DE Upper, plain and simple

Nothing witty today- it was a stressful day at work, I lifted and it helped.

A1. Hip/Shoulder Mobility/Prehab

Leg Swings
Squat Pulls
Int/Ext Rotations
Band Scapular Pulldowns

B1. Bench w/ 20# chains

8 x 95#
5 x 135#
3 x 185#
4 x 3 x 205# + 2 chains

C1. BB Row

3 x 8 x 155#

C2. 1-Armed OH Press

3 x 8 x 60#

D1. OH Shrug

2 x 12 x 95#

D2. Palloff Press

3 x 30s x large band

E1. 10 min Walk

We got a treadmill, may as well use it :)

Underpants Down!

A bit longer day at work than I had planned due to getting completely drawn into a fun character posing task led to a an abbreviated DE Lower session.

A1. Hip/Shoulder Prehab/Mobility

Leg Swings
Squat Pulls
X-Band Walks
Int/Ext Rotations
Band Scapular Pulldowns

B1. Squat w/ 20# chains

8 x 95#
5 x 135#
3 x 225#
6 x 2 x 245# + 2 chains

On the first set of the chained squat, I heard that entirely-too-familiar tearing sound- my underpants tore apart. Yep, I'm a fatass...

C1. Blast Strap Ab Fallouts

3 x 8 x bw

C2. 3.25" Pinch Grip

4 x 25# x 30s per hand (I used 5 5# plates for this)

Total training time was 35 minutes. I came upstairs to some amazing food that Jess made. Now, time to relax...

Prowler Flu

After a weekend of going out and enjoying Seattle, Jess and I decided to relax today. So naturally, we trained ME Bench.

A1. Hip/Shoulder Prehab/Mobility

Leg Swings
Squat Pulls
Int/Ext Rotations
Band Scapular Pulldowns

B1. ME Bench

8 x 45#
8 x 95#
5 x 135#
3 x 185#
1 x 225#
2 x 250#
2 x 260#

I've been going to singles for way too long, and my bench felt weak today, so I figured I'd get some doubles work in. It felt great, and Jess PR'd her raw bench at 170#.

C1. Board Press (w/foam roller)

7 x 295# (3,3,1)

On the 3rd set, I was so done I couldn't bring the bar down far enough over the peak in my arch and I kept nailing the hooks with the bar, so I called it done.

D1. Strict OH Press

4 x 6 x 135#

PR for weight/volume on this one. Nice!

D2. Band-Assisted Pullups

4 x 6 x bw + medium band

These were easy enough that I may be doing them without the band next time...

E1. Forward Sled (Prowler) Drag & Push

1 x 20 yards forward pull uphill, 20 yards push downhill x 160# + Prowler
2 x 20 yards forward pull uphill, 20 yards push downhill x 170# + Prowler

After the 3rd set I about passed out, and a few seconds later was prowler flu'd all over the lawn. Yeah boyeee.


Overall a great training session, a great way to end the long weekend, and one hell of a way to relax :)

Posterior Action

My posterior chain is going to hate me tomorrow.

A1. Hip Mobility

Leg Swings
Squat Pulls
Glute/Ham Bridges

B1. 18" Deadlifts

8 x 135#
5 x 225#
3 x 315#
1 x 365#
1 x 405#
0 x 455# WTF. the 405# felt EASY.
1 x 425#

I had no idea what happened on the 455# so looked at video and I didn't drop my hips enough, and probably didn't rest enough. Still, I am a bit perplexed since I pulled 405# recently. Something to look at later, I suppose...

C1. SSB Squat Box Squats

4 x 3 x 265#

D1. 2" Grip BB Rows

3 x 8 x 155#

I actually made the poor decision to try a double set here of 2" grip 1-armed rows ans Snatch-Grip High Pulls, but after one set of the pulls, I knew it was a mistake and switched to the rows.

E1. Shoulder Prehab

OH Shrug
Int/Ext Rotations
Band Scapular Pulldown

Overall a good ME Lower session, though I am wondering why I failed the 455# 18" pull so badly. It stuck like glue and 18" is a sticking point for me. More work to be done there...

I lifted things

After putting together the new treadmill last night and a looooong day at work today, tonight was DE Upper.

