The Season of My Discontent

I was gonna call this "Things 240 lbs People Should Not Do", but I digress if only for a moment!

First was the bad chicken. Now, while on my vacation of all things, an accident involving hubris and a water trampoline. August has not been my month.

The day after we arrive in Lake Chelan, WA, I was on an Aqua Jump (a big floating trampoline). Mind you, I can do a front flip on these things. Well, I gave a back flip a try. Got enough height. Got my tuck. Not enough rotation speed. I landed right on my head.

This story could have obviously ended much, much worse. But it didn't. I tightened up everything just in time. But I knew something was wrong the minute I tried to swim back to shore and something was moving around in my chest. I didn't go to a doc at that moment because I didn't want to ruin my family's vacation on the account of my stupidity. But yesterday, my first morning back home and my 36th birthday, was spent at my doctor getting a battery of tests done and x-rays. The good news was that there was no damage to my neck or vertebrae. But my suspicions were confirmed when they found left rib #5 fractured (I landed while still tucked).

I didn't get the Vicodin as prescribed: I'm iffy about anything that strong, and I can deal with the pain. It is, however, very annoying and inconvenient. I've been told to avoid vigorous activity for a month: no running, nothing that would involve my lifting my left arm, nothing that will cause me to twist or jostle, no jumping. I tried floor presses today and it was ok for a moment until I felt my rib starting to move. I tried SSB bar squats,too (since it keeps my arms close), and learned just as fast how much load the ribs bear even from above (most of the pain was in the bottom position). Dragging sled won't be a problem (belt around the waist), neither will walking. I can't sleep on my left side: I did and when I woke up the rib settled into place and made me double over. Damn if I sneeze or cough, can't laugh too hard. Since it was not caused by severe blunt trauma, the rib was still in one piece and should heal without surgery.

I could take the gung-ho route and train with it. But one month is a small price to pay compared to what could have been, or a badly healed bone. I won't sit still, but I will be smart about it.

Know Your Chicken:)

I came home Wednesday evening at 4:30 just hungry but knew I would have dinner in 2 hours. And I didn't want a protein shake. So I raided the fridge and found a juicy piece of chicken breast: smelled good, looked good, tasted great with some ketchup on it - - - just that. I always have a rule that anything one week old in the fridge gets tossed: my wife would tell me that evening that it had been in the fridge since I left for Virginia, which would have made it about 3 weeks old. To make a long story short and spare the graphics, I'm just now slowly getting over a bad case of food poisoning. 5 lbs and a lot of Gatorade and Imodium later. So, my training week will really begin when I get back from my one week vacation.

I did bench only today, since I have to get ready for vacation and didn't want to push my luck. Worked up to a 205 single with chains attached (a 10 lbs PR), then 15 reps with 135 lbs bar weight only.

DE Bench

Lunchtime:
Running Intervals (3.8 MPH walking, 7.2 MPH running on a 1.0 incline): 7 intervals of 1 minute walking and 1 minute running. My goal for this PRT is a 12:23 1.5 mile run, so this running speed should help get me there.

Evening:
Flat Bench Press w/80 lbs of chain (half on the floor at lockout): 45x3, 65x3, 90x3x8. One day, I will experiment less and work out more:) Anyways, while in Virginia on military business, I at least get 3 sessions of benching in and I noticed that while I could hit 240 (however slow and drawn out), I could not triple 225. I also found that I could do 20 lbs more than my max on the 3 board, and I'm sure more than that for 4 or 5. I also wanted to make my program shorter for a while: PRT's coming, I slacked off on aerobics for a little too long. So I dusted off Ryan Kennelly's program that helped me get 240 the first time but added the chains and started off at 40% of a 225 1RM (At week 13, the goal is a 225 triple with chains). The ME days will not be for benching, but for shoulder pressing.

