Scratch the Walls Just to Survive

SUNDAY - MILITARY PRESS DAY

Deload Week

MP

45x5

70x5x2

75x5x2

95x5x2

Chins (NG)

50 (12 sets)

Pushups (NG)

100 (6 sets)

MONDAY - DEADLIFT DAY

Still deloading

Deadlift

135x5x2

155x5x2

185x5x2

Good Morning

75x10x3

Lunges

BW x 10 each side x 3

Cossack Squats

BW x 3 each side x 12 - one set done immediately after each of the above

Planks

2 x 1:30

Side Planks

2 each side x 0:45

Just Bought A Cadillac

THROW SOME D'S ON THAT BITCH

SQUAT DAY

I was off work earlier and wanted to lift earlier in the day, so we went to the air conditioned XU gym, cause it was 90 degrees out.

Squat

115x5

145x5

175x3

220x5

250x3

280x1+ (got 6)

Front Squat

155x10

155x10

155x10

Leg Press

360x10

360x6 decided this was too light, quickly added two plates and did 450x6

450x6, 360x8, 270x10, 180x12 - I had Sean strip the plates off, and I never locked my knees or the weight carriage.

Standing Leg Curl

75x8

75x8

75x7

65x8

65x9

People always talk shit on leg curls, but we don't have a good way to train our hamstrings this way when we're in my garage, so I figure that once in a while can't hurt, until we (read: I) can afford to buy a GHR.

Clocked In

BENCH DAY

Bench

75x5

95x5

115x5

140x5

160x3

180x1+ (got 6)

Incline DB Bench

60x10

60x10

60x10

60x10

60x9

Back Giant Set

a) Wide Grip Lat Pulldowns

125x5

100x10

100x10

b) DB Rows

80x10

80x10

80x6

c) Rear Delt Flyes

22x12

22x12

22x12

Finished with a final set of DB Rows - 60x20

Did some BB curls, so I look good for the 15 year olds at the water park this weekend

75x8

75x8

55x10 - with fat gripz

DFTS

DONT FORGET THE STRUGGLE

BENCH DAY

Kevin, Riddle, and myself.

Warm Up:

Static stretching and dynamic stretching with bands

Band Pull Aparts: I, T, Y.

Glute Ham Raise:

3 sets of 8 (bodyweight)

I'm going to do three sets before every workout in order to boost my weak hams.

Bench Press:

Bar x 10

95 x 10

135 x 10

155 x 5

185 x 5

205 x 5

225 x 1

185 x 5

3 Board Close Grip Bench:

I had a crap raw bench set today, and I know its because this new workout scheme has been more tailored to a fighters game. Understandably, bench isn't as integral. Still, I'd like to make sure I hit my triceps as hard as I can.

The 3 Board, especially with the Close Grip, puts all of the work on the triceps. It was a little difficult to get used to, as the movement is best described as moving the bar away from your head, as it often feels on a standard press that your may move it towards your head. Emphasis here was on the tuck of the arms, touching but not slamming onto the board, and pressing the bar up while flexing the triceps at the top. Very rough.

185 x 5

135 x 8

135 x 8

135 x 8

Apologies for the poor picture. Its a 3 man operation, and we only had 3 men.

Overhead Log Press:

Log x 10

Log x 10

Log x 8

Pullups:

10 (Warm Up)

20

10 (I'm toasted at this point)

5

Chest Supported Row:

2 plates x 8

2 plates x 8

2 plates x 8

Armbar:

3 sets of 30 second holds for the right arm, just a couple of seconds rest between each set.

Then moved on and did the same on the left arm. Used a 24kg KB.

Abs: 2 sets, straight through.

Cable Crunches: 90 x 10

Ab Wheel: 15

Oblique Raises: 24kg KB x 10

Hard workout. Big time swoll.

Modern Man

SQUAT DAY

Sunday. Ben had to work, James was out, and Riddle was doing Fathers Day crap. So it was just myself and Kevin.

Which was hilarious. On one end of Lexen was Chuck Vogelpohl and his crew, Matt Wenning and a couple guys, and JL Holdsworth. And on the other end were Kevin and I. We dropped the mean PL total of that room by a couple hundred pounds. It was hilarious.

Warm Up:

Static stretching

Dynamic stretching with bands

Cambered Bar Box Squat:

Bar x 8

Bar x 8

95 x 8

135 x 8

185 x 8

185 x 8

185 x 8

225 x 6

275 x 1

135 x 15 (for reps)

I was looking to get some more volume work in on my squat. Some time to work on my form, some time to really pause on the box, and to avoid going to heavy without a spotter (Kevin was running the monolift and I'm hesitant to ask 1000lb squatters for a spot on 3 plates).

