ME Upper Body

Flat Bench Press: 95x5, 115x5, 140x5, 165x5, 185x4. Bitchin'!!! Two more reps than last week.

CG Bench Press: 125x10x2.

Nautilus Front Pulldown: 105x10x4

T-Bar Row: 100x10x4

Snatch Grip Deadlift: 165x15x3.

Barbell Curls: 40x18, 40x15x2

RE Upper Body

Lunchtime:
Free Squats: 115x15, 125x15, 135x15, 145x15, 155x14

Evening:
Incline Bench Press w/One Pair of Chains: 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x1 (Test)

Incline Bench (No chains):185x2, 115x15, 115x10x2

T-Bar Row: 85x15x3

Nautilus Nitro Front Pulldown: 90x15x3

DB Lateral Raises: 12x7, 12x6x2, 12x5.

My back was a bit sore, so I'm saving the deads for another day.

Squat Test Gone Bad

I've been tossing around the idea of a just doing rep work with regular squats with no box so instead of my normal lunchtime aerobic workout like I've been doing, I just tested on raw squats.

Free Squats: 95x3 (I had a belt I borrowed from the gym and it blew out!!! Old, cause I didn't get that big over the holidays.), 125x5, 155x5, 185x3, 215x3, 245x1, 275x1, 305x1, 325x0 (Got to the bottom and the weights started sliding off the right side, I'm trying to keep from killing my back and letting the bar whip out and hurt someone. A closer inspection of the mess reveals that the slide on collars WERE on, but were defective and slid off.), 325x0 (My load was blown).

Barbell Curls: 70x8x3.

I walked to the front counter and handed the lady the collars and told her what happened. She looked shocked and apologized, and said that she thought that the equipment was inspected that morning. When I got home, I inspected my collars and showed my wife and kid how to do the same. Now I know.

ME Upper Body

Lunchtime:
Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical: 30 minutes, Cardio setting, Level 5

Evening:
Flat Bench Press w/One pair Chains: 55x3, 75x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x3, 185x2. Will alternate doing these for threes and a week of doing these for fives with no chains.

CG Bench Press w/One pair Chains: 115x10, 8, 6 reps. These were all rep maxes.

Nautilus Nitro Front Pulldown: 120x8x5

T-Bar Row: 115x8x5

Snatch Grip Deadlift: 165x5, 195x5, 225x5, 255x5, 285x5. After all the back work, I had to really work hard for these. On the set of 255, I was lifting with gloves on and the bar started slipping out of my right hand, I lost my concentration for a moment and windmilled slightly causing a right side mid-back pull. On the 285, I used my bare hands and chalk and that went better. I just stopped there: I could have given 295x5 a shot but played it safe.

EZ Bar Curl: 70x8x5

ME Lower Body (Short Version)

Why do 4 workouts in 4 days? I have 5 weeks until I leave for South Carolina to train. 4 weeks until PRT. I might be able to do the Virtual Meet from Djibouti, but we'll see. I don't want to waste any time, I want to stay on track. Even today, when my legs were really sore from not having squatted in a while, when my son and his friend wanted to go to the basketball court I took that as a hint. I just abbreviated it a bit.

Hoist Compound Motion Leg Press: No weight for 20 reps, 50x15, 100x12, 150x10, 200x8, 250x6, 300x5, 350x5, 445x5, 490x5, 535x4

Cybex Leg Curl: worked up to 130x4.

Thank God, tomorrow is a lazy day!!!

RE Upper Body

Incline Bench Press: 75x10, 95x10, 115x10x3

T-Bar Row: 95x10x4

Nautilus Nitro Front Pulldown: 100x10x4

DB Lateral Raises: 12x7, 12x6x2, 12x5.

Snatch Grip Deadlift: 175x10x4.

Biceps Death: 3 sets, descending from 90 lbs to 20 lbs in 10 lbs increments.

The bench and lateral raises were done as rep maxes, everything else was 4 sets of 10. My rep days are done with different rep schemes for most of the main movements. The snatch grip deadlifts went pretty good despite really sore legs from not having squatted in a while. Don't know how tomorrows leg workout is going to happen but I'll think of something.

