SE/RE Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 13 Hill (Random): 30 minutes.

Evening:
Hoist Leg Press w/2-second pause: 325x6, 375x6, 425x6, 475x6, 525x6, 575x6, 625x6 (3RM).

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: 100x10, 110x10, 120x10
Nautilus Nitro Adduction: 90x10, 100x10, 105x10

Superset:
Pushups: 10 sets of 25 reps
Incline Situps: 10 sets of 18 reps

That's it until PRT. I'll just walk everyday, take Friday completely off, and not set foot in a gym.

ME Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 13 Hill: 30 Minutes

Evening:
Arched Back Good Morning: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x3, 185x3, 215x3, 245x3 (3RM). Oh yeah, I'm happy. 255x3 is my goal.

Pullups w/Average Band: Failure at, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2 reps. I forgot a band. Maybe, I'll find out next time what a difference it may have made.

Chinups w/Average Band: Failure at 4, 3, 3, 2, 2 reps.

Superset (no pyramids):
Pushups: Failure at 42, 32, 22, 20, 18, 21, 20, 18, 15, 12 reps (220 reps)
Incline Situps: Failure at 22, 18, 16, 15, 14, 14, 13, 13, 12, 11 (138 reps). Today convinced me that Friday will be my last workout until the PRT. I walked away from the gym beat up and so tired that I could barely keep my eyes open on the road. Of course, I'm sure doing heavy back work prior to that didn't help, nor did not being fully recovered from Monday's session.

ME Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 13 Hill (Around The World): 30 minutes. Oh, this was hard enough that towards the end it was hard to keep my speed above 6.4 MPH. But it's my last week before PRT, so I've gotta gun it!!!

Evening:
Hoist Leg Press w/2-second pause: 300x6, 350x4, 400x3, 450x3, 510x3, 570x3, 615x3 (3RM).

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: 100x10, 110x10, 120x10
Nautilus Nitro Adduction: 90x10, 100x10, 105x8

Superset:
Pushups: Failure at 56, 42, 30, 20, 12, 15, 15, 13, 12, 11 (226 reps).
Situps: Failure at 34, 25, 18, 15, 15, 13, 13, 13, 12, 12 (170 reps). First 5 sets were done using reverse pyramids for the pushups. T0day, I reaped the fruits of my labor: I got the pushup total I wanted, now to make it better and faster. The abs were a littler better, considering that the pushups also work the abs.

SE/RE Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 12 Hill (Cascade): 30 Minutes

Evening:
Arched Back Good Mornings: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 180x5x4.

Hoist Wide Pullups (BWT 237.3): Worked up to a 127.3 lbs 2RM. Forgot the bands, so I had to do these, and . . . . .

Hoist Neutral Grip Chinups (BWT 237.3): Worked up to a 147.3 lbs 3RM.

Superset:Pushups: Failure at 42, 30, 20, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 8, 8 (168 reps).
Situps: Failure at 34, 23, 15, 13, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 (145 reps). Maybe it was all the back work, but I feel tapped out. I think I'll just take the weekend off, do this all of next week, then rest up until the PRT. Maybe do some mobility work to keep loose and some basketball.

PRT Training-Easy Day

Lunchtime Superset:
Pushups: 5 sets of 18
Situps: 5 sets of 18
1.5 mile run, 6.5 MPH, 1.0 Incline: 9 Minutes. I'm finding it hard to crack this barrier.

Evening Superset:
Pushups: 5 sets of 18
Situps: 5 sets of 18. Done throughout the night.

SE/RE Squat

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 11 Hill (Kilimanjaro): 30 minutes.

Evening:
Hoist Leg Press w/2-second pause: 300x6, 350x6, 400x6, 450x6, 500x6, 550x6. After reading this from Marc Bartley's article on deadlifting, I wanted to give this a try and spare my shoulders for a bit. These are hard and they burn - - - I've done nearly 700 lbs for the same reps without a pause. I think I might do these on heavy day, too, but for a 3RM.

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: 95x10, 105x10, 115x10
Nautilus Nitro Adduction: 85x10, 95x10, 105x6

Superset:
Pushups: Failure at 42, 30, 20, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12, 8, 0 (160 reps).
Situps: Failure at 33, 18, 13, 13, 10, 11, 10, 10, 10, 10 (138 reps).

