Current Stats

Total weight lifted 2015: 3.6 M lbs
('14-6.5M, '13-6.6M, '12-8M, '11-5.2M)
Total cardio logged 2015: 22.0 hours
Current body weight 301 lbs, Height 6'8

Here's my lifting progress!






Progress!

Progress!

Monday, December 26, 2011

A-day with a run

I finished last week strong with a double day on the 23rd (A and B) and another B-day on Christmas Eve.  I kept the streak alive, today, getting in an A along with some abs, stretching and a 5 miler.  Not a lot else to report, but I've been sleeping with less pain the last couple nights so I will take that as a positive sign, at least.

Thanks for reading!

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Shoulder Rehab

So it turns out that I have shoulder impingement...in both shoulders!  My wife's uncle is a PT and has shown me the ways back to a healthy shoulder, primarily through strength training.  I'm on a two day rotation with one day off per week - A-day and B-day, as I refer to it.  I'm about 9 days in and thought it time to report on the workouts:

A-day consists of the following
Dumbbell shrugs, 2 sets of 20
Dumbbell bent rows, 2 sets of 20
Back flies, 2 sets of 20
Push-ups to overextend, 2 sets of 20
Laying rotation lift, 2 sets of 20
Bench dips, 2 sets of 20
Stim and ice

B-day consists of the following (almost all cords)
Reverse flies, 2 sets of 20
Depression shrugs, 2 sets of 20
Downward backhand, 2 sets of 20
Downward chest flies, 2 sets of 20
Upward backhand, 2 sets of 20
Upward chest flies, 2 sets of 20
Front lat pull down, 2 sets of 20
Outward rotations, 2 sets of 20
Inward rotations, 2 sets of 20
Stim and ice

The focus is to hit the rotator muscles and increase strength as much as possible.  I'm feeling positive results thus far but get weighed down by mundane tasks that can't go away, and are slowing my recovery...like carrying my beautiful daughters!  Since I won't ever stop carrying the little ones, the road to recovery may be longer than expected, but I'm sure I'll get there.

Not sure if anyone ever reads this, but it reminds me to get my lifts in!

Merry almost-Christmas!

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Full body day

Saturday 12/10/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Bench (light - shoulder!) 45 50
45 50
45 50
45 50
Deadlift combo 165 20
165 20
255 14
255 16
Calf raises 135 30
135 30
135 30
135 30
Shoulder raises 15 30
15 30
Abs 60 100
CoC (T) 105 70
Day's total 53700

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Deadlift

Tuesday 12/6/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Deadlift (combo) 100 30
120 26
140 24
155 22
170 20
CoC T 40
1.5 30
Abs (various) 60 80
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 33000

Staying light, but trying to keep going.  The goal for the year is to crack 5 million pounds, and I'm so close that I'd hate to miss it after all this work, this year, just because of some injuries!

Thanks for reading!

Monday, December 5, 2011

This past week

I've been taking it pretty easy, giving myself a chance to heal up.  In addition to the shoulder, I pulled something in my elbow and broke a toe recently, so I seem to be slowly falling apart!  I did have a light squat/deadlift workout last Tuesday - nothing really worth reporting.  Today I hit the bike for a bit due to my toe, then got in some abs and stretching, too.

Hoping to be back and at 'em soon!

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Restful week

I've decided to just take the week off altogether.  I'm ahead on my weight goals for the year, and still on target to meet my non-bench max lifts, and so I figured that a week off might do my body some good.  We always used to talk about a 3 month cycle where you go hard for that time then let your body re-group for a week, and typically you'll come back stronger to start the next cycle.

I'm also taking advantage of using a new stim machine (electronic muscle stimulator).  I'm using it just on my shoulder for the time being to help with the recovery.  This has become such a nagging injury and I'm hoping this gets me over the hump!

Anyway, no weights this week, so please check back next week for my new workouts.  As always, thanks for reading!