RE Lower Body

14" SSB Box Squat: Barx10, 100x10, 125x10, 150x10, 175x8. I came so close to 10 on that last one and it just about blew my head off.

Calf Lifts: Failure at 15, 12, 12, 10, 10 reps.

Lateral Step Ups: 15x10x3

DB Side Laterals: 35x15x4

GHR: 40 reps (Sets of 10, 8, 6, 6, 5, 5 reps)

ME Upper Body

Snatch Grip Deadlift: 155x5, 185x5, 225x5, 255x5, 285x5, 315x2 (2RM). The first two sets were done with a double overhand grip, the others with a staggered grip, the last with straps and a double overhand grip.

Flat Bench Press: 55x10, 75x8, 95x5, 115x5, 135x5, 155x5, 175x4, 165x5x2.

CG Triceps Death: 2 sets with 115 lbs to failure with no boards, 2, 3, 4, and 5 boards (no rest between board changes)

Nautilus Nitro Front Pulldown: Worked up to a 160 lbs single, 135x5x2.

T-Bar Row: Worked up to a 155 lbs single, 130x5x2

Reverse Curl: 50x7x4

RE Lower Body

Lunchtime:
Cybex ArcTrainer Elliptical: 30 minutes at Level 4

Evening:
Hoist Composite Motion Leg Press: 335x10x4

Arched Back Good Morning: 145x10x4

Cybex Leg Curl: 80x10x4

22" Step Ups: BWTx10x4

Hanging Leg Raises: 4 sets of 5

Incline Twisting Situps: 4 sets of 10

The Best Laid Plans II

The why's would be a little much to get into here, but my orders have changed. Instead of Bahrain, I am now headed to Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. Also, instead of leaving in May, it's now the first week of February. Instead of extending in the Reserves like I've been doing for PRT purposes, they are letting me reenlist if I could pass my third PRT in a row - - - On January 29th. Good thing a message came out allowing me to automatically be on the Chief's board without taking an exam, a one-time perk if one is in, leaving, or going to Iraq, Afghanistan, or the Horn of Africa - - - I have a lot to do in even less time than before. All while also taking my son to basketball practices and working on his game, since his season has begun.

That busy-ness is why I haven't blogged much but I'm trying. I've basically been experimenting with different weightlifting approaches, even the lactic acid stuff. I am using the Cybex ArcTrainer elliptical on my off days, since it's more challenging. And I've been playing a lot of basketball scrimmage games. My weight is down to 232 lbs (Morning Weight), and my conditioning is coming along. I've decided to just stay with the heavy stuff, and twice (each) squatting and deadlifting since that has always worked best in a pinch - - - last time I lost too much mass for so little gain that I don't want to go through that again.

This was today's workout.

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill: 4 rounds of 1 minute running at 8.0 MPH and 2 minutes walking at 3.8 MPH, using a 1.5 degree incline. When I started Afterburn (modified), running at 7.7 MPH had me at a heart rate of 170. I had to up the speed to 8.0 to get close to the same effect.

Evening (ME Upper):
Close Grip Triceps Death (No Board, 2 thru 5 boards, no rest) 3 sets to failure. 2 minutes rest between sets.

Snatch Grip Deadlift: Worked up to a 275 4RM.

T-Bar Row: 115x5x5

Hoist Assisted Neutral Grip Chinup (BWT 237): 117x5x5

Biceps Death: 3 sets to failure. Essentially, 1 rep with 90 lbs then failure with 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20 lbs. Rest two minutes each set.

Grace's Big Squat Day

Two days ago, my wife Grace asked what was on the menu for Leg Day. I told her to "get Gung Ho" because we were going to test her on the free squat. I also told her that it would be filmed for training purposes. She also asked me to post it on my blog, since she does not want to post it on her Myspace page. Feel free to comment.

A few notes. I tried to dial in her depth, even going so far as to do the second rep touch and go from a 14" box. She hated it, because it tempted her to relax upon touching it. Her descent is pretty fast, and I didn't teach her that. Her speed is noteworthy, probably from those huge hams she inherited from her dad. Will have to do some work on depth and her lower back but I think before I leave, she may be ready for 225.