Superset:
Blast Strap Pushups: 30 reps in 6 sets
Inverse Rows: 24 reps in 6 sets. 4 reps per set was all I could manage with the inverse rows, feet raised by 2 45s. I got 5 reps per set on the pushups, a 1 rep improvement per set. My goal is to do more in less sets over time.

Superset:
Chinups w/Lt Bands: Failure at 3, 3, 2, 2, 2 reps
External Rotations: 3x15, 5x15, 8x12x2, 10x10

Jump Rope: 10 minutes of jumping. A little something I picked up from Chad Waterbury's 10x3 For Fat Loss, something to push my metabolism up. You could just tell I was a beginner:)


Addendum: I never did get to do the meet. My transfer to my new Navy Reserve unit was completed just before I left for Norfolk, and I learned that they do not drill on the same schedule as the rest of the Reserve Center. They drill on the second weekend of a month, and sometimes the third, instead of the first weekend. So I had to pass on the meet since I had drill that weekend.

SSB Yoke Bar Review Update

I saw this posted on Elite FTS, by Jim Wendler as an answer on the Q&A. The question was in regards to the weight of the SSB Yoke Bar with the optional handles attached. The answer was 75 lbs. So now we know. That, and my speed work was miscalculated and my max test was, too:)

Totally Gonzo DE Bench:)

I was looking at Kris' blog when I read a routine called the Press-centric Raw Bench Routine. Intrigued, I tried a few things like doing the speed movement after the heavy movement, and flyes.

Bench Press with 80 lbs of chain (1/2 on the floor at lockout, deloaded at the bottom, all weights indicated is bar weight): 55x10, 70x8, 95x6, 115x4, 140x3, 165x2, 195x1. I'm seeing why Louie Simmons recommends 1 par of chains only for someone at my level of benching. With the lead chain included, I'm locking out an extra 50 lbs, and the nature of chains made every set a job. It took a bit for me to unrack the bar at 195 and since the chains move, my wrists were feeling it. 195 came down fast, but I was tight enough to send it right back up. Note to self: get wrist wraps.

Bench Press w/Light Bands: 120x3x8. As Kris mentioned, doing DE after a max should result in faster DE work. Sure enough, it was almost too fast. The first two sets were sloppy, so I had to adjust my tightness and slow the descent a bit.

Incline Flyes: 10x10, 15x10, 20x10, 25x10, 30x8.

Triset:
GHR DB Preacher Curls: 20x10x4
Band Pull-aparts w/Light Band: 4 sets of 2-4 reps.
Band Pull-aparts w/Monster Minis: 4 sets of 2-4 reps

Physioball "Y": 3x12, 5x10, 8x7, 10x5, 12x2.

ME Squat

So, why not DE Bench? The answer is that I decided that my last workout before the contest will be DE Bench, so I just scheduled all my workouts backwards from there.

Superset:
Sumo Deadlift: 135x5, 155x5, 175x5, 205x5, 225x5, 245x5. Not much speed, but really good form. I think while I'm gone I'll do those for speed day, too, instead of squats. The sumo has played second-fiddle to my conventional DL for way too long.
Blast Strap Pushups: 5 sets of 3, 1 set of 4. Ok, how do I go from being able to do 56 pushups tops to this?!? The handles were very close to the floor. I had to bust ass to keep my arms from wanting to spread out, and I was very shaky. The set of 4 was a case of me contracting my back harder and tucking a little better, but that only improved things by one rep. My stabilizers, evidently, need work.

GHR: 5 sets of 2. I'm not Kris:) The last two sets were done with a pair of monster minis. I'll get there.

Light Band Pullthroughs: 4 sets of 10

Situps: 4 sets of 50

Single Leg Calf Raises: 5 sets of 5. Humbled again, these are hard for me, too.