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Curls and deadlift

No time for a full blog today as I'm on my way to the BYU game!  I worked out with my friend Josh, from Boise (currently), but who I also grew up with in GA.  We hit deadlift - I worked up to 455, then did straight bar curls where I worked up to 159 for 3 reps.  I also got in some tricep extensions and some abs for a total of 32,000 lbs, today.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Light full body with grip work

Friday 11/11/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Full body combo sets
various upper/lower lifts 45 100
45 100
45 100
45 100
Pull-ups 200 20
Grip (holds) 200 60
200 60
Abs 50 225
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 59750

Wednesday, November 9, 2011

Triceps and grip

I trained some kids from the neighborhood yesterday who are all working on improving their benches, and we focused on some triceps and grip to further their efforts.  They did a bit more than I did in terms of push-ups and total sets.  Workout as follows (what I did):


Tuesday 11/8/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Laying tricep presses 100 55
100 55
100 60
Behind head tricep presses 60 20
75 15
75 15
CoC - 1 140 100
CoC - 2.5 237 20
Big Hun's 45 40
Day's total 40990

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Squat and calf raise video

Here is a quick video of my combo squat/calf lift. We had one of Dave, too, but Captain Shaky Hands couldn't hold the camera straight after his set (that's me, by the way!):

Some squat and some bench

Dave and I lifted again today.  He outdid me by running 8 miles before the lift...I can't even contemplate a number like that!!  I worked up to 315 on squat for a set of 10 as a combo with some calf raises, and on bench worked up to 245 for 8 reps.  The latter wasn't heavy at all, I just am not able to do a complete lift without it hurting.  That is the heaviest I've gone in a few months!

And if you get a chance, check out yesterday's video.  I figured out how to rotate it in Windows Movie Maker - I should know how to do this sort of stuff as I'm not that old, but I guess we learn something new every day! 

And, here is today's workout:

Saturday 11/5/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Bench (light - shoulder!) 135 15
185 10
185 10
225 8
245 8
135 15
Squat 135 15
225 10
315 10
Calf raises 135 25
225 20
315 15
Shoulder raises 10 40
20 40
Abs 50 100
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 41235

Friday, November 4, 2011

Full body day

I got a good full body lift in today with Dave.  We hit deadlift, biceps, triceps, abs and some upper back for a pretty good weight total and a fair amount of soreness!  Here I am doing tricep extensions with 100s:


Here is Dave - we didn't actually clean today, but it made for a good picture anyway!

Our first video - yes, it is sideways, and we'll fix that next time, but for now, just turn your head and enjoy curls on 135 with a negative.  This was the very last set of the workout, so I'm happy I got through it since we'd already done quite a few arm exercises and some pull-ups!

And here is the workout:

Friday 11/4/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Pull-ups 200 20
Deadlift 135 15
135 15
135 15
135 15
Tricep floor presses 60 105
75 85
100 65
100 65
50 120
Straight bar curls 95 15
115 10
with a negative 135 8
Abs 50 90
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 57430

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Squat

Lift Weight Reps
Squat/Calf combo 135 20
185 20
275 20
325 20
185 40
Dumbell curls 25 300
Abs 60 100
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 44300

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Arms and Bench

Lift Weight Reps
Straight bar curls 45 25
45 25
45 25
45 25
55 22
60 20
65 20
75 16
95 10
Light Bench (various sets) 135 150
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 33110

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Bench day

A bench day with Dave...Dave, thanks for making me bench even though I was being a baby about my shoulder!!  We did a few plateaus, and Dave did heavy 3x5 (inside to outside) while I did "heavy" holds as I couldn't handle close-grip or wide-grip bench.  185 is the most I've benched in a few months.  It didn't feel heavy at all, but I didn't want to push any it any further today while I'm still trying to recover.  We rounded out with some burn-outs, abs, and stretching:

Saturday 10/29/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Flat Bench 135 15
145 12
155 10
185 8
135 12
135 12
45 50
Bench holds 225 6
225 6
225 6
225 6
225 6
Bench burnout 45 100
45 200
Abs 50 250
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 50035