First 4 sets were done using reverse pyramids (thus the higher numbers). Example, the first set: 1 rep, pause 1 second, 2 reps, pause one second, 3 reps, pause one second, 4 reps, pause one second, 5 reps, pause one second, 6 reps, pause one second, 6 reps, pause one second, 5 reps, pause one second, 4 reps, pause one second, 3 reps, pause one second, 2 reps, pause one second, 1 rep. The pauses are held at the top of the pushup position. This would be a pyramid of 6; my goal is a pyramid of 7, or 56 pushups. I could do more pushups like this but it takes more out of me. On my last set, I couldn't do a pushup on my knees, either.

Volume is up, so that's great.

PRT training

Yesterday was my OFF day for pushups and situps. My goal was 10 sets of 16 for each, sprinkled throughout the day. After something I said in my last entry, I came up with an idea for my lunchtime aerobics. Whenever I run the Navy PRT, the pushups and situps seem to take a chunk out of me before I even get to the run. So I did 5 sets at lunch, then I jumped on the treadmill. The LifeFitness treadmills have a Fit Test setting that lets you set it for Navy PRT, and I set it for 6.5 miles per hour so as to get an under-14 min 1.5 mile run. In this fashion, I lasted 9 minutes. My breathing wasn't too bad, but I was just beat. It could have been the previous day's workout, or the new demands on my body, or motivation. By the 30th (my last aerobic workout), my goal is 14-15 minutes running.

I had a hard time getting up this morning, just like yesterday. Considering that I'm not deadlifting as much and I've adjusted the weights downward a bit to allow me to do this program, it's the pushups and situps volume that's doing it. In a few days, my body should get over the shock of it all and start adapting to the increased volume.

Should.

Yesterday's ME Back/Bench

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 11 Hill (Kilimanjaro): 30 minutes. I think I've found the most difficult hill program I could use up until PRT. Hard enough that I had to work to maintain an above-7.0 MPH pace and was just pooped before it was finished.

Evening:
Arched Back Good Mornings: 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 185x3, 215x3, 235x3 (3RM). I wanted to know what my 3RM was so that I could estimate a max for GMs on SE/RE day, so I did this day vice a squat day. I had the pins set up for safety, but also when the bar touched the pins I paused slightly then began each rep. On the 235 set, my descent was too fast for the first inch or so and I had to slow it down carefully, then I maintained my tightness for the other two reps. Brzycki's formula estimates a 248 LBS 1RM, I'll take 250. Note to self: use a belt next time!!!

Nautilus Nitro Laterals: 70x5, 80x5, 90x5, 110x5x5.

DB Rows: 30x5, 35x5, 40x5, 45x5x5.

Superset:
Pushups: Failure at 30, 14, 10, 8, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 reps (122 reps)
Situps: Failure at 32, 17, 10, 10, 11, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 reps (130 reps).

Note on the superset: could not do the farmers walk or the inverted rows because this took a long time, so I will be making changes to my workout like taking out the farmers walk and the Nautilus Laterals and just doing 5 sets of each row to a max RM range. Besides, the pushups killed my delts.

This is a bootcamp setup. On the ON days (weight days), the sets are done to failure. On the OFF days (days I don't do weights), a similar total is done throughout the day and not to failure. After two weeks, stop. On PRTs, the situps and pushups would always take it out of me before the run. Now it won't: for GPP, this was murder. It's nice to find more ways in which I am still out of shape!!!

Wave 3

Before I start the Elite Beginners Program, this will be my last wave. After deadlifting as much as I have for the last two waves, this will almost be like a welcome break. There's no deadlifting at all. There are two days of GMs to take their place, so I could have a better DL without holding a weight in my hands and get that 295x5 squat and more at the end. Also, since I want an increased pushup/situp total for the PRT, I've dropped some movements to allow me to train them more often and with more volume. No calf movements, no biceps, and no bench pressing movements. OK, where the biceps movements once were I've replaced them with bodyweight back movements.

I will do my last workout of week two on May 28, so I'm recovered for the PRT next weekend. As for aerobics, I'll be tapering off that week by walking. After PRT, I'll finish this wave, take a week completely off, then test squat, DL, and bench 1RM.

I am doing a raw bench press meet on August 12 at Submarine Base Bangor, WA. I'm not training for it, since I'll be on a program, but this will be a way to get my feet wet. As for planned attempts, we'll see when I'm two weeks away.


