Monday
Press

OHP
135x8
185x4
225x3
275x2x2
295x2
310x1(PR)

Close Grip Bench
225x10
245x8
245x6

Pullups
BW+30x5x6

Abs
Weighted leg raises
35x10x2

Grip
Armory
Flex/Ext

Shoulders
Front/Side Raise
30x10x3

Not a bad day today, I didn't expect much, I had a few late nights this weekend and didn't feel in top form, so I decided to do high intensity low volume for my main movement, the overhead press. I felt strong, but decided not to push too hard. 310 went up well, I struggled with the lockout though...more tricep work. My back started hurting again last night, so tomorrow will be a bit low key. I am thinking band through belt deads up to 315. I am very close to closing the #3, I'm hoping to close it within two weeks. Things are going well.

1/16th of an inch!

Friday
lower

Squat
135x10
225x10
315x20
405x8
405x5

GHR
25x10
BWx10x2

Oblique Raises
GHR
45x10
BWx10x2

Neck
50x25x2

Dynamic Crunches
x15x2

Grippers
#1x5
#2x15


Good sad day...still really down about Jesse, he was somebody who I really looked up to and I will miss him. I'm sad I never got to meet him, but my training partners and I really followed him and he was the kind of strongman I want to shape myself to be. Rest in peace Jesse, may god give your strength to Callie and the kids.

Thursday
Press

Log
150x10
200x12 with one set down

OHP
135x10
Monster Mini's
135x5
185x3
225x3
185x3x2

Close Grip Bench
225x10
245x7
245x8

Bent Rows
135x10
225x10x3

Face Pulls
Some weight x15x3

Abs
Weighted Leg raises
30x10x3

Neck
50x25
60x20

Grip
Wrist Curls
Armory
Grippers


Good day today, log started out pretty crappy. I had no motivation. Then I ate some chow and headed to the gym with more determination and had a really good day. I was very happy with the bent rows. I don't know how, but they really shot up. I think it's probably all the upper back work on the log, but I haven't really done rows for a while and I could barely get 6 with 225 for my final set last time I really did them...and now 225 for 3 sets of ten. I'm very pleased with that. The back is still hurts a bit, so tomorrow won't be too bad, I'm thinking of high rep squats or deads again...that seemed to help.

Time for twinkies!

Friday 7-20
Lower

Lunges
135x10
225x8
245x5
275x5
315x3

I don't know what else I did, but that pretty much fubar-ed the next 5 days. The gym I trained at has one power rack and 2 smith machines. The power rack doesn't have any way to rack a bar outsided the rack, and there isn't enough room to lunge inside the rack, so I pressed 225 and let it down on my back, then had some guys put more weight on. It's been a long time since I've had that can't sit/stand/crap/move soreness. Took massage saturday night, felt better for a while. Poor massagist...can't say that's an area I would like to massage.

Monday
Press

OHP
straight bar
135x10
185x5
225x6x2
225x9 (PR)

Shoulder Raises
front/side
35x10x3

Pullups
BWx10x3

Abs
Cable crunches with stability ball
some weight x some reps

Neck
50x25x2

Grip
Armory
flexion/extension

First time in a while that I pressed a regular bar, I have been doing lots of log stuff. It definately feels like I'm progressing and I think I can attribute that to the log stuff. It's a different animal thats for sure. Good day today.


Tuesday
Lower

Deadlift
135x10
225+BTB Monster mini's x 10
315+BTB MM's x10
405+BTB MM's x4
315x20

Windmills
75x10
110x1

Oblique Pulls
110x15x2

Weird day, I really wanted to get some blood into my back and see if I can't get this pain to go away, today felt like a good day to do some 20 rep squats, so I tried to get up to 225 but it wasn't happening. I don't really know why deadlift doesn't hurt but squatting kills! I guess pulling did hurt once I was up to 405, but other than that...no pain. After the 20 reps I really couldn't think of anything I wanted to do, kind of a slack day, but oh well...my back needs to recover.