Deadlift (Conventional):

135 x 8

215 x 8

315 x 8

405 x 1

At this point JL Holdsworth stopped and watched my 405 set. Afterwards he commented on the lift, saying that I looked "strong" but that I set up incorrectly. He said that I placed myself too close to the bar, with my shins about an inch from the bar, which pushed my shoulders too far in front of the bar. This basically forced me to use my back much more in the lift than necessary, and turned my lift into a de facto Straight Leg Deadlift. One of Matt Wennings workout partners told me the same thing later on in the day.

JL said that I should set up with the bar crossing at my mid foot, basically so that the end of my pinkie toe is even with the bar. I believe Mark Rippetoe preaches the same thing. JL was able to spot the end of his little toe so easily because he was wearing those goofy five finger shoes, which thoroughly skewed my worldview and marks the first time anyone with any muscle mass has ever worn them. I hadn't planned on doing another set, but the advice basically forced me to.

405 x 1

This set went a little poorly. I set up properly, but I lurched forward midway through the lift. JL said it was because I was trying to adjust the weight to get it where I'm most comfortable, basically trying to revert to old habits midway through the lift. It's going to take some time, I guess.

Wenning told me that I was lurching forward due to a muscle imbalance. Basically I came forward because I'm stronger in my quads and I was trying to recruit those muscles to get the weight up. If I had come back with the weight I would have been doing the same thing with the hamstrings. So, he told me, I've got weak hams. He said to focus on that in my accessory work, doing Glute Ham Raises, SLDLs, and sled drags. So guess what?

Glute Ham Raise:

3 sets of 8 (bodyweight, because of the weak hams!)

Sled Drags:

3 plates, up and down the parking lot 4 times.

Kevin pulling the sled. And a bike that Sean will deride online, but wouldn't in front of its owner.

Abs: 3 sets, no rest.

Cable Crunches: 90 x 10

Ab Wheel: 15

The Only Antidote

To Mental Suffering is Physical Pain

WED - BENCH DAY

Bench

75x5

95x5

115x3

135x3

150x3

170x3+ (got 8)

Incline DB Bench superset w/WG Cable Rows

60x10, 125x10

60x10, 125x10

60x10, 125x10

60x9, 125x10

60x8, 125x10

T-Bar Rows

130x10x4

130x5x2 - with Fat Grips

100x2x1 - one arm...tough

------

THURS - SQUAT DAY

Squat

115x5

145x5

175x3

205x3

235x3

265x3+ (got 3)

185x10

185x8

185x10

185x8

185x10

I did not feel great today. I spent my squat sets really focusing on form, trying to arch hard at the bottom and stay more upright. On my 3+ set, I felt like I started falling forward in the hole on my 3rd rep, and my speed was slowing way down, so I made the decision to stop at 3 rather than grind out the 2 more I think I could have gotten.

Since I was trying to work on form, I did 5 more sets of squats to keep drilling it home. I cut two of those short at 8 because I felt like my form failed. We finished with

Sandbag Loading - 80 lbs,, AMRAP in 1:00

13

13

13

13.5

16

Called it a day.

The quote at the beginning is supposedly Marx, though I can't figure out where it's originally from. It seems to exist only on websites that compile quotes. I don't care. I like it.

Live With the Vice

STAY COLD

BENCH DAY

Ben was at work, so it was Kevin, Riddle, and myself.

Warm Up:

Static Stretching of the shoulders, lats, and chest.

Band Pull Aparts: I, T, Y.

Bamboo Bar Bench:

Bar + a 16kg Kettle Bell on each side x 10

+16kg x 10

+16kg & 10lb plate x 8

+24kg x 8

+24kg & 10lb x 8

+24kg & 12kg x 4

+24kg (for reps) x 15

This was the first time where I've really worked the Bamboo Bar in as a serious Main Lift. Usually the Bamboo Bar, which seems to be the favorite pressing movement for Ben and Riddle, is worked in as a bit of a warmup, or a supplemental lift. Today we really hit it, and we went about as heavy as we could. Although there is not the pressure present in a standard bench press, the bar, because it forces you to use so many muscles for stability, gave me a serious pump in my chest and triceps. It's pretty strange to press a relatively light weight and struggle with it, let alone to get a pump out of it.

Joe Riddle on the Bamboo Bar

Foam Block DB Bench (w/ Shoulder Extension):

I believe I've described this before, but I'll do it again. This, like the Bamboo Bar, is a pressing movement that will incorporate a lot of the smaller muscles in your shoulder. The movement is fairly simple, perform a DB Press while laying on a foam block, and extend your arm at the top of the press so that your shoulder blade comes off of the block. Basically, you're mimicking a punching motion. The key here is to "REACH!"