Wave 3

ME Squat/DL
1.) Parallel Box squat (Manta Ray) up to 5RM
2.) Bulgarian Split Squat (3 sets of 10 steps each leg)
3.) Band GHR for 20-40 rep count
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (3 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (3 sets of 10)
6.) Sit-ups (200 reps using regular situps)
Pushups (200 reps using regular and on the knees pushups)

SE/RE Squat/DL
1.) Hoist Leg Presses w/2 second pause 6RM
2.) Lateral Step Ups (3 sets of 10 steps each leg)
3.) Band GHR for 3-4 sets of 6-8 reps
4.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Adduction (3 sets of 10)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Leg Abduction (3 sets of 10)
6.) Sit-ups (200 reps using regular situps)
Pushups (200 reps using regular and on the knees pushups)

ME Back/Bench
1.) Arched Back GM from Pins up to 5RM
2.) Pullups: 8 sets of 2 w/Light Bands
3.) Sit-ups (200 reps using regular situps)
Pushups (200 reps using regular and on the knees pushups)
4.) DB Shrugs (4 sets of 6)
5.) Nautilus Nitro Laterals 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
6.) Chinups w/Average Bands (4 sets to failure)

SE/RE Back Bench
1.) Arched Back GM
Wk1: 72% 1rm for 4 sets of 5
Wk2: 75% 1rm for 3 sets of 6
Wk3: 63% 1rm for 5 sets of 5
2.) DB Rows 5x5 (Wk1: 75%1RM, Wk2: 80%1RM, Wk3: 85% 1RM)
3.) Sit-ups (200 reps using regular situps)
Pushups (200 reps using regular and on the knees pushups)
4.) Farmers Walk: 3 trips of 100 ft each
5.) Nautilus Nitro Laterals
Wk1: 105 lbs for 4 sets of 5
Wk2: 110 lbs for 3 sets of 6
Wk3: 095 lbs for 5 sets of 5
6.) Inverted Rows (4 sets to failure)

Wave 2 Over

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 11 Hill (Around The World): 30 minutes. I tried this level out because, being that the exercise portion of the PRT is a month away, I wanted to push harder. This did it: my heart rate was up to 150 in less than 4 minutes and was between 160-178 BPM for most of the time.

Evening:
One Armed Braced DB Press: 15x5, 20x5, 25x5, 30x5, 35x5, 45x5x5. Easier than last time.

Nautilus Nitro Pullover: 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 115x5x5.

Hoist Neutral Grip Chins (BWT 236.6): 96.6x10, 106.6x8, 116.6x6, 116.6x5. Better. I skipped the 150 lbs of assistance, since I did 10 reps with it last week.

Rack Pulls 2" Below the Knees: (Double OH grip, no belt)165x5, 195x5, 225x5 ; (Right Hand Over, Left Hand Under)255x5, 285x5; (Right Hand Under, Left Hand over, added belt)325x5 (5RM). I chalked up heavily, and pulled like my life depended on it. The last rep took it all out of me. I'm gonna sleep like a baby tonight!

Superset:
18" Incline Pushups: failure at 17, 11, 7, 4 reps
Barbell Curls: 60x6x2, 60x5; (Descending set)90x1 (1RM), 80x1, 70x1, 60x1, 50x1, 40x2, 30x1, 20x1. Maybe it was because it was done immediately after the rack pulls but my first set of pushups were too easy, blasted up most of the way. But I paid for it on the last 3 sets.

SE/RE Squat/DL

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 10 Hill (Cascade): 30 minutes

This is for yesterday's workout. You'll notice that I did the assistance work before the squats. That's because when I went to the rack, some idiot was doing heavy curls in the rack with a spotter in front - - - WTF!?! Second time around, upright rows. There should be rules against this!!!

Nautilus Nitro Abduction: 85x10, 95x10, 105x10
Nautilus Nitro Adduction: 75x10, 85x10, 95x6

Nautilus Nitro Leg Extensions: 75x10, 85x10, 95x10, 105x10

Band GHR: 4 sets of 6. Did not try to fail - - - I still had to squat.

Parallel Box Squat w/2-Second Pause: 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 185x5, 215x5, 245x4 (4Rm). Better than last week as far as form and an increase in reps but still slow. My shoulders were tight until the 3rd set, and they were tight this morning. Did 30-minutes of upper body sled work this evening and my shoulders felt awesome again. For my next wave, I've decided to do Manta Ray box squats for my ME movement and will do leg presses with a 2-second pause at the bottom for the other day (I read that Marc Bartley article with great interest). I need to give my shoulders a break from holding the bar up.