Thursday
Press

Log
150x5
200x6x4

Bent Over Row
Thick bar
200x8x3

Hanging Leg raises
BWx15x2

Blast Straps
Pushups
BWx15x3
Scarecrows
BWx10x3
Tricep Ext
BWx10x3
Bicep Curls (whey)
BWx10x2 Front/Reverse
Ext Rotation
Bwx15x2

Felt like crapyola for the first half before the blast straps. Definately a lack of sleep and food, I ate supper, then felt much better and did blast straps which went way better. My elbow feels lots better, but my back is acting up again so I'm going to have to take it easy on that for about a week. Start back on lunges again I guess. I hate lunges, but they work for me really great. When my back was hurting a ton I did lunges and didn't squat or deadlift and when I started pulling again, I lost nothing....in fact, I gained pounds on my deadlift! So lunges will always have a spot in my training. That doesn't make me like them anymore though. When I do them, I'm always sore for at least a week. It's the kind of sore that makes it so you can hardly sit down to take a crap. Oh well, what's a little more pain right?

"Pain don't hurt"
-James Dalton

Tuesday
Lower

Deadlift
225x5
band through belt
315x8
405x3
No bands
405x5x3

GHR
BWx10
1 Monster Minix10
2 MMx6

Oblique Raises
on GHR
BWx10
2 MMx10x2

Weighted Situps
45 behind headx10x2
90 on chest x20

Shrugs
405x20
500x15

Neck
50x30x2

Grip
Holds
Grippers

Good day today, deadlift felt solid and I'm pleased with the progress. My elbow still hurts a bit, so tomorrow I'll try to rehab and then take it easy on thursday.

Monday
Press

Log
150x5
200x5
220x3
240x3

OHP
135x10
185x6 (tied PR)

Close Grip Bench
135x5
225x8x2

Pullups
BWx6x4

Weighted Leg Raises
30x10x3

Dynamic Crunches
x10x2

Neck
50x25x2

Gettin' back into the swing of things might take at least a week, felt a bit crappy today but still went ok. My elbow hurts pretty good, so I had to cut some stuff short. It'll be better in no time. I just want to say thank you to my friends and family for supporting me and putting up with my training and understanding all that it takes. You guys rock!

I can't think of anything to put here

NSM Update

Things got a bit hectic there for a while, but it should cool down now. Contest was on Saturday the 14th, but before I go into that, here's what I did the week prior.

Sunday
Cameltoe came out to train events and we set it up contest style.

Log
Warmup
Attempt 1: 230x1
Attempt 2: 250x1
Attempt 3: 270x1 (PR)

Tire
Warmup
60' For time: 23.7 seconds

Farmers
Warmup
Max Distance: 210' (PR)

Then we went and tried to eat an entire buffet...but we only made a dent

I took monday off, then Tuesday and Wednesday I worked with the kettlebell for an hour, thursday I did a small bit of log press to get the muscles to remember how to do it and then left on friday for Lincoln.