60 x 10 each side

75 x 10

75 x 10

DB Row:

75 x 10 each arm

100 x 10

120 x 8

Lat Pulldown:

1 plate on each side x 10

1 plate and 1 quarter x 8

1 plate and 1 quarter x 6 (Getting burnt out at this point)

Bottoms Up KB Press:

Kettle Bell shoulder press done with the bell end (lol) on top. An upside down kettle bell press. The object here is to keep the bell upright by gripping the shit out of the handle.

16kg x 8

16kg x 8

16kg x 8

Abs: 3 times through.

Cable Crunch: 90 x 10

Wheel: 10

Oblique Raise: 24kg KB x 10 each side.

All That I Have For You

IS HATE

Deadlift Day

DL

135x5

160x5

190x3

225x3

255x3

287.5 x 3+ (got 9) - Sean forgot to put a 2.5 on his side of the bar, so that's how I ended up with this weird weight

GM

140x10x5

Same weight I used last week, and I'll probably use it again next week. My goal is to do these 50 reps as strictly as possible and maintain as much of an arch as possible throughout the whole movement. Since I did not accomplish that, I'll be sticking with this weight for now.

Rollouts

10

12

12

12

High Wood Chops

Red Band x 10

2 Red Bands x 12

Suitcase Deadlifts

155x6 (each side)

155x6

155x6

These were done in some semblance of a circuit, but with some rest in between exercises. So, not a circuit, but not straight sets either.

I don't know about the rest of America, but it is about 99% humidity and fucking hot as balls here in Cincinnati. I think that is pretty clear from these pictures.

What I Have In My Heart

I'LL TAKE TO MY GRAVE

SQUAT DAY

Riddle and James were out, so it was Cook Brothers Crew in full effect at Lexen. The walls shook.

Warm Up:

Static stretching

Dynamic stretching with bands

Safety Squat Bar Box Squat:

Bar x 10

Bar x 10

95 x 10

135 x 8

185 x 8

At this point Matt Wenning stopped us and told us politely that we weren't doing the box squat correctly. We were squatting to the best of our abilities, but we weren't using the box in the correct way. Our typical box squat involved us coming to a stop on the box and then coming back up, spending a half a beat on the box. Matt told us that by doing this we were basically free squatting, using the stretch reflex in our muscles to help bring the weight back up. He told us that by stopping on the box for as short a time as we were doing our squat was approximately 70% stretch reflex and 30% pure strength. He instructed us to come to a complete stop on the box. While paused we were to maintain pressure outward, meaning to keep our knees out and tight, and to relax our vertical pressure. I'm not sure what he meant by that, but I just did as I was told, and kept my legs tight, and relaxed my glutes upon pausing on the box. He said that by pausing like this we basically flip the previously mentioned ratio over, making the box squat 30% stretch reflex and 70% pure gorilla strength, which is what we're after. So then we went back at it, doing it in the pausing fashion:

185 x 8

185 x 8

225 x 6

It made a hell of a difference. All of a sudden there was a rough sticking point about 8-10 inches off the box, which Matt instructed us to explode through. By taking away our ability to push off primarily with our quads, and use that stretch reflex, our glutes, hams, and hips are forced to pick up the slack. One more reason why I couldn't be happier to be lifting at a place like Lexen. Where else can I get a 1,100+lb squatter to volunteer himself to help my skinny ass fix a box squat?

Pin Pulls:

We did these from the 3rd hole on the rack, which set the bar just below the knee.

135 x 8

225 x 8

315 x 8

405 x 1

495 x F x 2 (I got overly ambitious and made an ass of myself. Should have gone up by a quarter instead of another plate.)

Kevin with two plates!

Neck hyperextention!

Pin Pull Face.

Full disclosure, I didn't get this.

Circuit: 3 times through, no rest

Cable Crunches: 90 x 10

Swiss Ball Crunches: 50

Neck Harness: 25 x 30

Gripper: 2 plates x 40

Gettin' yoked.

Fuck The Law

We don't give a fuck

MILITARY PRESS DAY

MP

60x5

75x5

90x3

105x3

120x3

135x3+ (got 5)

Chins

I try to get 50 in as few sets as possible. Last week I did 4 sets of 13, this week 5 sets of 5 and 7 sets of 4. Progress.

Dips

10

10

10

10

12

Kroc Rows

60x25

60x25

1-Arm Elevated Push Ups

Bar set at 10 holes up x 5

Bar set at 8 holes up x 4

I was mostly doing this stuff while Sean worked up to a chinup 1rm.