Superset:
Incline Situps: Failure at 25, 18, 15, 13, 9 reps.
Standing Calf Raises: 65x10, 75x10, 85x8, 95x8, 105x6

Passed (Part 1)

Measurement was yesterday. In June, I will do the run and pushups and situps.

I weighed in at 236 in the morning (no shoes, in uniform) at a height of 5 ft 9.5 in. I dropped 1/2 inch on the waist (from 39.5 inches to 39.0 inches) and gained 1/2 inch on the neck (from 17.5 to 18.0 inches). By Navy instruction, that put me at 21% BF so I passed that.

As always, deadlifting twice a week plus high-volume back work did the trick, especially while also trying to get lean. In that regard, the pressure is off and I can focus on my run instead of pounding myself into the ground some more.

And I'm not done. I would like to get it where I never have to worry about it again, the tens. Perspective: when I left the Navy in January 1999, I was 22% BF at 196 - - - the most weight allowed for my height is 191, but I could choose to measure if I don't pass weight.

How to Design Strength Training Programs using Prilepin's Table

How to Design Strength Training Programs using Prilepin's Table? Author: Hristo Hristov, Published: 2004-02-10 Article Category: Strength Training Routines and Articles

During the sixties and seventies of the 20th century, Soviet sports scientist A.S.Prilepin collected data from the training logs of more than 1000 World, Olympic, National and European weightlifting champions. Prilepin synthesized his findings in a very simple table named after himself. Prilepin's table gives time tested workout guidelines as to how did elite weightlifters train. Now, I am talking about training guidelines for pure maximal strength. Here's the table:

Intensity Reps per Set Optimal Total Range
70% and below 3-6 24 18-30
70-80% 3-6 18 12-24
80-89% 2-4 15 10-20
90% and above 1-2 7 4-10

Have in mind, that this table is based on a study of weightlifters. However, it is quite applicable to powerlifting and strength training. Prilepin's guidelines are widely used in the powerlifting circles, and that's simply because they work. If you are looking for ways to refine your strength training workouts, Prilepin's table is the answer.
Let's first define intensity. Intensity is defined as the % of the maximal weight one can do for one rep(1RM). If you can lift 100 pounds one time for a given exercise, then lifting 70 pounds is defined as 70% intensity.
Upon initial examination of the table, you will notice, that sets of more than 6 reps are not performed. They induce too much fatigue, and obviously are counter-productive for strength gains, especially in super technical lifts such as the Olympic lifts.
To understand the table, consider designing a workout, where you will lift 75% of your 1RM. The table suggests that when training with 75% of your 1RM (Intensity Zone 70%-80%):

1.) You perform sets of 3 to 6 reps
2.) The total reps should be in the range of 12-24
3.) The optimal total is 18 reps
4.) If you do less than 12 total reps, the training stimulus would be too weak to elicit positive strength adaptation
5.) If you perform more than 24 reps, you are going to slow down, and fatigue too much

There is one major problem with the table. It gives guidelines for a specific intensity zone. If you want to use 65%, 70%, 75%, and 80% of your 1RM in one workout, these weights fall into three different intensity zones. The rep ranges still rule, but what about the total number of lifts? If you add the guidelines for each intensity zone, you will end up with a grossly overestimated number of lifts (in this case, the optimal number of lifts will be 24+18+15=57 lifts!). You will either tire yourself out, or more probably, won't be able to finish the workout at all.
In this article, I propose a way to get over this shortcoming. I'll give you a strategy to find the optimal number of lifts when designing strength training routines using weights from different intensity zones.
My first idea is to introduce, what I will call the Prilepin Number of Lifts Score (PNLS). PNLS is a measure of how the performed repetitions in a given intensity zone, relate to repetitions performed in the other intensity zones.
Let's assign a PNLS of 1, to the upper range of number of lifts for each intensity zone. Look at this table:

Prilepin Number of Lifts Score

Intensity Upper Total Limit PNLS
70% and below 30 1
70-80% 24 1
80-89% 20 1
90% and above 10 1

