Deloading this Week

I am going to have to deload this week. The list of nags and injuries:

Partial tear in right Glute at the origin
Partial tear in right Quadriceps in the middle
Nagging shoulders with some numbness in both arms in certain positions
Low Back stiffness, like that is uncommon for me

My workouts will have to be cut by quite a bit. I'll concentrate on rehab and prehab movements in extended ranges of motion

Today's Training:

Zercher Squat:
worked up to 3 sets at 315x6

Elevated Bulgarian Split Squat:
3x10 each side bodyweight
Just concentrated on getting as much range of motion as possible. Man, my Rectus Femoris is tight!

Long Step Walking Lunges
3x until I felt I had about 3 left in the tank.

That was it. Fun Times

Deadlift, Jump PRs and "Yoostas"

Did a complex for the monthly challenge here at work early this morning because one of my clients cancelled. It was set up like this:

Power Clean
Front Squat
Push Press
Back Squat
Power Press
All of this is done back to back and is considered one rep. You have to complete 8 reps for the weight to count. My goal was to beat clients and trainers by 100lbs, but one of the clients threw out 115lbs. So I shoot for 220 and it almost killed me. On rep 7 my shoulder gave out after the Power press and all 225 slammed down on my right Quadriceps. I now sport a lovely blue/red/purple mark.

So I rested and had twenty bajillion other clients, then I got the urge to Deadlift. So I did.

Conventional Deadlift:
135x a few
225x10 or so
315x3
365x3
405x3(added belt)
455x1
495x1
505x1(Conventional Stance 30lb PR!!!)
I was Deadlifting in the Sumo stance, but after evaluating my body, I decided that I'm built for a more conventional stance. I felt as if I could have gone higher, but with the torn part of my glute screaming at me I decided to call it a day. Thank God for Blue Heat and Spud Inc. belts.

Seated Box Jumps (24") from Distance:
4'x5
5'x5
6'x3
6.5'x3
7'x2
7.5'x2(Distance and Rep PR)
First attempt at 7.5' was short by an inch so I didn't stick the landing.

Did some Naural Glute Ham Raises and Kettlebell Single Leg Romanian Deadlifts to work out some the crap in the Glute.

"Yoostas": Every gym has these guys. You know them, or you may be one of them. They are the guys that talk about what they "Yoosta do". As I'm deadlifting this guy comes up to me and tells me how he yoosta squat 500+ for 20 reps. Yeah, and I can piss all the colors of the rainbow. Don't tell me what you were able to do at some point in time, show me what you can do now.

Get in the gym , SFW and don't make excuses. I can make all the excuses in the world, my doctors certainly gave them to me, but I don't. I keep driving, I keep going, I keep getting better, I keep throwing farther, and most importantly I keep my head up.

Links:
Blue Heat
3 Blue Heat, 1 Free Hot Pink
Spud Inc 3-ply Belt
Spud Inc. 3 Ply Deadlift Belt

Dehydration, sorta PRs and Grinding Through Training

I woke up this morning with a huge headache and a wicked case of cottonmouth. So I downed a bunch of Gatorade and water and went on my way. Trained about 83 people today and finally got around to my own training. To sum it up, I didn't feel like doing a damn thing. I did as any other meathead would and sucked it up and just did it.

Incline Press
190x5 for 3 sets Rippetoe Style

3 Board press
worked up to 255 for 2
I would have called this a PR, but everything I'm doing for upper body is a PR. Now that the shoulder is healthy enough I'm trying to build strength, but take it real slow.

Bent-Over Rows
155x10 for 4 sets

Triceps Overhead Rope Extension
5x10

Lat Pulldown w/ towel for grip
5x8

Short Workout, Glute Tear, and Squat PR.

No time, so I had to make some time...

Squat
135x10 or so
225x5
315x5
365x5
405x6 (Rep PR)

Romanian Deadlifts
135x5
225x5
315x4 plus a glute tear


Called it quits

The Insanity of College Testing

I sit here at the computer at work as I am preparing notes for the Team Mallard meeting later in the day. I look at the bar at the bottom of the screen and notice a tab that reads "APK 4125 exam 2 review". APK 4125 is titled Physical Fitness Assessment and Exercise Prescription. When I get finished with my notes and the structure of the meeting I take a look at this exam review. I was pretty shocked...

