January 29 - Dynamic Effort Lower body

Box Squaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaats!

225, 235, 245, 255

10 sets of 2 (First 4 working up)

Power Cleans

1x135, 1x145, 1x155, 1x165 (I was SUPER explosive on these, loved it)

Core Circuit (with explanation)

This was cool! I basically did each excercise for 60 seconds with a 60 second break in between.

DB Windmills (left side)
DB Windmills (right now)
Side Planks (left side)
Side Planks (right side)
Rollouts
Hanging knee raises

Banded Ham-Glute Raises

4 sets to failure (6-8 reps)

1 Legged RDL with Dumbells

4 sets 8 reps each leg with 45's.

January 28 - Maximum Effort Upper Body

Bench Press

Warm Up

30x135, 20x225, 6x315

Working Sets

2x340, 1x365, 1x385, 1x405 (had a momentum issue)

Chin Ups (I'm trying!)

-85 of BWx4, -100 of BWx5, -85 of BWx4, -85 of BWx3

DB Skull Crushers

20x40, 12x50, 10x50, 10x50

Push Press - Barbell (Reps)

20x95, 15x115, 10x135 (Definitly need to up this weight next time.

Pushup-Row-Dumbell Crawl

Hard to explain this one but you get into a pushup position off two dumbells on the floor, perform one push up and then do a 1 armed row with the dumbell off the floor. When you return the dumbell to the floor you move it forward so the back end is parallel to the front end of the opposite arm and crawl forward. This is not only a great pushing and pulling excercise but its also tremendous for core strength.

I started with 55's because I thought I would have no problem rowing those, but I did have a problem because my core stability is nowhere near that level. I was able to get 6 reps on each side in before I failed out for the day.

Next time I try this excercise I'll be trying with 35's to get as many reps in as I can and possibly even crawl 10 yards or so.

Things I'm looking for.

If you have a "prowler" or access to one, let me know because I want to workout with one.



I also really want to work out from time to time with an Atlas Stone. Got one? Let me know. Or if you can recommend something I could use as a replacement.

Havent decided yet whether Im going to do ME Bench or DE Squats tonight, but its going to be a nice big workout followed by a few rounds of tabada if I can get my hands on a nice kettlebell.

January 26 - Dynamic Bench

Keep movnig that percentage up week by week....Feels Great!

Warm Up Bench

30x135, 15x225

Dynamic Bench Press (60% 1RM this week)

8 sets of 3 using 60% of my 1RM which felt like around 250 pounds this week.

60 second rest between sets.

Finished with a 6 rep press of 315 for kicks.

Delta Tricep Extension
4 sets of 20 using 35's.

Front Raises

20x25, 15x30, 10x35, 10x35

Banded tricep pulldowns

4 sets of 2 with double red bands

Bent Over Dumbell Rows

10x90, 10x90, 10x90, 10x85

Hammer Curls

10x50, 10x50, 8x50

No conditioning today...all together took 45 minutes!

Jan 25 - Heavy Leg Workout + Conditioning

I did not try to meet any 1RM max's so I just kept things around 5-6 reps because of a charlie horse in my ASS.

Squats

Warm Up 20x135, 15x225, 10x275

6x315, 1x365, 6x315, 6x325

Good Mornings

6x225, 6x225, 8x185

Weighted Crunches

4 sets to failure

Javorek Complex

Upright Row
High Pull Snatch
Squat Thruster
BentOver Row
High Pull Snatch

6 reps of each makes 1 set. No rest between excercises, 60 seconds between sets. Goal is for 5 sets (I died at 4.5).

500 M Row for time - 1:43

I also wanted to add in here that my girlfriend Stephanie attempted the 500 m row for the first time and she did way better than I expected. She completed the row in 2:20 seconds. Good you for you Stephy. Also, my sister did the row and finished in 1:58.

Double Post - Jan 22 and 23.

Jan 23 - Max Bench

Tired on a Friday night, but figured I'd give it a whirl.

Bench Press

Warmed up with 30x225, 5x315, 3x315, 3x315 (Full Bench)

Switched to 2 board presses.