And I'm still trying to persuade her to do a Virtual Meet, Kris:)

ME Upper Body

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill: 3 rounds of 1.5 minutes at 7.7 MPH and 1.5 minutes at 3.8 MPH, at a 1.5 incline. This was definitely tougher: at this speed, 30 extra seconds was long.

Evening:
Incline Bench Press: 75x3, 95x3, 115x3, 135x3, 155x3, 175x2. Not my best bench day, but there's next time.

Assisted Pullups (Monster Mini/Light Band): 5 sets of 5

Close Grip Triceps Death (2, 3, 4, 5 Board Progression): 2 sets with 125 lbs. Basically, 15 reps with the 2-Board, quickly continue to failure with the 3-Board, then keep failing up all the way up to the 5-board.

Superset:
DB Rows (Elbows In): 45x10x4
Band Pullaparts w/Monster Mini: 4 sets to failure (4 sets of 5)

Trap Bar Shrugs: Worked my way up to a 204 triple.

DB Curls: 25x8x4

ME Lower Body

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Treadmill: 3 rounds of 1 minute at 7.7 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.8 MPH, at a 1.5 incline.

Evening:
Arched Back Good Morning: 95x5, 120x5, 145x5, 170x5, 195x5, 205x5

22" Step Ups: 4 sets of 10

Cybex Leg Curls: 115x5x5

Ab Circuit (4 sets): Plank, Lying Leg Thrusts, Woodchopper (Downward), Situps, Woodchopper (Upward), 45-degree Hyper.

That was Friday. Next day was spent playing basketball and walking around with 54 lbs for a few laps.

The New Cardio

I took my son to the gym for two hours so that we can practice basketball. For me, this is a great way to work out without the monotony. I get to run, jump, move laterally, change direction a lot, everything. What I also did today was that every 15 minutes, I jumped rope for 1.5 minutes at a good clip. Then I grabbed two weighted bars like the ones they use for aerobics and walked around for 5 laps around the court holding them behind my back, in front, and overhead: I used a 30 lbs and a 24 lbs bar, for a total of 54 lbs. Then I put down the bars and ran around the court for 3 laps as fast as I could stand. I did 5 of those.

The bars didn't feel heavy, per se. But walking around at a brisk pace with the extra weight really taxed my breathing, and the runs just finished me off. Makes me wonder how much better off I would feel at a much lighter weight. I'll be doing these on my off days when I'm in the gym, maybe even on the track.

I had my son run with a Jump Stretch green ("average")band around his waist, both forward and backward, to improve his running speed and push off. Basically he ran for dear life while I trailed behind him at a much slower rate of speed. He loved that so much (hard as it was) he wanted to see me do it. I thought what's one more killer thing (you should have seen his face turn beet red). Problem was, he couldn't hold me back or the band for long, so I got smacked across the back real good when the band snapped right into me. He wants to try this with the sled, so expect to see me doing those real soon, too.

RE Upper Body

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical: Hill profile at level 7 for 30 minutes.

Evening:
Incline Close Grip Pushup (Feet Raised 12"): Failure at 9, 8, 7 reps.

Superset:
Hoist Neutral Grip Chinup (Bwt 240 lbs): 80x12x2, 80x10x2
T-Bar Rows: 80x12x2, 80x10x2

DB Lateral Raises: 10x10x4

Superset:
DB Shrugs: 55x10x3
Hammer Curls: 25x10x3

Wrist Roller: 3 sets of 3

5-Board Press: 145x3, 170x3, 195x3, 220x3.

RE/DE Lower Body

Lunchtime:
Treadmill: 3 3-minute rounds of 1 minute at 7.7 MPH and 2 minutes at 3.8 MPH.

Evening:
14" SSB Box Squats: 75x5, 105x5, 135x5, 165x5, 195x5, 225x5, 255x1. I was going to stop at 225 but just had to know how close was the formula to actual 1RM. The predicted max (Brzycki) was 253 and I got 255.