First lets look at some of the nutrition questions:
Of all the substances consumed, which is the most problematic in terms of weight gain in the United States?
Carbs

Not three question later this comes up:
What percentage of your daily caloric intake should come from carbohydrates?
45-65% of calories

So you are telling me that while carbs are the most problematic substances in our diet, we should still get over half of our daily calories from that source? Then we come to strength training. In my personal opinion most people have no idea what actual strength training is. When I hear someone say, "I'm strength training right now", it usually elicits an automatic eye-roll reaction from me. Here is one of the questions that got my blood boiling:

What range of intensities would you prescribe for strength gains?
60-70 for novice, 70-80 for intermed, 80-100 for advanced

Why in the hell would you give lower intensitites to someone that has a horrible motor unit recruitment? A beginner will not fire anywhere as many muscle fibers as an advanced lifter. For instance, when doing Dynamic Effort in the conjugate method you would be better off giving an advanced lifter 40% load and the beginner a 10-15% increase in load. Why? You need to get that beginner using the high threshold motor units so his adaptation is better. You'll actually notice that even with that 10-15% difference the advanced and the beginner will have similar percieved exertion.

I'm gonna stop now because I can feel the smoke coming out of my ears.

Bigger Wood and Family

Spent more time splitting wood today and it still seems like I haven't put a dent in the mess. Thankfully my neighbor Dave let me borrow his wood splitter and I got twice the work done. He helped me section out to limbs into manageable pieces as I used the hydraulic splitter. I have more firewood than I'll ever need and if anyone would like some I'll help you out. Shoot me an email if you are in Gainesville and would like some. I've got plenty of wood to go around (insert dick joke here). The oak is already seasoned and judging by how dense it is it will burn really hot for a long time.

It was a good day to practice for the stones. The pieces of oak were about 2' long and about 1.5' in diameter. They were heavy as hell, so I practiced picking them up stone style, then hoisted them on my shoulder. Then I carried them over to the splitter and did what you do with a splitter. My Glutes, Traps, and Erectors are officially dead.

I had my Dad as my helper today after Dave left. My Dad had his spine fused not too long ago and he could not lift, but he ran the lever of the splitter as I picked up the huge ass sections of tree. Now, that doesn't sound like too much help, but you have no idea. Just having someone run the lever makes the job almost 2x as fast as normal, so I was extremely happy to have him there to help. Plus, I have a lot of fun with him, he is great to bullshit with.

Playing with Wood and Cramping

Well we had this big Live Oak in our front yard and since one of the 40' limbs decided to fall on it, we had a guy fell the tree. I wanted the firewood so I told the guy to leave the wood, and boy-o-boy did he ever. He basically left it where it fell. So I had to go out, get a new chainsaw blade and get this thing out of the yard. Now, this tree is probably over 100 years old so it is freaking huge. To make things worse the tree is dead, so the wood has already hardened (insert joke here).

I get the tree cut into manageable pieces with the chainsaw. Here come the fun part, taking these huge rock hard chunks of tree and splitting them...with nothing but hand tools. One of my past-times is traditional woodworking, so I have a pretty sizable axe collection. I had all the appropriate tools, 2 axes, a maul, 2 wedges of different sizes, sledgehammers, etc... I worked my ass off and only got half of what I wanted to get done. To boot, I broke the handle on my favorite axe.

I get the bright idea to drink nothing but Rockstar and dehydrate myself throughout the day. Then I get even smarter and begin drinking Jim Beam. I'm so dehydrated that when I went to use my Quadriceps to straighten out my leg they want to crap at the same time. I had to get up and straighten out my leg on the floor.