I lay exposed;(

Short Review: SSB Yoke Bar

The SSB bar is little longer than the Texas Power Bar (maybe a little longer) and weighs in at 60 lbs. The original SSB had a capacity of 1500 lbs and I'll gander a guess and say this one is close to the same capacity. It has a gussett that helps provide strength and stability to the sleeve and the bar. It has a strong, sturdy feel and is rackable. I bought mine with the extended handles since I felt it would provide easier balance and stability when using the bar, and allow me to put my hands lower to really give my shoulders a break. If you do barbell lunges or step ups, the handles are worth the extra $30US.

First thing I noticed when unracking the bar was that it took more effort to do so. That's because, as you all have read, the bars forward camber forces the weight (and the person) forward. If you've ever read Fred Hatfield's "POWER" and seen the picture of someone using an SSB while holding on to the rack, it is to that extent. It tried to force me forward even more than the Manta Ray, which also places the bar higher, does. As you can tell from the video, this bar practically humbled me. For all the back work I do, and I got thrown over at the bottom. I might have to learn this squat variation from the beginning as if it were different, rather than treating it like a squat with a different bar. Should be fun. That said, the bar is very comfortable: ample padding, and the bar stays put.

One flub in this video: I set the j-hooks a tad high. Thus, the tip-toeing to unrack it:)

http://powervault.tsampa.org/caraballo/video/ssb_experiment.wmv

DE Squat (+ Bench test)

Lunchtime (Weight is per movement arm):

Hammer MTS High Rows: 45x10, 55x8, 65x6, 75x6, 90x1, 80x6, 95x1
Hammer ISO Rows: 50x10, 60x8, 70x6, 85x6, 100x3, 90x6, 105x2.

Evening:

Band Bench Press w/Light Bands (test): 45x10, 70x8, 95x6, 120x4, 135x2, 155x1, 175x1, 195x1. As I'm 4 weeks out from the meet, I decided to use the same speed day setup I used to help me get my 240 bench the first time. Only now, my setup was a finger wider (now middle finger on the rings). 190 was my best before with a closer grip. Not only was this a 5 pound best but I could feel a big diffrence with all my prior work. I had a tighter setup, a faster launch from the bottom, the weight never felt as if it was gonna get stuck, and my lockout was good despite the bands. My planned speed days look like this: 50%1RM (based on a 240 bench) for 8 sets of 3 with light bands, rest 3 minutes, then [based on best band bench]85% for 6 reps, 100% for 1 rep, 90% for 6 reps, 105% for 1 rep, then 15 reps with 60%. I'm gunning for a 105% single of 225 lbs, with bands, on week 4.

SSB Box squats w/80 lbs of chain: 45x10, 75x8, 105x6, 135x4, 165x2, 180x2x8. A misnomer, since the last 5 sets were not very fast at all. The bar and chains changed everything: I had to fight to stay upright, and the chains pretty much exposed my lack of speed. Less bar weight next time.

Speed Deadlifts: 200x1x10.

Sled Pullthroughs: 5 trips with 50 lbs.

Sled Backwards walk: 5 trips around the neighborhood is 2 miles, I walked one of those and just about crashed to the grass.

Abs: just mixed up some movements in a circuit 4 times.

Gym

Enclosed is the picture of my home gym setup. The rack just needs to be mounted, and I need to get a bar holder, but it is essentially complete. It's an Elite R2 Rack and GHR for the main pieces. I have a curl bar, a Trap Bar, Texas Deadlift Bar, and an SSB Yoke Bar. Some things, like the weights, Elliptical, rubber flooring, and dumbbells were bought at a Busy Body fitness store in Tacoma. I have 80 lbs of chain and bands up to an average band, 1-5 boards, Blast Straps, and whatever I had before all this like a Manta Ray and a Sting Ray, a forearm bar, pushup bars, exercise ball, sled. Anything else will be very small like posters and a dry erase board. Place needs a boom box - - - that's upstairs.