A1. Shoulder/Hip Mobility/Prehab

Band Scapular Contractions
Int/Ext Rotations
Lateral raises
Squat Pulls
Leg Swngs

B1. Bench w/ 20# chains

8 x 95#
5 x 135#
3 x 185#
3 x 4 x 205# + 2 chains

Right elbow was a bit tweaked on these. not sure why. It's feeling a bit better now but something to pay attention to for ME bench...

C1. OH Push Press

8 x 45#
5 x 95#
3 x 135#
4 x 6 x 155#

D1. Pullups

4 x 6 x bw + medium band

D2. Blast Strap Ab Fallouts

4 x 6 x bw

E1. Front Plate Hold

3 x 45# x 20s

Overall a good session, especially since I got hung up at work longer than I expected tonight. 

Squats and Stretch

Yesterday was ME Squat day. Wewt.

A1. Hip/Shoulder Prehab/Mobility

Leg Swings

Squat Pulls

X-Band Walks

Glute-Ham Bridges

Shoulder ine/ext rotations

Band Scapular contractions

B1. Squat

8 x 135#

5 x 225#

2 x 275#

1 x 315#

1 x 340# Seattle PR!

0 x 355# I got pancaked...

the 340# felt great. I fell a bit forward and to the right, but was confident to go for the 355#. I got stuck big time. I squashed and couldn't stretch, in animator terms...

It's still 10-15% off my all-time PR, but the 340# is a Seattle PR, so it went on the board.

C1. 1-Armed Rows

4 x 6 x 105#

C2. Bulgarian (1-leg) Deadlifts

4 x 6 x 105#

D1. Squat Walkouts

1 x 405#

2 x 455#

E1. Farmer Walks

3 x 60ft (30 uphill, 30 downhill) x 130# per hand

Overall a good session. missing the last squat sucked, but I still hit a PR and I still did the (albeit light) farmer walks.

I learned today that youtube will post to my shared accounts when a video is uploaded, which is odd since I never told it to do that. I gotta figure out how to turn that off. I'll get to my strongmAnimator post on this tonight or tomorrow, depending on my energy level. 

What was that cracking noise?

Oh, it's just me getting old.


Today was ME Bench day. 

A1. Hip and Shoulder Prehab/Mobility

Squat Pulls
Leg Swings
Glute-Ham Bridges
Lateral Raises
Int/Ext Rotations

B1. Bench Press

8 x 95#
5 x 135#
3 x 185#
1 x 225#
1 x 250# Vino helped spot on this one
0.5 x 275#

That "0.5" on the 275# is because Jess nudged it a bit to get past my sticking point. It really should be a 0. I'm glad I started video capturing these lifts, as I can see what went wrong and will correct it next time.

C1. OH Push press

8 x 45#
5 x 95#
3 x 135#
1 x 185#
1 x 205#
1 x 225#

My upper back and chest cracked profusely on the 225#. I feel like I shrank an inch. Heat and ice are helping, though.

D1. 1-Armed Rows

4 x 6 x 100#

E1. Forearm Roller

3 x 15# up and down

I was going to get a finisher in, but our property manager was coming by at 4 with the owner of the house we are renting, and I ran out of time. Overall a decent session, though I do wish I had hit the 275#. I did get to watch Jess pull 345# with no problem (I have video to prove it, but you'll have to convince her to see it). That woman is gonna break 400 by year's end. And damn does she look hot when she deadlifts :)


No training for a few days- will be in Montreal till Tuesday night. Wednesday will be ME Squat day.

Clean it up, son!

Today was DE lower day. I had quite the busy day today at work and was really wiped on the way home, but determined to get my training in. I got home and had the added motivation of some amazing food being made by my wife, that was going to be waiting for me after training. So yeah, I got to work.

A1. Mobility

Leg swings
Squat Pulls
Glute-Ham Bridges
Foam Roller for my back

B1. Snatch-grip Cleans

8 x 65#
5 x 95#
4 x 3 x 155#

It's been a while since I did cleans, so it took me a while to get the mechanics down again. Once I did, though, these felt great.

C1. SSB 13" Box Squats

6 x 4 x 265#

I forgot how hard safety squat bar box squats are. Say that 3 times fast. I think I screamed "spread the floor" to myself on half the reps. This was hard, and I am feeling it right now.