And now I'm just sitting around listening to this:

Not Feeling Tough Enough To Be Dumb and Harry Potter

I was planning on Overhead Presses today, but my body is telling me otherwise. Last night Loren wanted to go see the new Harry Potter film. Lets put it this way, I was so tired I fell asleep at the end of the previews and through the first three minutes of the movie. Well, I woke up and stayed up through the whole movie. It wasn't that bad of a movie. It is much more "adult" based, as there is more violence, people actually die, etc... The movie wrapped up at 3:00am and I got to bed around 3:30am. My alarm went off at 5:00am and I began to hate my life. I stopped and picked up 2 Rockstars, but my stomach felt like crap and I couldn't even finish one of them.

Now I am a zombie and I'm not going to train today. My Dad always told me, "If you're gonna be dumb, you've gotta be tough". Well, I'm not feeling tough enough to be dumb, so I'm gonna call it quits before I make a mistake. I'm going to head home after my last client for the day and hit up a nap. When I arise I might try to get in some fishing before it starts to get too cold.

3RM Personal Record and Speed Tugs

Did some speed tugging today to start off my training. No not that kind of "tugging", get your mind out of the gutter...sinner. For those of you who did not get that it is a Tommy Boy reference.

Speed Deadlifts against strong bands
225x3 for 8 sets, 60s rest
Lockout was tough here, but I felt really fast

Good Mornings in Squat stance for 3 Rep Max
Bar x a few
135x10 or so
225x5
285x3
315x3
365x3 (added belt)
405x3 (PR)

I felt really good during training, but as I began to cool down my Iliolumbar Ligament flared up again. Nothing some Equi-Block and Flexeril can't help. That's all I could fit in because I met with an acquaintance of mine and his girlfriend about exercise and pregnancy. We had a very productive conversation. Tomorrow is boring upper body, but I'll be starting Overhead Presses again, one of my personal favorites

Links:

Equi-Block
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=176&pid=495

Incorporating Bands into Training

I didn't make the time to post yesterday after my little mini-article. I decided to try out some heavier unstable training yesterday on the squat. I used it as sort of an Accessory Day for lower body, but I ran out of time and had to go meet a client after only 4 sets.

Free Squats with plates suspended from doubled average band
135 total/90lbs suspended x 8
185 total/140lbs suspended x 8
225 total/180lbs suspended x8
285 total/180lbs suspended x8

The thing that kills you with these is the Time Under Tension(TUT). It took a good 3-4 seconds on the descent and another 3-4 for the ascent portion of the lift. Each set had a TUT of over 60 secs to complete. I was really concentrating on keeping my arch, especially as I was breaking parallel. The thing that I really liked about this set-up was the fact that it made me slow down my initial hip break. I've been breaking my hips too fast and the last time I had a Max Effort Squat the bar rolled down my back at the beginning of the lift and it screwed up the tightness in my upper back. Needless to say I bombed it.

Today I will be doing speed deads agains doubled average bands. I feel now that I've hit over 500lbs on my raw Deadlift and Squat, I will start to incorporate bands and chains to my Dynamic Effort and Max Effort days.

My thoughts on instability training

So usually my posts involve my training, but right now I want to materialize some of my thoughts on a subject I get asked about quite a bit, instability training. Now, over the past decade or so stability balls (aka Swiss balls) and BOSU balls have become quite the "in" thing with a lot of personal trainers. Hell, you see the vast majority of the general gym population using these things on a regular basis.

Unless these implements are used in a proper manner, you are just wasting your time. First lets look at risk(likelihood of injury) vs. reward. Utilizing BOSU and Swiss balls are supposed to provide an unstable surface to help with balance, coordination, and stabilization. they can when utilized as an implement, not a surface. Aside from aiding in ankle stabilization standing on these surfaces really does no good. In no way shape or form can you safely load yourself with enough resistance to elicit either a hormonal or a Central Nervous System response.

Let us take a look at an incident that happened at the University of Florida a few years back. Now, at a Division 1 collegiate strength and conditioning department they have the best equipment and some of the best strength coaches around. They had one of their basketball players doing dumbbell chest presses with a Swiss ball as the lifting platform. Now mind you, this is top of the line properly maintained equipment. As the player is about to lockout the chest press the Swiss ball bursts. His back hits the ground and not too long after his elbows hit the ground with the dumbbells still in hand. I've heard different accounts of how much weight he was using, but it was somewhere in the 80-100lbs range. As his elbows hit, the dumbbells continued to drive down and shattered both the Radius and the Ulna in both forearms. Can you say bye, bye basketball career. If that happens with a client, you have a substantial lawsuit on your hand.