Friday, October 28, 2011

Back and some other stuff

Friday 10/28/2011
Lift Weight Reps
Deadlift 137 12
227 8
317 4
387 3
437 1
(2 sets of 1) 472 2
Bent rows 137 20
207 15
207 15
137 25
Tricep combo 60 110
60 75
Abs 50 90
Neck front 45 15
45 15
Neck back 45 15
45 15
CoC 1.5 137 50
137 50
Full stretch 10 min n/a Y
Day's total 56645

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Squat day

I really cannot figure out what is wrong with my shoulder.  I can deadlift heavy, curl heavy, shrug heavy, etc, but have trouble behind the head and overhead.  As I squatted today, it didn't feel good holding the bar on my shoulder but as soon as I put the bar down, there was no throbbing, no residual pain, etc, so all I can think is that I have some sort of tendon inflammation in my upper arm.  I do, definitely, feel better than I did a month ago, so tendinitis is plausible.  Well, not a doctor, just a lifter, so without more, here is today's workout:

Warm-up squat without weight for two sets, butt-kicks

Combo sets squat with calves (x2) – 115x10, 135x10, 155x10
                                                                 185x10, 205x10, 225x10
                                                                 255x10

Curls – 75x15, 95x12, 115x10, 125x10, 135x10

Hanging stretch x 2, full shoulder stretches and rest of body

41,000

Monday, October 24, 2011

Bench day

I decided to go for a bench day today.  It felt ok...I did not go heavy, so hard to tell how I'm doing, but depending on my elbow placement, I felt it more/less in my shoulder.  Using a standard powerlifter grip and elbow placement, I felt it less than with a normal rep.  However, I found that going down and leaving about 3 inches between the bar and my chest was the best route with a normal grip.  I also worked in quite a bit of stretching and rounded out with some abs and calves:

Flat bench - 300 reps on 120
Calf raises - 50 reps on 120
Abs - 60 total reps of leg raises to perpendicular
Stretch - 10 minutes (including two x one minute sets of hangers)

51,000 lbs

I may have to bench again tomorrow with the people I train, so I didn't want to wear myself out completely, and should be good for a similar lift tomorrow.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

Back from the flu!

After a long week of dehydration from a day of the stomach flu, I got in a really good lift today.  My shoulder doesn't feel any better, but I forced a little bit of time with the weight on my back and also got in a great stretch.  Today's workout:

Bench - 400 reps on bar
Curls - 50 reps on 25s, 20 reps on 75 w/ curl bar
CoC - 120 reps on "T"
Abs - 250 total reps (various)
Deadlift - warmups, then 3 work sets on 375
Squat/Calf superset for 60 reps on 120
Full stretch

Friday, October 21, 2011

Only one lift this week

I seem to always have something getting in the way of my training regimen.  This week, in addition to my annoying shoulder, the whole family came down with the stomach flu!  I've only managed one lift this week:

Deadlift
5 warm-up sets building up to 315
4 work sets on 375
Cooldown set

Curls
Reverse pyramid on 75 from 10 to 1 and back again

200 reps of abs, and some stretching

I'm hoping to pull it together by tomorrow as I'm really falling behind on my goals, now.

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Bench day with the boys

I'm still not able to bench (more than plates), so I helped spot for the younger guys that like to lift with me, today, from the neighborhood, then got in a bit of a lift of my own:

Bench 55, 65, 75, 85, 95 all for 30 reps; 115 x 15, 125 x 10
Curls w/ straight bar for 100 reps
DB curls 25 for 75 reps
Shoulder raises (front and lat) light just for movement
Skiers 25 x 25 (2 sets), 35 x 25
Full stretch

33,000 lbs

Monday, October 10, 2011

Another light day

I've continued to nurse my shoulder focusing a lot of my lifts on really basic movements and stretching trying to get some strength back.  In addition, today I worked on the following:

DB curls 25s x 60 reps
Deadlift 135 lbs x 50 reps
Bench (light) x 250 reps
Captains of Crush - T (close and hold), 1 (close and hold), 1.5 (close and hold), 2.5 (5 partials)
Full body lifts on just the curl bar x 200 reps
More stretching

I'm  also planning to go on a run  later to stay on top of my mileage since I can't lift much!

