 I had a grip workout somewhere between last time and this time. That was mostly covered in the Flog Log apart from the fact that a new batch of 3/8" aluminum I now have is at least twice as dense as the stuff I bent last time (I shit you not.) and you can bet I'm pissed. Dominating 6 inches only to fail at 7 inches? I got some leather pads so I tried folding style only to find out that it sure didn't feel comfortable, or possible at anything longer than six inches. Any tips on this style? I'm not really a fan of folding so I haven't studied it much at all but I wanted to try it out. 12-01-04 Jumping Pylometrics Inspired by the stuff I saw I Josh Bryant's website I decided to shake off the dust on my explosive training. I did some "box" jumps using the ledge of a building's stone flower beds. I worked down the sloping wall which got higher and higher and worked up to a height that I measured to be roughly 41 inches high. Yes, short white men can jump. To get down each time I jumped off and sprang back up, used as an overload jump, definately not wise to overdo these. After these I moved onto stair jumps, getting up to five stairs, which was all in a row I could find. After that I tried box squat jumps, just like Josh did, going down to a rather deep seat and springing back up after fully sitting down. I must say I think I liked these the best and would have been even better if I had a height to attempt to reach. After all this I ended with 4 build up sprints, probably not even 50 yards, and I don't think I've ever run faster, I felt like I was flying. For an asthmatic, that was enough cardio for the time being; I plan on doing more in the future. I want to make a point of doing this type of training at least once a week. I had a fair amount of rest inbetween the jumps, making sure I had relaxed muscles that would alow me to move the fastest and not sacrifice speed and technique for a "deep burn". I tried doing those situps to standing from a wrestler's bridge Mossman, and I'm no where near being able to do them without hitting my butt on the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crs9740 Posted December 2, 2004 Share Posted December 2, 2004 5"x.5"x.1875" HR Flat Steel Bar from onlinemetals.com From Dave O's list as in between 3/8" alum and Grade 5 bolts. -CHRIS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mossman Posted December 3, 2004 Share Posted December 3, 2004 hey foggy...awesome work one the jumps...i havent done them since last september when i snapped the tendons in my wrist on them....that sucked...i feel off a really high box and landed on my wrist......with the wrestlers bridge, try this.....its hard to without seeing it, or a picture, but ill try to explain.....get in a good bridge with your nose to the mat....then rock forward so you are now on your tip toes, and the top of your head is on the mat...now try to rock onto your feet and sit up.....this has some body mechanics to it, you can do it slow but you must have ridiculous body control....i usually do it faster so i dont fall on my fat head ...is you are really interested in it, buy matt fureys combat abs, that got a ton of good stuff.....if you dont want to spend the money, i will try to scan the picture on here Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 5, 2004 Author Share Posted December 5, 2004 I will try the neck bridge sit ups again soon, hopefully I'll be able to do them like that. Thanks for the tip about the metal stock there chris, I'll have to try some out. 12-05-04 Upper Body Well I don't think I had my best lifts in me this workout but I made it through and didn't just go through the motions. I did standing strict presses from the rack. Did triples starting at 135, 155, could have done a double at 175 but just did a triple and failed at 190.... I was pissed. I want 200lbs. I did 2 sets of triples at 165, the third time I went to do it I could only get 1 rep. I dropped back down to 155 and did a set of 5, having to push press the last rep. I then started on thick bar overhead lockouts, my enthusiasm encrease as I worked my way up to 275, starting with triples at 200. The last time I did overhead lockouts I don't recall breaking 225, but it has been a while, and it is not for the faint of wrist. After this I did 2 sets of 10 second isometric work using the thick barbell loaded to 200lbs. at the starting position of the press, broke it off the pins at least. I then did added weight pullups. I stared with 30 extra pounds, and did triples at 40, 50, 55, just missed a double at 65, and came close to a single at 70. To finish I went into negatives immeadiately with the extra 70 and squeezed out 3. I then did chest plate deadlifts, just took a 10Kg plate and a 15Kg plate and picked them off the ground without regripping for 3 sets of 5 reps. Had do pause to get the last rep or so of the sets. I finished with some table curls, enspired by Darco. I tried them at 60, 65, and 70. Couldn't get the 70 with my left, so I dropped back to 65 and did about 7 singles total on each hand at 65. I tried some double overhand bending again today. I think I've go the hang of it. I killed some steel leftover from some broken 1/4 stock from long ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 8, 2004 Author Share Posted December 8, 2004 12-07-04 Olympic workout I'm getting much more consistant in my cleans. I worked up doing triples at 200lbs. I tried 225 but failed and it hurt my elbow bad, I was hoping to even get 245, oh well. I just need to keep working on my technique so that it lands right. I need to do some continental cleaning the next time I do upper body work because all my jerks felt effortless and I feel good for 275+. I dropped back down to 50Kg on the bar to work on the technique. Its getting better but I need to even it out more so I don't put so much stress on my elbows, my goodness they can hurt. I tried to do some get ups from a neck bridge but had to use the help of an incline bench so I could land on my feet. Interesting exercise and hard to do. I ended with a set of calf jumps to work them hard. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meat Loaf Posted December 8, 2004 Share Posted December 8, 2004 Fog, With the strength youhave in your body, there is NO reason why you can't at least clean 250. It seems that your jerks and presses are great, but your cleans suck. I don't know why! Do you do your cleans like power cleans or olympic cleans? You should be able to AT LEAST olympic clean as much if not way more than you can jerk overhead, man. Do you just have weaker legs or do you just need to work on your cleaning speed? (more speed=more weight hoisted) GREAT perseverance! I'm just really curious, Mike...not trying to be an asshole MEAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 9, 2004 Author Share Posted December 9, 2004 Well meat I've basically have started over from a while back, trying to get my technique better. It is difficult trying to do the double knee bend and right now my problem is consistancy and simitry. The days of bad cleans ripping my elbows off need to come to an end. Now if I wanted to go do just straight power cleans catching it with a split, I'd probably be in the 250s. Basically I'm making the long term investment in the technique that will allow me to go farther than I will be able to eventually with the power clean. Kind of like setting a gripper. At first the set doesn't help much but if you never learn it you'll never get to close the toughest gripper you're capible of closing. My personal record in the C&J is 245, but I realised I was not using the double knee bend, I was not consistant, and my elbows were getting hurt to the point I was afraid to go after the big numbers. It's all very frustrating but I know from playing instruments that its easier to go with the most natural feeling hand position, and play like shit forever than to suck it up and get it right forever. 200 felt like a toy last workout, maybe if I get my head out of my ass and train on a day that I don't feel like shit (oh man I did yesterday too.), we just might see 250 soon. 12-08-04 Grip work Plate pinching. I really need to work on my timed 2 25 hold but I wasn't interested in that today. I warmed up pinching 2 25s, subtracted fingers from the grip as I passed it back and forth. I was suprised to find how challenging picking up 2 25s was without the index. I moved on to using one 25 and a 35 pinched together. I could only do this for singles, but I got about four singles per hand out of this. After I just couldn't get that, I dropped back down to 2 25s without the index finger for singles until I just couldn't do it. I then ended with 2 sets of over crushes on 2 25s. I worked the monkey deadlift. Pretty easy at 200 and even 275. I did triples with 135Kg, which is about 300lbs. I did 3 sets like this, the forth set I only got a double. The third exercise I did was thumbless reverse curls. Did a set of 5 at 45, 5 at 65, 5 at 70 did back leaning single at 75, and wasn't good for much after that. For training to lift the 25lbs. hubs at the gym I did some work by lifting the plate by the hub at an angle, what I really need is a way to add weight to a 10 pounder that does no get in the way of my fingers. After that I did one set of 3 hard negatives on my PDA 295. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Great work on everything. I can't even pick out one lift that you're good at...you seem to be good at ALL the lifts! So young and light (bodyweight) still. You've got an incredible future ahead of you. I noticed that you're doing monkey grip deadlifts with some phenomenal weight for your bodyweight. What do you do the MGD for? Does it carryover to some other exercise, or do you just like the feel of it? Not trying to grill you over this, just curious. And lastly, have you tried the one handed MGD yet? It's even better than the two hand version. In my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bencrush Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Great work on everything. I can't even pick out one lift that you're good at...you seem to be good at ALL the lifts! So young and light (bodyweight) still. You've got an incredible future ahead of you. I noticed that you're doing monkey grip deadlifts with some phenomenal weight for your bodyweight. What do you do the MGD for? Does it carryover to some other exercise, or do you just like the feel of it? Not trying to grill you over this, just curious. And lastly, have you tried the one handed MGD yet? It's even better than the two hand version. In my opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 Thank you Ben, I will have to try the MGD one handed sometime. The reason I did the MGD was because I wanted to do a supporting grip exercise since I've been spending so much time on my grippers. I can't exactly get a good support grip workout in my dorm room, so the grippers turn up in my grip workout more often than I'd normally want it too. The MGD was/is also a good wrist exercise too. I will be doing more support grip training once I get my 2.5 inch FBBC dumbells at Christmas. 12-12-04 I was planing on going for a 275lbs. jerk out of a continental clean. Once I began to do the continentals, I realised I forgot my belt. I was pretty pissed about that so I decided to do jerks in the power rack, which really sucks because I find it constrictive and I can't just let the weights fall. I was doing doubles all the way up to 245 when I realised my triceps were sore from an attempt to break some wrenches Friday night. Well I failed past 245lbs., flabbergastenpoopy beans. Trying to salvage this workout I tried to do some reps with two 75lbs. dumbells in the clean and push press. Well not only were my triceps sore, they were dead, I failed on my first attempt. At this point I was really upset because I am sick and tired of a long running series of shitty Olympic workouts, and I said flabbergastenpoopy it, and left the gym to rest up for tomarrow. So I now have nothing to show for a PR oriented workout but hurt wrist, hurt elbows, impeded muscle recovery in my upper body, and a hell of alot of wasted time that could have gone into studying for finals. I was pretty riled by all of this, but I guess the fact that I could jerk 245lbs. with about 5 strikes against me that I didn't count on is still a PR. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smitty Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 Foggy, Your Overhead supports? Is that locking out a few inches in the power cage and holding it? What is a monkey deadlift? Great log bud - keep up the good work - you're a monster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 13, 2004 Author Share Posted December 13, 2004 (edited) Smitty, the overhead supports are basically an overhead quarter squat. The arms are already extended and have tightly gripped the bar, and the legs are then extended to fully stand up with it. Depending upon your training goals you can hold it for longer, but for the sheer strength of it I usually only hold it for four seconds, with the time only begining when I have it under complete control. So usually I will designate a poundaged that I reached, and one that I almost reached, meaning I could not get it under control for very long despite the fact it was supported over my head. This is some serious core strength work when you don't use a belt, which I reccomend you don't unless you're looking to set a PR in an absolute sense. It prepares you for the feel of supporting large amounts of weight overhead. Your best overhead support should be far more than you can jerk or lock out. Even though this prepares you for handling heavy weights, I myself have done over 405lbs., I can tell you that it does not make the feeling of supporting lighter weights "comfortable" by any streach of the imagination, but it will help you in your lifting. I often like to do these using thick bars; this is harder on the core and it will turn your wrist into pillars. The monkey grip deadlift is another name for the thumbless grip deadlift. As I'm sure most people on the board are aware of, submaximum deadlifts can become very challenging on the lower back when the grip can barely hold on and the pressure can't be exerted against the bar. I got the idea to do them because they have been mentioned as a possible gripbash even in the past. Kind of on an unrelated note, but I would like to get to the point where I would not have to use the over-under grip to support the bar on my maximum deadlifts. Edited December 13, 2004 by foggymountainmuscle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 14, 2004 Author Share Posted December 14, 2004 12-13-04 Death Sets For my lower body work I did high bar, shoulder width, feet forward, squats for reps. I warmed up at 135 for ten, and 200 for ten. Last time I did 275lbs. for reps, but this was with highbar squats, so I decided to go with 235lbs. I got all 20 reps in a row, but it was not that simple. Once I got to 17 I realised I only had three more to go, so I kept on going. Oh my, I broke through a pain barrier I never thought possible, I couldn't believe I was still able to move after the 17 rep. I was grunting and heaving my guts out try to get air in those last few reps. My quads hurt, my back hurt, my hams hurt, and my butt cheeks felt like a red hot poker was going through me on each side. Every rep was past parallel. After catching my breath and feeling like I was raped by a buffalo, I moved onto hanging leg raises. 8 the first set, 7 the next set, and 6 the last set. I wanted to hurl. The last thing I did was two sets of donkey calf raises with my partner, 2 sets of 17. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdoire Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 I really enjoy your logs Foggy. You seem to have an unending supply of very different and difficult lifts. Hats off to you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danegarreau Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 nice job on the 20 rep deads foggy, they make me hurt just thinking about it. Are you doing the NASS highschool competition? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foggymountainmuscle Posted December 14, 2004 Author Share Posted December 14, 2004 Dane, I am glad you said something, I had not seen that on the N.A.S.S. website. I must say that I certainly plan on it now. The event lists looks like this for the 180 and under class: 200lbs. bench for reps, 275lbs. squat for reps, 300lbs. trap bar deadlift for reps, 180lbs. duffle bag carry for distance, 120lbs. sand bag clean and press for reps, most 24" box jumps in 60 seconds, and a max rolling thunder. With my weight lifting belt and knee wraps if they allow, I should be able to do the squat and deadlift all day long. With a little luck and a bit more training I should be able to do more than 10 reps in the bench press, less time is granted for them, anything clean and press will be mine, and I certainly wouldn't be apposed to having to carry a 250lbs. duffle bag, I can jump prettty well, and I bet I'll be able to pull out a good RT poundage. My confidence is high for this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danegarreau Posted December 14, 2004 Share Posted December 14, 2004 I was thinking the same thing Foggy, you should own those events. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danegarreau Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 It looks like a fun contest foggy, definately tests your whole body. I would hate to rep off 300 pounds on the deadlift, sounds gruiling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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