So how can we properly utilize instability training? As I said before, use an unstable implement, not an unstable surface to hit the accessory muscles. Are you going to get more out a push up with the stability ball under your hands, or a stability ball under your feet? If you can actually think about what you are attempting to do in this scenario, the answer should be to keep the ball under your hands. "But Matt, you can engage your core and provide more unstable training for your core with it under your feet!" To which I answer, "Horse Shit!" Save your "core training" for when you actually want to train your core. Focus on what the goal of the exercise is supposed to be and don't try to kill too many birds with one stone.

This is where implements like Blast Straps, bands, and the TRX come into play. Want to test the accessory muscles of the shoulders during a push up? Ditch the balls and get some Blast Straps. Not only will you get more out of the exercise, but you don't to worry about your hands slipping off and having to pick bits of teeth out of your mouth. Want more? Look to Louie Simmons, one of the best in the strength business. His Bandbell Bar is amazing. By looping bands around kettlebells (you can use plates if you don't have kettlebells) and then looping it around the bar, you have made an unstable implement with a huge decrease in the risk of injury with all the benefit of training those accessory muscles. Try it, trust me you'll be shaking like a dog shitting razor blades. Try it with your squats, but use a regular barbell and you'll get the same results.

Now, I'm not saying that we should melt all Swiss and BOSU balls into bumper plates, though that would be nice. They still have a place to help increase range of motion and help adaptation in de-conditioned people. But, for the love of God, use them with some common sense.

Links:
Blast Straps
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=916

TRX
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?m=PD&cid=114&pid=3296

Bands
http://www.flexcart.com/members/elitefts/default.asp?cid=138

Bandbell/Bamboo Bar
http://www.westside-barbell.com/specialty-bars/

Upper Training and GYM NOTES

Hit up an early workout so I can shoot some more video later. I'm sticking with the Rippetoe style progression with the main lift and using repetition method for my Accessory work.

Incline Bench
Bar x a few
95x a few
135x5
185x5x3
Actually felt good today. I'm actually getting my triceps to fully engage the way I want them to. From here the progression will be much lighter from session to session, instead of the 5 lb progression I've been making between training.

3 board press to a "heavy" triple
worked up to 245
Should have gone a heavier here, but you can only do so much training alone.

Bent over rows
3x10 @145

OH Triceps Extension Cable
150x8
170x8
180x8
Went nice and slow on the eccentric here to get some more Time Under Tension.

Finished with biceps and "light" abs work

I absolutely HATE upper body work, but I know that I need to do it. So, I'm being a big boy and sucking it up. I'm just starting back to it, so my numbers are absolutely pathetic, but they have nowhere to go but up. I'm just going to take it slow to make sure it doesn't tear to shreds.

GYM NOTES:
The Preacher Curl: Last time I checked the goal of using the preacher bench is to eliminate any movement that will help with the lift. So when your ass lifts 2"-3" off of the seat and plops back down at the top of the rep, your doing it wrong. Its even more tragic when you weigh close to 200lbs and those 25s on the side of the EZ Curl bar are too much for isolation work.

Cable Crossovers: Ah, the cable crossover. The Douchebag's exercise-in-front-of-the-mirror top choice, followed closely by the power curl in the squat rack. When did this exercise become a hunched over punching motion? Nobody cares what weight you cable crossover, so lower the weight and do it right. Who knows, your chest might actually grow some as a result.