ME Bench

I assembled the gym yesterday, the rack just needs to be mounted to wood. So I just got started using it today. I'll be working out for the next 4 days straight to get caught up, then be back at it Monday. These next two weeks will be experimental, with bands and chains. Then, the next two weeks in Norfolk, VA will be mostly straight weight, bands only for speed bench and squat. The Monday prior to the meet (August 7), I'll work up to a 3RM on the 2-board and do light accessory work. Whatever I get on the 2-board will be my second attempt, and I'll figure out from there what my 3rd attempt will be. I'm nervous, but excited. I'll get pictures up tonight.

Close Grip Pause Bench w/80 lbs of chain (numbers are bar weight): barx10, 65x8, 85x5, 105x5, 135x5, 165x1. An explanation: half of the chain is on the floor at lockout, so I was locking out an extra 40 lbs at lockout (maybe more with the lead chain, but I won't count that). I counted "one-two" at the bottom, then pressed. I was thinking of doing this with 40 lbs of chain only (20 lbs additional at lockout), but I thought "I can 3-board 20 more pounds than my max." My first time benching with chains, and it was demanding. I also finally got my leg drive figured out so my benching was solid.

Close Grip Pause Bench (Straight Weight): 165x3, 185x1. I attempted a second rep at 185 and got stapled. The 185 single was slow but I was happy to nail it.

5-board Press: 185x3, 215x3, 245x3. I could have done more but just wanted to establish a baseline.

Wide Grip Pullup w/Light Bands: 7 sets of 2.

Straight Bar Extensions: 45x10, 50x10, 55x10, 60x6.

3-Way Shoulder (Front raise/lateral raise/band pull-aparts): 4 sets with 5, 8, 10, 8 lbs. The pull aparts were done first with a light band to exhaustion, the switched to the monster minis and did the same. This smoked my delts.

Hammer Curls: worked up to 35 lbs 5RM, then 40x1.

Physioball "T": 5x8, 8x6, 10x4, 12x2, 8x4, 5x7

DE Squat

Manta Ray Parallel Box Squat: 45x8, 75x6, 105x6, 135x2, 165x2, 195x2x8, 225x1, 255x1, 285x1. I was supposed to stop at 255 but since I didn't squat on Monday, I wanted to end it on a better note. The 285 was smooth.

Speed DL (Conventional): 230x1x8, 265x1, 300x1. The 300 was smooth but after all the squatting, it was also a drain.

Back Extensions: 25x10x4.

Birddogs: 6 sets each side.

Weighted Ball Crunches: 25x8x4.

Seated Calf Raises: 60x10, 70x8, 80x8, 80x8.

ME Bench

Legs Up Pause Bench Press: 45x10, 70x8, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 165x5, 190x4 (4RM). The foure reps were real strong, but I had nothing for the 5th one.

3-Board Bench Press: 195x3, 225x3, 245x2. I could blame it on the prior heavy work, or I could have gone lighter on the prior two sets. I'm a little bummed that I didn't get the third rep but I have to remember that in the Elite Beginners Manual, there will be waves where the 2 and 3 boards are used as ME movements all their own. So, I'll be happy:)

Hoist Assisted Wide Pullups (BWT 240.3 lbs): 90.3x10, 100.3x8, 110.3x6, 120.3x4. Decided that everytime I hit 10 reps with a level of assistance, I wont use it the next workout. I did more reps today.

DB Overhead Press: 25x15x3

Reverse Curls: 30x15x3

Physioball "W": 5x8, 8x8, 10x6, 10x5.

I'm thinking of my next bench cycle, and it will have more full range movements. My main ME movement will be close grip pause bench presses with chains, and my DE movement will be arched bench press with bands. As such, I won't have to do boards or rack lockouts. I'll figure something out soon. Like a goal.

Extra Back Work

Hammer MTS Row: 40x10, 50x8, 60x6, 70x6, 85x1, 75x6, 90x1, 50x15

Hammer ISO Row: 70x6x3

Hammer MTS High Row: 55x10x4

DE Bench

Arched Bench Presses: 45x10, 70x8, 95x6, 115x4, 135x3x8, 155x2, 180x1.