16" Lateral Step Ups: BWTx10x3

Sumo DL: 175x1x10. Strictly speed work.

GHR: 31 reps in 4 sets (10, 10, 6, 5 reps)

DB Side Raises: 35x10x4

The Best Laid Plans

Lest anyone think that I have been lazy, It's been quite the few weeks.

I got my synthesizer back repaired after a long time of not using it and I've been messing around with a program made by Steinberg called Sequel (A loop based music program that can also record MIDI and instrument sounds). I feel like a music hobbyist again.

The biggest thing for me right now is that I am being recalled to the Middle East next year for a while. This alters some plans. About a month of that is to be spent in South Carolina training Army style which means a lot of running and moving around with an extra 50-60 lbs of gear. I've been messing around with the Westside for Skinny Bastards 3 program, Afterburn for fat loss (I'm at 236 lbs right now, so I've dropped some weight from the last PRT) but now, aside from March's Virtual Meet and PRT 3 weks later, I have to prepare my body for that, too (a lot of people come back from the Middle East with shoulder or knee problems because of the added weight of bulletproof gear, weapons, and other flotsam). Lastly, I have to get things in order so my family has little to worry about while I'm gone - - - my to-do list is being drafted.

But since this is a training blog, not a life blog, let's talk training. I love this template and plan to keep it but since I've changed a few things in it, I'll just blog the workout with no name for the template. The Elite Beginners Manual and WS4SB3 are so similar that I've been using a bit of both, essentially bastardizing them.

The first thing to go will be any sort of speed days. I feel that I've done speed work for so long but my squat and bench should be bigger than it is. I think I've gotten as fast as I could get at my existing level of strength that more speed won't make me stronger. So I will be doing more repetition work on those days.

Second, I feel like my squat should be a lot bigger than it is and even with a big deadlift, my back got humbled with 340 at the bottom. So I'm putting more effort into GMs and front squats and sled work. The repetition days for squats will be done exclusively with 14-inch SSB Squats with a different rep scheme each week, some high and some low. I will do speed work for deadlift, like the Elite manual, but using the sumo, which is my weakest deadlift. Historically, 14" has been best for my overall squats - - - thus the choice.

In the bench, and in particular my shoulders, I'll keep a 3 weeks bench variation/3 weeks shoulder press rotation. The past few weeks, I've been using a DB shoulder press/assisted pullup superset along with some trap work and incline benching on rep days and my shoulders have gotten thicker and been pain free. I will also be using pushup variations on rep days.

As for the fat loss, I'm going to keep NROL's Afterburn setup but will use running instead. I had planned on that 5 days a week using an elliptical AND running in the evenings but I could see where that was headed. I'll just start gradually. If I'm in shape, running at at my usual pace wouldn't be my biggest worry, it's when I start turning to my lactic acid system. I found that a 1.5 incline, and 7.6 MPH speed was a good beginning challenge for me, as was dropping the rest period and increasing the running period each week. On days where I don't run, I'll probably do the elliptical for 30 minutes or go for a long walk. I'll also keep using the heavy bag and jump rope for any other GPP work.

As for milestones or goals, we'll see:)

Westside 4 Skinny Bastards 3: DE Lower

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical: 3 rounds of 1 minute at Level 20 and 2 minutes at Level 10

Evening:
14" SSB Box Squat w/80 lbs of Chain: Barx2, 105x2, 135x2, 165x2, 195x2x8. Westside recommends 60 lbs of chain for squats under 400 lbs but with what I have it's either 40 or 80 lbs. I experimented with this setup before PRT: the chains are almost off the ground when I rack the bar. My experiment? I worked up to a 255 2RM and it felt like my head was gonna pop off. I then took the chains worked up to a very fast 325 single - - - the weight felt easy. I know the program calls for jumps but I don't have jump platforms at home. As for the 14" box height, I'm going back to using that as parallel instead of 15", because depth was an issue for me at the virtual meet using 15" for training.

Bulgarian Split Squat w/Front Foot Elevated: BWTx7x3.