Weekend, Trees, and Stones

This weekend went fairly well. Had some down time to fish, I should, seeing as I live on a lake. I worked in the workshop, caught up on one of the AFI top 100 movies of all time (Apocalypse Now) and made Christmas stuff with Loren.
Saturday night, as I was doing something in kitchen I heard a loud thud. I look into the living room at my wife because I was wondering just where in the hell that noise came from. We look out off of the front porch to see my wife's Jeep Commander under a 40 foot tree branch. Awesome. First a deer runs into my truck a few weeks ago and punches in the door, then this happens.
So today I spent the vast majority of my down time talking to insurance goons. I had a 30 minute window to workout and I decided to play with my new stone trainer.

Stone Trainer:
4 Plates x5
5 Plates x5
6 Plates x2
5 Plates x exhaustion (ended up being 6-8)

My work capacity sucks right now because I've been training exclusively for the Highland Games. I get at least 2 minutes rest and only exert myself for 3-5 seconds, with the exception of the Caber. So I'm gonna try to work on that a lot more with complexes and exhaustion sets at the end of the workout.

Power Press and Stone Trainer

So, I've been contemplating entering Strongman competitions at the beginning of next year. I really need to work on my pressing so I'm gonna suck it up and do it. I hate upper body work, but I gotta start somewhere.

Power Press (behind the neck)
Bar x a few
95x5
135x5
185x3
225x3
275x1
285x0 missed twice

275 flew up fast, but 285 would not budge. My form probably just sucks.

4 board press (Close Grip)
Bar x some
135x5
185x5
225x5
235x5
Felt good today. Tris are definitely feeling it. I'm glad I found board presses because I actually feel like my tris are working, not just getting burn out.

Barbell Bent-Over Rows
Bar x a few
135x10
145x10
145x10

Lat Pulldown(towels for grip)
100x a few
170x8
180x8
190x8

Stone Trainer(42" Box)
190x5
225x5
280x1

Not too bad for my first time. It felt good and I used a belt for the last attempt. I can't wait to start smashing some weights with this thing.

GYM NOTES:
For the love of all that is holy, stop wearing BodyBuilding.com t-shirts if you cannot produce proof of one of the following:
1) You weigh over 200lbs. If you are 6'2" and weigh 175lbs, there is something wrong with a BBer shirt.
2) Your bodyfat % is in the single digits.
3) You have competed in a bodybuilding show in the past. If you have had enough sack to compete, you deserve to wear whatever the hell you want.

I have absolutely no problem with bodybuilders. It takes life-long dedication and a ton of hard work to get contest ready. I feel it is absurd for these clowns to prance around like they are BBers. Its like the same 175lbs guy wearing a World's Strongest Man T-shirt...It is just not right.

Off Day and Things That Piss Me Off

I took the day off to do some filming for some exercise demonstration stuff we are trying to put together for the new trainers. I've gone over the Squat, Deadlift, Turkish Get-Up and many of their variations. Yesterday I was filming on how to utilize chains in training. Most CPTs here at the gym just drape a chain over the barbell and call it a day, without worrying about lockout height and ROM. So I was showing how to double and quadruple the chains and use a smaller gauge chain to adjust for the height.
I get through the Squat and Deadlift and move on to the Bench Press. As I'm in the middle of placing the chain on the collar some asshat walks in front of the camera and proceeds to stand there and watch. He says to me, "I want to watch what you are doing". That is all fine and dandy, but you just wasted film time. So, I had to throw on my professional face and say, "I'm sorry sir, but we are trying to film here."
Its just like the idiots that walk in front of cameras as someone is trying to take a family photo. Take others into consideration from time to time. I don't know about you, but I try to keep pretty aware of my surroundings as I'm walking around. It was pretty obvious that we were filming. There were probably 10 people in the room at the time and one of those people was standing behind a tripod. Call me bat-shit crazy, but I would assume someone is trying to shoot a video in this situation.

Later I'll post training for today. Going to work up to a 1RM on Power Press to see how my upper body is progressing.

PR Day

I know that you are not supposed to work two ME days into a week, but I went ahead and did some Trap Bar Deadlifts for Max Effort. I was full of piss and vinegar today and just said "F" it and went for it. Damn it felt GOOD!!!!