So here's the rundown on NSM 2007
I got to Cameltoe's on Friday at around 6, we went and weighed and I was 250 on the dot. So we decided that I could eat as much as I wanted because it was doubtfull that I would gain 15 lbs in one night. So we stopped off at a store and got oatmeal and twinkies. We then grilled up about 70 pieces of various meats and chowed down on steak, chicken alfredo, bacon, twinkies, gatorade, and potatoes. I crashed at around 10:30 but didn't sleep well. I woke up at 6:23 to Pantera's "Drag the Waters" and tried to choke down some oatmeal, toast, and gatorade, but nerves made it difficult. We left for Omaha a bit late but Cameltoe's speedy driving (incidentally, he is a driver's test administrator) got us there in no time, couple the 80mph average speed with pantera, wintersun, and arch enemy and I was more than jacked when we arrived. I weighed in at 250.2 which was good for me and then I walked around and tried to get my posterior chain to loosen up. Contest started and I warmed up on the log, I felt I could have warmed up more, but there was lots of people in line on the logs so I did what I could. I ended warmups with about 200 lbs. I called my opener at 230 which was an easy weight for me to hit. We did rules meeting and then it was time to get down to business. I got up to my log and was so nervous that my entire body felt like Jello. I was really wobbly but just managed to get it locked out, I guess it looked pretty crappy but it went up. I called 250 for attempt number two just as I planned before hand. 250 went up a little better as some of the nerves were gone but still a bit wobbly in the leg region. This is where I had a decision to make. Do I go for a new PR or stick with the plan and shoot for 270 again. I decided that since it was my first contest, I really just wanted to go 3 for 3 on the log and get that confidence and experience. So I called for 270 and really nailed it. I had a bit of a problem on lockout, but I think that my legs were still a bit rubbery from the nerves. I guess that 270 put me in second on the log but I wasn't really paying attention. I had decided from the beginning to just do everything as well as I possibly could and not pay attention to the competition portion and just have it be a contest against myself.
Next up was the tire. It was a 600# tire and the one I have is somewhere between 500 and 550# so I knew it would be a bit more than I was used to but when we looked at it we realized that not only was it 100#'s more, but it was probably more than a foot taller than mine. The first time I tried to flip it in warmups I barely got it past my waist! I knew that it didn't feel heavy, it would just take a bit more explosion than my other one, so I tried again with lots of leg drive and really slammed my knee up into it to get it flipped over and I really popped it through with the hips and it went over just fine. I knew that the tire flip is a good event for me so the nerves were not there for this one. I watched the guys before me really struggle with the tire so I began to doubt myself, but I told myself that I trained hard for this and my training would come through so I put the doubts out of my head and just went for broke. I ended up with the fastest time at around 27 seconds. I really attacked it and after I won it I said to myself, if anything I can at least say that I won one event and I would be completely satisfied with my performance. Winners of events get to pick a prize out of a box and I rummaged around and Iron Mind's Strong Enough Straps caught my eye right away and I snatched them up. I'm excited to try them out on deadlift day.
Next event was the Yoke. I have never done the yoke before and so when my name was called I told the Promoter that I had never done this and he gave me some pointers. I knew that the yoke had a bit of a potential for injury as I had never done it and it was pretty heavy at 550# so I went as fast as I thought I could safely because I wanted to do well in the other events. I'm not sure what my time was, but I didn't win. I guess it was decent but it's an unknown.
After the yoke was the farmers walk. I didn't know if my farmers walk was good, but as soon as it started I realized that it was. When it was my turn, there was not one person who went over 180' and I went at least 180 the first time I tried the contest weight, which was 230# per hand. So I knew that if I did my worst I could still go at least 180' or about 3 turns on the 60' course. I got up and took my time with my grip as there was no time limit. I think the guy next to me as more than halfway down the course before I even picked up the implements. I made sure everything was perfect before my attempt and I'm glad I did. I went 238 feet and was just two feet away from making a full 4 trips. Everybody was really impressed and I was really happy. I began to think about the competition and wonder where I stood, especially after having won two events. DJ kept telling people to look up, but I knew my style was to keep my head down and look up with my eyes. I was glad I stuck to my own way and didn't change. I, again, got to pick something out of the box and went for an ATP towel and coin.
The last event was the truck pull. I wasn't sure how this would go. I've pulled the truck tons of times, but the truck we pull didn't weigh tons of pounds! This one was an 18,000# semi cab and people were having a heck of a time with it. There was a lead rope, which I had never used before. I did lots of research on it and watched lots of videos of truck pulls and found that the best way to use the rope when you are outweighed in competition was to really pull all the slack out and get the rope as tight as possible so that all your power goes into pulling the truck and not lifting the rope off the ground. The order of competitors was Master, LW, MW, HW. I was watching all the masters and LWs go and was getting a bit nervous again as only two or three made it the entire 60'. I was really glad I had my own harness as I was watching people get strapped in to the harnesses they provided and they fit everybody very poorly. I got mine all dialed in the night before I left, so I knew it would be good to go. I got Cameltoe to run the slack on my rope. Even though he hadn't done it before, I knew he would be able to do it ok, I really just wanted some one to take a ton of the slack out so I could really get a good start. I knew that the start would be my weakest point and wanted to get as good a start as possible. They blew the whistle and I pulled as hard as I could with my arms and pushed as hard as I could with my legs and the truck started pretty good. Now all I had to do was get into a good rhythm with my hands and feet and just go. I was never happier to see a little blue line cross under my face than at that time. I again, had the fastest time in the MW division and won the truck pull too! Cameltoe got a bit overzealous and really pulled hard on the rope and really dug it into my arms. I told him afterwards that he was only supposed to take the slack out at the beginning, then once I had it he was supposed to just keep the excess away from my feet. Oh well. I got to pick my prize and went for a RKC Water bottle that had PAVEL written on it. I didn't know how the points would shape up, but I knew after winning 3 out of 5 events I had a good shot at winning! I never expected that in my wildest dreams. They called third and second and neither was me, and then they called out first place and who would have thought! I was the champion! I got some really cool stuff along with a trophy. I got a big supplement package, most of which I probably won't use. I'm really just a protein/creatine guy. But who knows. So now you know...the rest of the story.