2x365, 1x385, 1x385, 1x395 (failed) (3 minute rest)

Incline Dumbell Presses

10x100's, 10x90's, 10x90's, 8x95's (90 second rest)

Band pulldowns and facepulls supersetted

4 supersets of 25 reps each with a 60 second pause

Dips

3 sets to failure with body weight (I was lucky to get 7 dips)

Jan 23 - Hos-Style Conditioning!

My first hostyle conditioning since before Christmas when I injured my back.

Plank-Hell

30 seconds Plank
30 seconds mystery excercise (Body Squats, Pushups, Pushup Planks, Knee Raises, Pelvic thrusts, my nemesis - Burpess, annnnnnd Jumping Jacks? I think thats it)

Alternating....for 29 minutes and 45 seconds.

Finished with a 1:40 500 M Row. (I think that was my time)

January 21 - Dynamic Squats

I lacked emotion prior to this workout but it slowly built up. I was more concentrated on when and how I was going to reach 300 kills with my TAR-21 Assault riffle in MW2 than I was on squatting. (BTW I got it last night when my lovely girlfriend granted me 20 minutes of gametime while she showered...) lol...

As the workout progressed my focus changed though.

Dynamic Squats

10 sets of 2 reps at 60% of my 1RM.

I went really nice and deep on this and had plenty of speed and power, had to hold the bar tight on my shoulders to keep it from bouncing up! 60 second rest between sets as per usual.

Power Clean/Squats

1x135, 1x155, 1x170, 1x170, 1x185, 1x185 60 seconds between each

I tried to work on form here since I had never really done this before. Basically I would powerclean the barbell into a from squat position and then dip down for a squat. Very dynamic movement, I love it! Aside from smashing my mp3 player that was in my pocket I was very satisfied with those lifts for my first go at it.

Abs

Leg lifts 3x15
Pulley weighted crunches on a swiss ball 3x15

Pullthroughs

4x20

January 20 - Conditioning "Hostyle"

This was a great conditioning workout.

I started with 5 minutes on the bike to warm up because my legs felt like they had concrete poured in them.

Javorek Complex

Upright Rows
Hang Cleans
Squat Thrusters
Good Mornings
Bent Over Rows

6 reps of each excercise concurently, for 5 total sets with a 60 seconds rest between sets. This got my sweat on nicely. Performed the lift with 35 pound dumbells which was a challenge on some and way to easy on others.

Burpees - 10 reps
Pushups - 20 reps
Body Squats - 30 Reps

I did as many of these cycles as I could in 11 minutes.

I ended up going through the cycle three full times and was 6 burpees into my 4th.

500 M Row - For time - in 2:07

January 19 - Dynamic Bench

First of all, I'd like to start off by saying this Im writting this the morning of January 20th and I feel like I've been hit by a mack truck after only 2 and a half weeks of doing this workout program. I'm giving it 2 more weeks with some serious rest time and then switching to the "Bench Freak" workout program.

So last night...

Warm Up

Dynamic Bench

Using 60% of my 1RM AND band resistance I did 8 sets of 3 reps for speed.

Lat Pulldowns

5 sets of 10 @ 190 lbs (75 second rest in between)

Incline Dumbell Press

10x100's, 7x100's, 12x85's (75 second rest in between)

J-Movement Skull Crushers with dumbells

10x45's, 10x45's, 10x45's, 10x45's, 8x45's (60 second rest in between)

Banded Tricep Pull downs

4 sets of 25 (60 second rest)

I was TOAST.

January 18 - Max Out Squat

Max Out Squat

10X135, 10x225, 5x315, 3x335, 2x355, 1x355, 3x315, 3x315

Back Extensions with a 45 pound plate.

4x10

Eccentric body weight ham and glute curls

3 sets of 6-8 reps

January 16th - Bench Press Seminar

I attended a bench press Seminar on the 16th of January with Curd Hos at fitness warehouse.

It was a great chance to have someone as knowledgable as Curd critique and correct my stance, form and posture while benching.

I was able to work up to a paused bench press of 405 pounds that touched my chest.

I also enjoyed working out with other people as enthusiatic about powerlifting and bench pressing as I am, since I usually work out alone.