Trap Bar Deadlift
135x10 or so
225x5
315x5
405x3
455x3
495x3 last one with a 10s hold at the top for the hell of it
545x1 with 10s hold at top
565x1 with 5s hold at top
585x1 (20 lb PR!!!)
It was an ugly lift, but a pull to lockout is a pull to lockout. I think I strained a mucle in my calf though. I can't pinpoint which one just yet, but I'll stretch out the Gastrocnemius and the Soleus later tonight when work is done.

Deep Good Mornings (Squat stance)
Bar x a few
135x10
225x8
275x8
315x8
I felt like working up to an 8RM for the hell of it

Natural Glute-Ham Raises
2 sets 20

Hyperextensions
BW x 15
55x8
60x8
60x8

DB Windmills
35x5 each side
45x5 each side
55x5 each side
My Obliques are pretty much locked in place, so I used these to loosen up.

Now that I've been using a belt I've been hitting PRs left and right. My form feels better when I use it and I feel like there is a "groove" to my lifting.

GYM NOTES:
When did the Leg Press machine become a triceps extension tool? Just because you move the sled 6 inches and use your arms doesn;t mean you are gaining anything, except a flase sense of strength

Back to the leg press machine...If you can max out the sleeves on a Leg Press do you think you are really getting any stronger? I fell into that trap when I was younger, pressing 1250 for 12 reps thinking I was king of the gym. In reality I was weak as hell because my core was so weak I couldn't Squat 225 cleanly.

Calves: You have this wonderful elastic component in your lower leg called your Achilles Tendon. Now, when you load up 5 plates on the calf press machine and "bounce" out 12 reps are you working your Gastrocnemius like you're trying to? NO YOU JACKWAGON! A peice of advice from someone with 19" calves. Put a two second pause at peak contraction and a two second pause at the stretch and watch those calves blow up. Sure, you can't add as much weight, but if your goal is to grow, ditch the ego ans welcome the gains.

3x5 Upper

Had to sneak in training in 45 minutes today, but made it pretty productive.

Incline Bench:
Bar x 15 or so
95x5 with speed
135x5 with speed
175x5 pause and go for 3 sets
Felt good but my shoulder is already tweaking, so I'm going to only bump up 5lbs each week from here on out to ensure I stay healthy

Close Grip 3 board bench press:
Bar x a few
135x5
185x5
205x5
225x5 for three sets

Felt really good, but I could not go as heavy as I wanted because I had no spotter. I tied the board to my chest using Therabands. I got the idea courtesy of Clint Darden.

I had to end it there, but I at least got my Main Lift and Supplementary Lift in. I'll finish some of the Accessory stuff at home tonight.

GYM NOTES:

1. If you are spotting someone on the bench press don't Biceps Curl it up and tell your boyfriend that, "Its all you, Bro". Let go of the bar and let the guy actually lift it...He may actually get stronger as a result (GASP!)

2. Don't ask me what Bench Press Boards are for when I'm in the middle of the lift. I don't ask you what your half squat/goodmorning is for. I'll just wait for the L4 vertabrae to shoot out and draw my own conclusions.

Trying to be better.

Alright, so my updating skills blow dogs for quarters, but I'm gonna try to keep this thing going. Since last posting I've started adding gear to my lifting. No, that doesn't mean the prick in the leg type gear, but protective gear. I added a Spud Inc. Belt and a pair of Inzer knee wraps into my training. So far I've managed a 500lb squat and a 505 deadlift. As far as other training goes my right shoulder is so jacked up that I've switched over to a Rippetoe style of training to SLOWLY build the strength there. Started at 135 and I'll be moving up 2-5lbs each week. Bench feels better, but I've limited myself to dead stop benches 3 inches above my chest to help protect the shoulder

Today's Training:

Sumo Dead:
135x10
225x5
315x3
365x3
405x3
465x3 added belt
495x1

Wanted to go for a PR here, but my right glute is jacked right now

Good Mornings
Bar x 15 or so
135x5
225x5
315x5(added belt)
315x5
315x5

Seated Box Jumps From Distance
24" box/16"seat
48"x10
60"x10
72"x10
72"x10

Finished w/ Blast Straps Fallouts and Straight Leg Overhead Situps w/ 70lbs