On to Vegas? Lets hope so...


Back to training...

Friday
Lower

Explosive
Snatch
135x5
185x2x2
225x0 miss
Power Clean
225x5x3

Trap Bar DL
225x5
315x5
405x3
500x1 (PR)

GHR
BWx10x3
Obliques
45x10x4

Windshield Wipers
5x5

Neck
50x25x2

Grippers
#1x10
#2x10

Not a bad day, decided to go a bit crazier on the trap bar deadlift than I planned but it all worked out. Getting really excited to compete in a week. Tomorrow will be the last intense day until contest time.

Just counting down the days.

Thursday
Press

Log
150x5x2
200x4x5
150+Monster Mini'sx3x2
170+MM's x3x3

Log Bench
240x6x3

Blast Straps
Pushups
BWx15x3
Tricep Ext
BWx10x3
Ext Rotations
BWx15x3

Pullups
BWx8x2
Band through belt
x6x3

Neck
45x25x2

Weighted Situps
I did a complex it went like this
45x10
90x10
135x10
90x10
45x10
There was little to no rest between sets so it was pretty killer

Press went well. I think I am lacking speed at the beginning of my press, so I tried to put the bands in today to get things firing fast. I think it helped. I think camel toe is coming out saturday to train events so hopefully I can put up decent press numbers on the last event day. Things are going well and I'm just excited for the 14th to get here. Should be fun.

I can't decide how to end it today.

Tuesday
Pull

Deadlift
135x10
225x10
315 + band through belt x8x2
405x4x4

GHR
BWx15x3

Abs
Obliques on GHR
x10x2
with band around neckx10
with 45x10

Neck
50x25x2

Seated GM
135x15x2
225x8x2

I think that's all I did, it was a good day. Lower body days are the days that I think I have the most potential for injury in, so I took it easy. I'm going on the fact that I can't get much stronger in 9 days, but I can screw a hell of a lot of stuff up. I did do the seated good mornings heavier than ever and they really kicked my ass...definately something to keep doing.

How did the revolution involve blowing up a japanese import?

Don't worry, I've been training...just not posting

Monday
Press

Green Grotto
Log
150x5
200x3
220x2
240x1x7
260x1
270 miss

Gym
Close Grip Bench
135x10
225x10
245x8
245x6

Barbell Row
225x8x4

Face Pull
100x15x3

Spiders
205x20x2

Grip Stability
Wrist Flex/Ext

Neck
50x25x2

Abs
Weighted Leg Raisins (mmmm raisins)

I was so close on the 270 I just barely hit my stick point right before my triceps kick in hard to lock out...I think I just lost leg drive due to fatigue (I hope) that's an easy fix. I am, however, going to work the bands on dynamic day to work on speed from the start...I think that will cure what ails me...although I'm not sure how much it will fix by contest time (less than 2 weeks out) this is my last heavy press day. I ordered some climbing shoes for the truck pull and some adidas sambas Jim Wendler style. Hopefull these will help.

Where the rubber meets the road?