D1. 2" Grip 1-Arm Rows

4 x 6 x 70#

I noticed while deadlifting this weekend that my right hand grip was failing more than my left, which is weird. It happened again tonight with these, so I guess I need to start my unilateral grip work with the right side for a while...

D2. OH Shrugs

3 x 8 x 135#

Overall a great session, made better by the food that jess made afterwards- Carne Asada, Roasted Corn Guac, Onions all for some tasty tortilla action, followed up by some Mexican chocolate cake. Just goes to show, hectic days can be made better by some good training and eats!

Benching with Chains

Now that my rant is over, here's my training log for tonight!

A1. Shoulder/Back Mobility/Prehab

Foam Roller for back

Band Internal/External Rotations

Band Scapular Contractions

B1. Bench w/ 20# Chains

8 x 95#

5 x 135#

3 x 185#

4 x 3 x 205# + 2 chains

C1. BB Row

4 x 6 x 185#

D1. BB Curls

3 x 8 x 95# Call the police, I curled in the Squat Rack!!!

D2. OH Tricep Press w/ 20# chains

3 x 8 x 10# + 1 chain

E1. Hip Mobility

Squat Pulls

Glute Ham Bridges

Leg Swings

X-Band walks

It was a quick session, maybe 45-50 minutes, which worked well with dinner. Jess made some great BBQ chicken. Yum.

Unchained

(Cross-posted between devlifters.blogspot.com and strongmanimator.blogspot.com)

Tonight was DE Bench day, but before I get into that, I'm going to vent for a sec. I'm not sure who has seen those Planet Fitness ads (I've only seen them on YouTube), you know, the ones where they basically make anyone who is serious about strength training out to be a muscle-bound mentally challenged idiot. Like this one:

Sure, this guy is a caricature, but the commercial effectively makes all of us who are into strength training out to be idiots who just like to lift heavy things (and grunt a lot in the process). I don't care in this was meant to be tongue in cheek; these perceptions bother me.

If anyone knows strength training, they know that there is a level of intelligence needed to succeed. That intelligence doesn't necessarily need to translate each athlete knowing exactly how to eat, how to train, or how to rest to succeed- a lot of the times it's know who to talk to and how to learn in order to succeed. Picking things up and putting them down is a part of this, and it IS the fun part, but it's not the only part.

This gets me to my point- A month or so ago, I started a separate blog about my video game animation career. I specifically stated that I was going to keep my training and my animation career blogs separate. In effect, I was separating my life not into work and play, but into smart and stupid. I made the poor decision, in retrospect, to ignore that each of these aspects of my life actually affected each other in ways other than how I spend my time. I'm going to change that starting now.

I'm still going to post my training log on devlifters.blogspot.com, but I'll be discussing both my training and my animation career on strongmanimator.blogspot.com. My goal is to shed light on and discuss how animation and my career parallel my training- how successes and failures in one affect the other, and how I learn from those success and failures in one and apply that knowledge to the other.

I have no idea how well this will go, and I hope those following me and those clicking on my links will give me feedback so that I can continue learning while I try to teach them something. This should be fun :)

Best Deadlift Session Ever

Yeah, the title sums it up. I hit a gym PR for my deadlift training today. It felt great, and I think the thing that helped the most was videotaping the singles and watching after each to see what I needed to adjust. That gave me the added benefit of getting the gym PR on video for all to see!

A1. Mobility

Leg Swings
Squat Pulls
Glute Ham Bridges
Step Unders

B1. Deadlift

8 x 135#
5 x 225#
2 x 275#
1 x 315#
1 x 345#
1 x 375# This felt really easy, so I went for the 405#
1 x 405# I had more in me, but I resisted temptation after this

Video! Technology is amazing.

The deadlifts felt great. I've pulled more than 405# at competitions, but I've never gotten over 400# in the gym. I could have stopped here and not regretted it, but what fun would that be?

C1. Band-assisted Pullups

4 x 6 x bw + medium band

C2. OH Push Press

3 x 8 x 135#

D1. Shoulder Prehab

Internal Rotations
External Rotations
OH Shrugs

F1. Farmer Walk

3 x 150# per hand x 30 feet uphill/30 feet downhill

Overall a great session, and a great way to kick off the week and the new training cycle.