Thanks for reading!

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Ongoing rehab

My aching old self has continued down the path of light lifting in the hopes of feeling better.  It seems to be working...so I'll stick to it for the time being until I'm able to lift again, for real!

Over the past two days I've stayed below 100 lbs on everything I did and focused on reps, correct movements and stretching:

Bench x 550 reps
Curls x 200 reps
Shrugs x 100 reps
Bent rows x 120 reps
CoC (trainer) x 100 reps
Triceps (Ski) x 60 reps
Abs x 60 reps
Shoulder raises (front/lat) x 180 reps

I also got in some light cardio over the weekend.  Onward, to a healthy shoulder!

Friday, September 30, 2011

Still recovering

The shoulder is still nagging, so I got in a very light lift while watching the cougs in a close-call versus the aggies!  I started out walking a mile to get loose, then had to lather my aching left bicep and right shoulder in Bengay just to be able to move...then the lift:

Bench (bar only) x 400 reps
Curls (bar only) x 400 reps
Calf raises (front hold as can't hold on back) x 150 reps on 70 lbs
Front holds x 150 reps on 70 lbs
Straight-leg DL x 30 reps on 70 lbs, 20 good mornings

I'm literally falling apart from fatherhood! :)  Two arm/shoulder injuries (and I don't know where they even came from) and two lingering quad injuries.  Nevertheless, a good lift...I feel good!

Tuesday, September 27, 2011

Recap of last week

I finished the week strong with more cardio (another 5 miles) and some light full body lifts to rack-up a few more pounds and not get too far behind!  I'll try to get in a real lift today on the lower body as the rest seems to be helping my shoulder quite a bit and I don't want to set myself back at all.  I'm staying away from any and all presses for the time being and trying to incorprate some light shoulder lifts to the front and side whenever I can so I don't freeze up!!

Friday, September 23, 2011

No lifts this week

My shoulder has just been nagging me and is not improving at all, so I took the week off of lifting with the exception of some abs and medicine ball lifts just for the sake of getting some motion.  I did switch gears a bit and put in 7 miles on the treadmill over the past 2 days to keep from getting too fat.  I'll see how I'm feeling on Monday but may stick with the cardio and light lift route for another week or so to try and get better.

Thanks for reading!

Thursday, September 15, 2011

Hands

A day late, but not a dollar short, fortunately!  With everything hurting but my hands yesterday, I did some light farmer's walk with dumbells.  I also managed a bit of cardio.  Not a log of weight yesterday, but I'll round to an even 20k!

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Arms & Abs

Playing catch-up for yesterday: (light everything)

Bench - 150 total reps on plates or less
Straight bar standing tricep extenders - 6 sets up to 145
Straight bar curls - 8 sets up to 155
Dumbell lockouts (tris) - 100 x 75 reps for 3 sets
Standing dumbell curls (normal) - 3 sets on 60s
Abs for a total of 200 reps

47,000 lbs

Friday, September 9, 2011

Light day

Pretty sore from some heavy lifts yesterday, so today was a light day.  Dave, apologies, but I did some more lifts after you took off!  I ended up doing a medley of bench, shrugs, and bent rows for a total of 350 reps on 135 lbs, and did a fairly grueling ab workout for 260 reps.  The shoulder is still sore, but the good news is that this week's goal is reached in style, so I can rest for a few days and hopefully get back to 100%!

58,200 lbs

Thursday, September 8, 2011

Squat

I'll be quick as I've got my youngest daughter in my arms!

Squat - 8 sets building up to 2 reps on 460 to parallel
Calves - 6 sets building up to 550 for 5 reps
Curls - 6 sets building up to 135 for 4, and a burnout 21 at the end
Abs - front holds for 200 count
Raises - front and lateral (light - my shoulder is sore, so mainly to get movement)

36,000 lbs

Some bench and some cardio

I'm behind on my posting...Monday was a solid bench day.  I worked out with Dave and Isaac and built up to 405 on lock-out bench for 2 reps (elbows to 90 degrees).  We also did some dumbell work on 100s, and about half a dozen sets of straight bar curls (as Dave had a pool party to prep for!), working up to 130 for six reps.