2-Board Press: 180x3, 210x3, 240x3. The last 240 was painfully slow.

Hoist T-Bar Row: Worked up to a 155 lbs 1RM. I was at Bangor gym, no Hammer Strength stuff there and I felt charged up for back.

Nautilus Shoulder Press: 90x10x4

Superset:
DB Preacher Curls: 20x10x4.
External Rotations: 8x15, 10x12x2, 12x10

Extra Work:Lats

Close Grip Chinups: 5 attempts. I can get to the point where my upper arms are parallel to the floor. That's it.

Band Chinups w/Lt. Band: 7 sets of 2

Hammer Pullover: Worked up to a 130 lbs single.

Hammer MTS Front Pulldown: 40x15x3

DE Squat

Manta Ray Parallel Box Squat: 45x8, 75x6, 105x6, 135x2, 165x2, 180x2x10.

Speed DL (Conventional): 215x1x10.

Back Extensions: 10x10x4.

Birddogs: 6 sets each side.

Weighted Ball Crunches: 25x8x4.

Seated Calf Raises: 55x10, 70x8, 80x8, 80x6

Extra Work:Back

Until the meet, and especially to insure that my starting strength is where it needs to be for the meet, I'll be doing an extra workout for two lunches each week for back.

Hammer MTS Row: 40x10, 50x8, 60x6, 70x6, 80x1, 75x6, 85x1, 50x15

Hammer ISO Row: 65x5x4

Hammer MTS High Row: 65x5x5

ME Bench

Legs Up Pause Bench Press: 45x10, 70x8, 95x5, 115x5, 145x5, 165x5, 185x5 (5RM),

3-Board Bench Press: 195x3, 215x3, 245x2. Next week, I'm just gonna play it safe and try 245x3.

Hoist Assisted Wide Pullups (BWT 240 lbs): 90x9, 100x6, 110x4, 120x3. Forgot my bands, again.

DB Overhead Press: 35x10x4

Reverse Curls: 40x10x4

Physioball "W": 3x8, 5x8, 8x8, 10x3.

ME Squat

14" (Parallel) Manta Ray Box Squat: 95x5, 125x5, 155x5, 185x5, 215x5, 235x5, 265x5. I got my 5 reps with 265 but it was a struggle. I think I'm starting to get burned out on squats. My gains are slowing down, and it's draining me more. Time to switch up soon.

Arched Back Good Morning: 135x3, 165x3, 195x5, 225x3. I actually dropped 10 lbs over last week. Time to ditch this one, too. One more week. Could also be the harder squat workout. The Manta Ray really hammers your lower back because of how high it places the bar.

Bulgarian Split Squats: 20x10, 30x8x2.

Cable Woodchoppers (Bottom to top): 20x10, 30x10, 40x10
Cable Woodchoppers (Top to Bottom): 20x10, 30x10, 40x10. Felt too beat to even think of more weight.

Standing Calf Raises: 55x10, 70x10, 80x8x2

DE Bench

Arched Bench Presses: 45x10, 65x8, 95x6, 115x4, 135x3x8, 155x2. Weights were flying but must go faster.

2-Board Press: 185x3, 210x3, 235x2. I could blame a few things for not getting that third rep at 235 but I just didn't have it. On that second rep, I nearly lost my arch and had to really drive my feet into the floor to squeeze that rep out. Next time, I'll either do 235 again and try to get a third rep with good speed, or go for broke with 240.

Hammer Iso Row: 55x8, 65x8, 75x8, 85x8

Hammer Behind the Neck Press: 45x8, 55x8, 65x8, 75x4.

Superset:
DB Preacher Curls: 15x15x3.
External Rotations: 10x15x3.

Rope Pushdowns: 20x12x4. Pathetic but I got a nice pump out of it.