Here he is with 120. I think he got 140.

In other news, it's farmers' market season, and I could give a fuck how many Sean calls me a fag for it, I'm psyched. I got tons of rad fresh vegetables, meat and eggs today. Sean can keep his Wendy's. This is also backed hard.

Engaged In War, Object to Reign Supreme

SQUAT DAY

Squat

115x5

145x5

175x3

190x6

220x5

250x5+ (got 8)

My squat still feels bad, so I made Sean take this video.

I don't feel tight throughout the movement, and I think that's evident from how I look when I unrack the bar. Idk. Somebody tell me one thing I could do better next time I squat.

Front Squat

155x10

155x8

145x10

145x10

145x10

I don't know if Sean had read Drew's last blog post or what, but he suggested we end the day with some sandbag loading:

80 lbs x10

10

10

10

18 - last set was AMRAP in 1:30

Fate's Got A Hold of Me

FUCK THAT

ATHLETIC DAY

Ben had to work, Riddle is on vacation, and James is resting a bum shoulder for an upcoming fight, so it was just me and Kevin.

Warm Ups:

Static Stretching (Every day I hate Pavel more and more.)

Band Pull Aparts: I,T, Y.

Kettle Bell Work: Each movement for 3 sets.

Figure 8s: 24 kg x 8 each hand

Alternating 1 Hand Swings: 24kg x 8 each hand

Swing Snatches: 16kg x 8

Tire Work: Sledge and then immediately into flips. 3 Sets

Sledge Hits: 10 from each side

Tire Flips: 10

Pale and skinny

Sandbag Work:

This is something Chuck Vogelpohl showed to Ben and James last Sunday. We take two foam blocks and place 4 sandbags around the perimeter, alternating between 40 and 80lbs.

We then picked up a sandbag and placed it on top of the blocks, shuffled over to the next and did the same, until all 4 were up on top. Then we would do the reverse, placing each sandbag back on the floor. That is one rep. All up, then all down. 5 reps for 1 set. We did it twice and got the hell outta Dodge.

The point is to do it as fast as possible. Its awful. I sometimes lament the lack of deadlifts in this new fighting based lifting routine I'm in, but things like this and tire flips pick up the slack. I felt it in my hams when I lifted each bag from the floor, and again in my abs as I brought them up on top of the blocks. Definitely a workout worth doing if you have the means to.

Lose the Life, Fruit

BENCH DAY MOTHERFUCKERS

2nd cycle of 5/3/1. We military pressed and deadlifted, but you'll not get the details.

Bench

75x5

95x5

115x3

125x5

145x5

160x5+ (got 10)

Incline DB Bench

60x10

60x10

60x10

60x8

60x7

60x5

Wide Grip Cable Rows - superset these with the db bench beginning with my 2nd set of bench

100x10

100x10

125x10

125x10

125x10

T-Bar Rows

I only counted the plates we added. With leverages, etc, no clue how much bar weight we are lifting.

100x10

120x10

140x8

130x10

130x10

couldn't let Drew get a monopoly of gay pictures

I closed out with a set of 6 chin ups, so that we could take a picture of it:

You may have noticed that today was pretty heavy on the back work. This was for two reasons:

1) I feel like our two upper body days lately have more pushes than pulls, so I wanted to throw a lot more pulling in today.

2) I had planned on ending the day with some farmer's walks, until I managed to give myself a bout of acute tendonitis in my achilles tendon by running hills on Friday and Sunday and playing 2 hours of basketball on Tuesday, all without warming up. I decided to give the old achilles tendon a little rest today, and get some extra work in elsewhere.

______

I recently bought some more protein powder the other day from trueprotein.com.

32 lbs to be exact. Gotta get that bulk discount. Hidden in there is also 2 lbs of waxy maize, which I had not used prior to receiving this package. Having tried it, I will probably just stick to dextrose for PWO carbs in the future because it doesn't taste like ass, it's cheaper, and based on what I've read, the difference in absorption is most likely not significant. Or it might be significant, but I can't summon the interest to do more than skim a few abstracts. If waxy maize vs dextrose is what makes or breaks me, I'm probably doing something wrong.

Gun Go Bang

BENCH DAY

You may have noticed a Squat Day is missing in this mix. There was a miscommunication between Ben and I and I missed squat day, and I ran hills instead. Sucks, but oh well. Onward!