When you perform the upper limit of reps in a given intensity zone, this yields a PNLS of 1. The PNLS for a given zone, will be calculated as (Number Of Performed Lifts in Zone)/(Upper Total Limit). If you do 2 sets of 6 reps = 12 total reps with 60%1RM, the PNLS for these two sets is 12/30 = 0.4 (12 reps over 30 upper limit reps).
Now if you target a PNLS of 1 for the whole workout, you can add more sets in a different intensity zone. If you add 5 sets of 3 reps = 15 total with 75%1RM, the PNLS of these 5 sets will be 15/24 = 0.625
So if your workout is like this:

Bench Press - 2x6x60%, 5x3x75%

The total PNLS for the Bench Press will be 12/30 + 15/24 = 1.025. A PNLS of 1 is the upper limit according to Prilepin's table. For most intensity zones, the optimal PNLS falls between 0.7 and 0.8. Remember, that PNLS is exercise specific, so if your workout consists of 5 different exercises, each exercise will have its own PNLS.
This was my first idea of measuring the relation between intensity and the number of lifts. I quickly discovered a problem in this scheme. Consider these two workouts:

Workout #1: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 72%1RM (ZONE 70-80%)

Workout #2: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 77%1RM (ZONE 70-80%)

Both workouts have a PNLS of 24/24 = 1, but workout #2 is harder. Now we need to devise a formula that further refines the correlation between the number of lifts and intensity. The formula should also fall within Prilepin's table guidelines.

I created a table that includes for each intensity of 60%, 70%, 80%, 90%, the upper limit number of lifts (NOL) according to the Prilepin's table and the sum of the two. Here's what I came up with:

Intensity Upper NOL Intensity + NOL
60% 30 90
70% 24 94
80% 20 100
90% 10 100

Now you see that if we sum the intensity and the number of lifts (the upper NOL limit from Prilepin's table), we end with a number of around 100.

Here's how I created my modified PNLS formula. Because the formula gives a relation between the Intensity(weight) and the number of lifts(NOL), I will call it INOL.

INOL of a set = Number of Lifts(NOL) at a given intensity / (100 - intensity)

If we run the formula with the previous examples we get:

Bench Press - 2x6x60%, 5x3x75%

INOL(Bench Press) = 2x6/(100-60) + 5x3/(100-75) = 12/40 + 15/25 = 0.3 + 0.6 = 0.9
Workout #1: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 72%1RMINOL(#1) = 24/(100-72) = 0.86

Workout #2: 6 sets x 4 reps = 24 reps at 77%1RMINOL(#2) = 24/(100-77) = 1.04

The INOL formula favors a greater number of lifts at a lower intensity, and a smaller number of lifts at a higher intensity. This is good, because, very heavy lifts (above 90%1RM) fry the Central Nervous System and induce a lot of fatigue. At the same time trainees are able to perform more total lifts than the Prilepin's table guidelines at lower intensities. Prilepin's guidelines for Reps per Set remain rock-solid. INOL will only influence the total number of lifts.

Now, what is the difference between 5x2x80% and 2x5x80%? They both have INOL of 10/20 = 0.5. But if you calculate the INOL as the sum of the INOLs for each set, you will get an idea of which is tougher:

5 sets x 2 reps x 80%

INOL = 5 x (2/20) = 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.1 + 0.12

2 sets x 5 reps x 80%

INOL = 2 x (5/20) = 0.25 + 0.25

In the first case, each set gave a 0.1 INOL (fatigue), while in the second case each set added a 0.25 INOL (fatigue). In the first example, the workout was easier because the total fatigue(INOL) was fragmented into smaller parts. Now you can design your workouts, by both looking at the total INOL, and the INOL distribution among the sets.
INOL is a good measure of fatigue, that takes into account the weight(intensity) and the number of reps performed.
When you design strength training workouts, using mixed intensity zones, you can calculate the INOL for each exercise and follow these guidelines. You can track and modify them to suit your body for best results. By spreading the INOL among more weekly sessions you will be less fatigued, compared to concentrating all work sets in less sessions. It is my view, that very frequent workouts, with workout INOLs of 0.6-1 work best for most people. The only problem is that for most people it is too impractical to lift very frequently.

Total WEEKLY INOL of a single exercise:

Weekly INOL Guidelines
less than 2 easy, doable, good to do after more tiring weeks and prepeaking
between 2 and 3 tough but doable, good for loading phases
between 3 and 4 brutal, lots of fatigue, good for a limited time and shock microcycles
above 4 Are you out of your mind??