I'm going to start the Bench Freak workout program in about 5 weeks once I've worked a bit more on my westside techniques and my speed.

January 15 - Dynamic Squat Day

Box Squats - Done for speed @ 55% of my 1RM

10 sets of 2 @ 210 lbs

Pin Pulls (pulling the weight off an elevated level, simulating the lock out stage of a deadlift and focus primarily on the lower back and glutes)

15x205, 12x305, 10x405, 8x495

Pull-throughs

3 sets of 15 @ 140 pounds on the pulley.

Weighted Crunches

3 sets of 15 crunches with a 45 pound plate extended above my chest

January 13 - Max Bench Press

I didn't get the proper pre workout meal, hadn't eaten for a good 3-4 hours so I wasn't feeling like I was all there on this day, my back started to bother me after lunch too. I'm not making excuses, I just feel that physically I could have left more on the floor.

Bench Press

Warm Up

10x225, 4x315, 3x335, 3x335

Working Sets

1x375, 1x385, 1x395, 1x400(fail)

Banded Pulldowns

3 sets of 20-25 using two red bands

Dumbell Rows

10x100's, 12x100's, 12x100's

Dumbell floor presses

18x100's, 16x100's, 14x100's

Facepulls with the double red band

3 sets of 25

January 12 - Max Out Squat Work

When training with WestSide Barbell you basically squat and bench twice a week, once for speed and once for strength.

This was my Max Out squat day. Squats are my weakest lift in comparaison and something I really want to improve on...so here goes!

Box Squats

Warm Up 10X135 10X225 6X315 1X 365 1X 375 1X385(Failed and the weight went crashing down behind me)

Barbell Lunges

4 sets of 12 reps off each leg @ 135

Good Mornings

10x225, 8x245, 6x255, 4x275

Given my recent back pain issues I thought this was pretty good and I felt great afterwards too.

Glute-Ham Raises

It was tough for me to find something to log my legs in but I did my best and work the eccentric part of the movement. It uses your body weight.

I did 4 sets of about 5 reps.

Elevated Crunches

4 sets of 12 using a 20 pound medicine ball extended by my arms over my chest.

January 10 - Dynamic Bench Press

Again dynamics are done for speed.

Bench Press

8 sets of 3 reps with 245 pounds and a red band on each side. 60 second break between sets.

Lock-Outs

Just the top few inches of the bench press motion and work on locking out the weight.

3 sets of 10 at 525 pounds on the smith machine..

Pull downs

With the red bands (one in each hand)

3 sets of 20

Incline dumbell Press

3 sets of 12 @ 100 lbs dumbells

Lat pulldowns

3 sets of 12 @ 187.5 pounds

January 8 - Dynamic Effort Squats

I'm changing up my training over the next few months and I've decided to start training with the "Westside Barbell" training method.

I've got myself setup with some bands and soon I'll have myself setup with some chains too.

Today was a Dynamic Effort Squat workout. So basically what that means is that I tried to focus on speed through my squat and then use supplementary excercises that would assist me in squatting.

Box Squats

I did 10 sets of 2 reps at 55% of my 1 rep MAX

Pull throughs

4 sets of 15 with a Red Band

Smith Machine One legged lunges

3 sets of 10

Back extension with a 45 pound plate

3 sets of 10

Crunches with a 20 pound medicine ball

3 sets fo 15

January 4

I havent blogged in a while but I have been working out.

I haven't done a crossfit as my back has been bugging me a little bit since I did a big deadlift a few weeks back.

Over new years I spent 30 minutes a day on the treadmill first thing in the morning running to stimulate my fat burning.

I got back into the gym today and had a pretty nice bench press workout...It goes as follows...

30 reps at 135
20 reps at 225
5 reps at 335
5 reps at 335
5 reps at 335
8 reps at 315

I took a grip of the middle finger along the marker.

Rested a full 2 minutes between sets with my GymBoss timer.

I had a pretty nice pump after that.

I moved over to the incline bench press and did 3 sets of 8 at 225 pounds.

After that I did 3 sets of dips to failure which ranged from 12-15 reps with 45 seconds of rest between sets and then did a slight cool down on the triceps with some pull downs.

Felt pretty good after that and had a nice pump too!