Warm Up:

Static stretching

Band Pull Aparts: I, T, Y

Bamboo Bar Bench:

+16kg KBs x 10

+16kg KBs & 10lb plate x 10

+16kg & 12kg KBs x 4

Bench Press:

Riddle is away on vacation so we are on our own to make up our workouts for a while. I wanted very much to press on a flat bench, and Ben wanted to do the bamboo bar. So we did both. Ben also wanted to use the shipyard chains for the bench. The thinner chains weigh 40, these...I don't know, certainly above 80. They're enormous.

As you can see, we've looped it on the bench so that it is hanging completely from the bar. Even at the bar's lowest point the chains remain suspended. This has a similar effect to the bamboo bar. The chains will destabilize the bar by swinging back and forth and will recruit more muscle to stabilize the bar. James almost learned this the hard way, almost bringing the bar right into his teeth.

Bar +2 Looped Chains x 8

65 +2 Looped Chains x 6

Bar +2 Looped Chains + 2 Suspended chains x 2

(We added two more chains, though these were suspended so that they would hit the floor, increasing the weight of the bar as it is pushed up.)

Bar + 2 Looped Chains (for reps) x 12

DB Rows:

(I did dumbell rows for the first time in a long time while my brothers did Rope Pulls.)

55 x 10

75 x 10

105 x 10

120 x 10

105, feeling light

Ben working grip and some back on Rope Pulls

Bottoms Up KB Shoulder Press:

Basically this is a Standing Shoulder Press with a Kettle Bell, only flipped upside down. The bell sits above your hand, forcing you to grip hard and press with focus. More grip and stabilizing work!

12kg x 10

12kg x 10

12kg x 10

Bell end

Ab Work:

Cable Crunches: 90 x 10

Ab Wheel: 10

3 times through, no rest.

Weapons of Mass Construction

DID YOU GET THAT LAST PUN? HOLY SHIT THAT WAS GREAT!

Interior Crocodile Alligator

ATHLETIC DAY

Yesterday Ben had to work odd hours, so we had to bump back our training. In doing so, the Cook Brothers Crew had their own training session, without Riddle and James.

Warm Up:

I've been practicing Pavel Tsatsouline's Relax Into Stretch for a couple of days now, and I did this prior to driving to Lexen. It's absolutely brutal and I'm convinced that I'll be able to hit a full splits by the end of summer. Easily.

Kettle Bell Work:

Figure 8s: 24kg x 8 each, 3 sets.

Alternating 1 Handed Swings: 24kg x 8 each, 3 sets.

Swing Snatches: 16kg x 8, 3 sets.

Ben doing Figure 8s

Tire Work:

Flips: 10 flips per set, 3 sets.

Sledge Hits: 10 swings per side, 3 sets.

Crooked back!

Kevin with the farmers tan.

Seated Box Jumps:

Sit on a box, which is about at parallel, then jump onto a high box. We used a foam block, a wooden squat box with a gripped top, and a handful of pads to gradually increase the height. We didn't have a tape measure, so these measures are by the number of pads we added to the pile.

Block + Box: 10

+2 pads: 5

+4 pads: 5

+5 pads: 1

+6 pads: 1

+7 pads: 1

+8 pads: 1

+9 pads: Fail. Which bummed me out. I had done this a few weeks ago.

Dark shot. Looked fine on the camera. Whatever.

Ben hitting his spot.

Ab Circuit:

Cable Crunches: 90 x 15

Ab Wheel: 15

3 times through, no rest between exercises or sets.

This next picture has nothing to do with anything other than making Clayton Morris jealous. This is the vending machine at Lexen:

If your eye is good you can see we've got Gatorade, Muscle Milk, Amp, Monster, Blast!, Spike Shooters, a bunch of random protein drinks and some crazy stimulant drinks. My favorite pre-workout drink is Ximo, which is an ephedra drink that has 8 servings per bottle. It'll get your heart thumping, your body shaking, and your mind ready to smash fucking weights.

However, among all the expected workout related drinks, right in the middle of the shot are Arnold Palmers. Fuck. Yes.

One last picture, from our last workout. Just because I look huge:

THICK BACK

Hill Sprints:

Today I ran hills at the aforementioned spot on 5th and Grant.

I did two at a time for 10 sets, which makes 20 total runs. I was spacing them out farther and farther apart as they went along, and sprinting fell by the wayside and made room for "just making it up this damn hill as fast as my dead legs can drag me."

A guy in a truck, who I'm assuming is the owner or manager of the construction crew whose territory I'm invading, pulled up as I finished my workout. He told me to be careful, because if I get hurt, he'd get sued. I told him I was, and that I was staying away from the loose shale on the two steep sides. He asked if I was "training for the Marine Corps." I said, "No, just training." He said he admired me, but that I should be careful. Dig.