GHR: 30 reps in 6 sets. I can't do 10 reps at the moment, and I don't want to use bands, so I borrowed this setup from the EFS Beginners Manual. The goal is to gradually increase the reps but decrease the sets.

DB Side Bends: 30x12x4

Westside 4 Skinny Bastards 3: ME Upper

Lunchtime:
LifeFitness Elliptical: 3 rounds of 1 minute at Level 20 and 2 minutes at Level 10

Evening:
Assisted Pullups:
(Green Bands - Warmup): 2 sets of 6
(Monster Mini/Light Band): 5 sets of 4

DB Shoulder Press: 2 sets of 15 @ 25 lbs

Superset:
DB Rows (Elbows In): 4 sets of 9 @ 35 lbs
Band Pull Aparts (Monster Mini): 4 sets to failure

Trap Bar Deadlifts: 4 sets of 11 @ 94 lbs

DB Curls: 4 sets of 8 @ 20 lbs

PRT Don'ts

I passed the PRT this past Friday, with a Good-Low instead of a Good-Medium. I'm calling this my DON'T because of what I had to do to get out of failing and ending my Navy career on a bad note.

Since April, I focused a lot on strength and ignored all cardio and even a consistent eating habit. When the Virtual Meet came around, I weighed in at 240 lbs and I barely pass bodyfat at 229 lbs/20% BF by Navy measurement. And I had less than a month to get there. I had made some changes after the Virtual Meet: I started to run a few times a week. I started to lift heavy to keep my neck but then switched to Westside For Skinny Bastards III. I started to hit the heavy bag more. In my last week, I ditched the running and started doing lunchtime sessions on the elliptical trainer cranked up to level 15. My back seemed to be getting thicker, and the workouts were great.

On October 3, I woke up and weighed in at 239.5 lbs - - - measurement was on the morning of the 4th. Panic!!! I had a real strong cup of coffee that morning for my only drink, and didn't eat at all. I did 35 minutes on the elliptical at level 15 for lunch and a 1 hour session in the evening at level 7. I weighed in at a surprising 233.5 just before bed. The morning of the 4th, I woke up and weighed in at 232.5 lbs. I drank nothing and attempted to do a 1-hr elliptical session at level 15 but after 30 minutes I felt like I was beginning to bonk - - - I shortened it to 45 minutes. Then I did my two 20-minute sessions in the sauna. I took a shower and felt like a small child was sitting on my chest, and that worried me.

All that, and for what? I came in at 230 lbs but barely passed at the 22% borderline the Navy specifies - - - worse than last time. My neck dropped to 16.5 inches and my waist was 38 inches. Someday, I will remember that when the water goes the muscles go flat. And I had overdone the aerobics. And I felt like crap, with the run to be on the next day.

I started drinking a 50/50 mix of Gatorade and water to put all of my fluids back and by 3 PM, I was at 242.5 lbs. But I felt like my belly was going to pop from that and the big breakfast I had after the weigh-in, because until my water levels were back to normal, I couldn't pee or poop. That evening, I was talking to my wife after dinner and she suggested I have a strong cup of coffee. I did that, and started downing a lot of apple juice since a lot of it has a mild laxative effect. That did it, too well: my stomach finally calmed down at about 2:30 in the morning.

On the morning of the 5th, I weighed in at 237 then headed to the Reserve Center to run and do the pushups and situps. I told the trainer that I hate running by myself because I couldn't pace off of someone (boy, when you're not a consistent runner, this is what happens) and he mentioned that I was allowed to use the treadmill as an alternative. That was a godsend: the LifeFitness pro models have Fit Test programs for the Armed Forces: it sets a 1% incline and you tell it what armed force, how much you weigh, your gender and speed, and you're set. I set it at 6.5 MPH and just used the last 30 seconds to sprint - - - I never had to walk at all. It didn't go so bad, the running work I had done had worked well , I wondered why my dumbass hadn't done it sooner.

On Monday, I will be on a consistent AND sensible program of weights, fat loss, and running. This was the last time I would use extraordinary means like this to pass. I put my body through a lot for very little gain, and at great risk.