Bench didn't feel great as I've had some shoulder pain, recently.  I've been icing and resting...

Yesterday I didn't lift but did get in a solid hour of tennis for some cardio.  Interestingly, this made my shoulder feel better which tells me I must be dealing with some scar tissue and not a legitimate injury.  I had hurt the shoulder last year serving, so it would be fitting for tennis to be the thing that ultimately makes me feel better...we'll see!

Thus far this week, I'm up to about 41,000 lbs.

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Some out, some in

Today started as a field-trip to the track with Tiny Tirb (Brit).  She got some good work in on the smaller tire for 25 flips and some nice bruising, while I graduated to the big tire (I estimate at least 600 lbs) for 32 flips.  We were accompanied by my younger sister who we joined in football field suicides and some light jogging.

We returned home where I worked in the following:

Legs superset - Squat, calves and deadlift for a total of 60 reps on plates
150 total reps of abs (various)
Curls for 120 total reps building up to 130 lbs on the curl bar (burn-out with some negatives)
Some stretching to cool down

43,000 lbs

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Triceps, forearms

As I'm keeping better track of my lifts, and lifting more regularly, I'm getting a better feel for my weak areas that are holding me back from improving my max lifts.  Yesterday I realized how out-of-shape my hams are, and when I was having trouble locking out 385 on bench, I had only my tris to blame.  I'm going to switch it up a bit for the next few days and focus on those week areas before transitioning back to the core lift focus.

And without further ado, today's lift:

Combo half crusher to press (8 sets, build up to 125)
Behind head seated db extensions (5 set pyramid, peak at 100)
Bar hold on 225 for 30 count (3 sets with 3 distinct holds)
Captain of crush 1.5 (3 sets of 8), 2.5 (3 reps)
Skiers kneeling (3 sets of 10 at 35)
Medicine ball holds at lockout for 60 count x 2
DB lockout press on bench, burnout 75 for 70 reps
Stretch with focus on low backs and hams to recover from yesterday

39,000 lbs

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Heavy deadlift

I pulled 497 today on deadlift and did it without wrist wraps!  This is a 10 lb improvement from my last max.  I'm still down on this and my squat as I tore both my quads while sprinting (not too bad) back in April and am still not quite 100%.  I'd like to see my squat back over 600, though I've never been a great deadlifter and have a lot of room for improvement!

Today's lift was mainly focused on deadlift with work sets up to 3 plates, then sets of 1-3 until my one rep max.  I finished off with some bent rows on 2 plates, curls up to 75s and various abs for about 40,000 lbs, total, for the day.

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Heavy bench - alone

Today was a "heavy" bench day, though that is a relative term as I had to lift alone.  I did a pyramid starting on plates and working up to 385, then back down again.  I finished with a burnout on plates for 20 reps with a half-way hold for a 30 count and a 1 minute hold at the top.  Total weight lifted today is approximately 23,000 lbsTime for some Cell-Tech!

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Shoulders

Today we tackled shoulders!  We built up to 200 lbs on military press, and nearly 500 lbs on shrugs!  With a medley of shoulder raises, dumbell presses and warm-ups and cool-downs to complete the day, we came in around 45,000 lbs to finish up the week ahead of schedule!  Here are some pics from today's lift for your viewing pleasure and to prove we really did it!! :)



This is me...Big Hun!


And of course, Big D!

Friday, August 26, 2011

Back Day

Time is short, as usual, for this dad and working man!  I managed to squeeze in some deadlift, rows, pull-ups, abs and a few combo super-sets, all focused on back, for a whopping 42,000 lbs, today.  I managed to get interrupted with 3 work calls during the lift, even being after hours, so its a miracle I got through it!  Tomorrow is a heavy shoulders day, so plenty of protein and rest tonight so I have the juice to make it during tomorrow's workout with Big D!