Single Workout INOL of a single exercise:

Workout INOL Guidelines
less than 0.4 too few reps, not enough stimulus?
between 0.4 and 1 fresh, quite doable and optimal if you are not accumulating fatigue
between 1 and 2 tough, but good for loading phases
above 2 brutal

Test

Did my thirty minutes on the elliptical trainer today, then went to the deadlift platform to test on the snatch grip deads - - - I wanted to know how much I had improved from when I started them. I warmed up with 225 for 5 then, since I topped out at 235 lbs 5RM last month, I loaded 245 on the bar. I got 5RM: after the second rep touched the floor, I switched hands on the staggered grip because my right hand couldn't hold on anymore in the overhand position. This calculates out to a 275 max (Brzycki's formula) so after 4 minutes rest to get rid of the forearm burn, I decided to test it with my left hand over/right hand under. Even with chalk, and maybe because of yesterday's workout, my left hand couldn't hold on so I put the straps on and slooooooooowly pulled it up.

This exercise is everything they say it is. It's a tough pull that slams the upper back and I'm sure it will improve my regular deads . . . . the pull distance is long with these. From Feb 28 to today, I went from a 205 5RM to a 245 5RM so I'm happy about that. But I will have to throw lots of grip work to perform them heavier next time because it puts my hands and wrists at a disadvantage.

SE/RE Back/Bench

Ahhhhh, this wave is now 2 workouts from being over. I'm so beat. I think the two days a week of deadlifting is catching up to me, and rack pulls are on Monday. That, and doing deadlifts last when all my other muscles have been pounded has been pushing me to my limit. My next wave will be easier than this one: no deadlifts, just arched back GMs done for 5 RM one day and submax effort the next. On paper, a parallel box squat for 295x5 would calculate to a 330 1Rm on that same lift so, considering that my arched back GM is 82-87.9% of my squat, I'm working towards a 270-290 lbs GM 1RM. The most I've done is 255 lbs for a single, when my squat was 325 (05Jan14).

Walked 30 minutes at lunch. Beautiful day, too beautiful to be indoors.

Evening:
Nautilus Nitro Laterals: 135x4 (Testing for my next wave, thought I had 125 loaded but forgot about the pin on the 10 lbs increment), 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 115x5x4.

T-Bar Rows: 65x5, 75x5, 85x5, 95x5, 115x5x5.

Nautilus Nitro Compund Rows: 95x6, 110x6, 125x6, 140x4.

Spotted Desi on his first free squats in 7 months, the joined him on a rep-out with 225 lbs. He got 10, I got 8 - - - I had more depth and longer range of motion. Who am I kidding? After all his other sets (Including a good rep out of two with 335), I should have matched him at least.

Superset:
18" Incline Bar Pushups: Failure at 16, 11, 8, 6.
Hammer Curls: 25x10x2, 30x5, 30x3. Pushups killed me. Funny, I felt the burn in the places I had worked before (biceps, back, delts, upper forearm).

Snatch Grip Deadlifts: 135x5, 155x5, 165x5x5. On submax days, this is my 63% 1RM week, usually an easy day. Except today. Oh, my form was great. It just felt like running a marathon.

Ate a lot of sushi for dinner afterwards. I was so tired and hungry, I barely talked to the wife while eating.

Tuesday's Aerobics

LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 9 Hill (Around the World): 30 minutes.

Last Few Days

April 27 & 28:
LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 8 Hill (Random): 30 minutes

Today:
Lunchtime: LifeFitness Elliptical, Level 9 Hill (Around The World): 30 minutes.

Evening:
Today's Workout was abbreviated down to two exercises. I had to run home to change into cleaner gear (My aerobics gear was dirty from last Friday) and we were going to be busy with the house today.

16" Box Squat: 145x5, 175x5, 205x5, 235x5, 265x5, 295x5. I forgot my belt at home and was too into the set to go get one. Desi spotted me on this one. On what should have been my first rep, the weight hit the pins before my butt hit the box - - - pins too high, I was so mad. Should have taken a moment and reset but I was afraid of being spooked on what was my goal. So I lifted this back to the rack, reset the pins, and immediately started the set again with even more focus. I almost got stuck on the last rep but held on long enough at my sticking point to break it. So, I'm happy. Next week, the box drops 2 inches to 14".

Incline Situps: Failure at 23, 18, 15, 13 reps. More reps than my best week.