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!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

All rubber bands today!

I need to add to my arsenal a bit, but I do have some really good 75 lb resistance rubber bands.  When coupled, they make for a nice pull when fully elongated.  Today I worked in something similar to good mornings, as well as calf raises, hip thrusts and abs all utilizing the rubber bands.  My motivation was mainly driven by my sore shoulders, but this is a great workout to hit some of the connecting tissues in the joints that get missed when you are just pulling a bar.  I could really do a better job of mixing in a lift like this every other week.

Here is a video of a grueling set of good mornings.  35 reps was tough, but it felt good!


And here is today's lift:

Tuesday 7/31/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
Hip thrusts (rubber band) 75 35 2625
75 35 2625
150 25 3750
150 25 3750
150 25 3750
Good Mornings (rubber band) 150 25 3750
150 30 4500
150 35 5250
150 25 3750
Calf raises (rubber band) 150 30 4500
150 35 5250
Abs (rubber band) 75 100 7500
Captains of Crush (T) 100 30 3000
100 30 3000
Shoulders 25 200 5000
Day's total 62000 lbs

Cardio and rest

So I'm standing at my brother-in-law's wedding last week when an elderly woman trips in front of me.  She didn't fall, but I instinctively reached out in support only to throw out my left shoulder.  Then on Saturday as my left arm began to improve, I must have pinched a nerve in my right arm which has been reeling in pain ever since (though slightly better today).  Long stories, short, I haven't lifted since Thursday of last week.  While I'm sure my body has appreciated the rest, I'm getting behind on my workouts, so hopefully I'll be back to square soon.  To be safe, though, I'm going to the Ortho tomorrow to get checked out as I've had the other shoulder issues for nearly a year now...

Yesterday I did work in some bike time and hit 15 miles in about 38 minutes.  Proof:

Friday, July 27, 2012

Cardio day - some big guys can still run

Today was mainly a cardio day.  I like to interval train meaning I walk for a couple minutes then I run for 30 sec - 1 min at a time.  I find that if I run any more than that, I lose weight and mass and then have to work hard to get it back.  When I do run, I like to do it fast to focus on fast-twitch muscles as too much walking will slow you down.  I spent about an hour on the treadmill and then hit some light weights afterwards, including something I'll film next week - hip thrusts with rubber bands which is great for hip drive.  Here is a quick video of me proving to posterity that I could still run when I cracked 300 lbs:



And here is the light workout I did after focusing on high reps:

Thursday 7/26/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
Hip thrusts (rubber band) 75 25 1875
75 25 1875
75 25 1875
75 25 1875
Thinker curls 35 20 700
35 20 700
Calf raises 135 25 3375
135 25 3375
135 25 3375
Abs 60 70 4200
Standing rows 60 25 1500
60 25 1500
60 25 1500
60 25 1500
  60 25 1500
Day's total 30725 lbs

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Deadlift

Today's main focus was deadlift.  I started with some rubber band work to get loose and then hit a few light sets focusing mainly on speed.  I then gradually worked up to 515 lbs, raw.  It didn't feel terribly heavy.  I was mainly worried about my hands which were exhausted from Monday's workout, but they didn't cause any real problems.  After deadlifting I also worked in some very, very light incline bench, just to go thru the motions and hit the fronts of my shoulders a bit.  Some abs tied it all up.  Here is a drawn-out video of my max deadlift for the day including prep:



And here is today's lift:

Wednesday 7/25/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
Deadlift (bands) 150 25 3750
Deadlift - 1st slow for stretch 245 6 1470
For speed 245 6 1470
For speed 305 6 1830
355 3 1065
395 1 395
445 1 445
465 1 465
515 1 515
Incline Bench (very light) 45 75 3375
45 75 3375
45 75 3375
Abs 60 60 3600
Day's total 25130 lbs

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Some arms and some legs

I mainly stayed away from free-weights today in favor of machines, with the exception of the light french presses.  I wanted to hit my upper arms as I'd focused pretty hard on hands/forearms yesterday.  I also decided to hit some leg curls and extensions, but didn't overdo the sets so I'd still have energy tomorrow or Thursday to squat.  Most of this was done at the gym, versus at home, so no video today, but here is the workout:

Tuesday 7/24/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
Triceps rope presses 100 15 1500
150 15 2250
200 12 2400
250 10 2500
250 10 2500
250 10 2500
250 10 2500
Seated rows 160 12 1920
200 12 2400
250 10 2500
250 10 2500
250 10 2500
Hamstring curls 150 12 1800
200 6 1200
200 6 1200
Quadriceps extensions 150 12 1800
200 10 2000
200 10 2000
Lat pull-downs 150 12 1800
200 8 1600
French press laying 70 25 1750
70 25 1750
70 25 1750
Hip extensions 60 25 1500
60 25 1500
  60 25 1500
Day's total 51120 lbs

Monday, July 23, 2012

A light hand workout

No video today - the thought of filming my hand workout nearly made me fall asleep, so I don't want to do that to whoever happens to be watching!  My back was fairly tired still from Saturday, so I decided to put all my energy into hands for today.  This is a pretty good workout with escalating weights on the captains of crush.  I also hit some light forearms, but stayed light so I would have energy to workout arms tomorrow.  Here is today's lift:

Monday 7/23/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
CoC (T) 100 40 4000
Bar holds 305 5 1525
1 rep for every 4 sec 305 5 1525
305 5 1525
305 5 1525
CoC (1) 140 20 2800
CoC (1.5) 167 20 3340
Forearm curls forward 50 20 1000
70 20 1400
Forearm curls reverse 50 20 1000
70 20 1400
CoC (2) 195 20 3900
Day's total 24940 lbs

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Back day with some shoulders

Not much time to post today!  Hit up part of Utah's Strongest Man as time would allow and until the heat got to me...good show!  I'll look forward to seeing the highlights on Mielke's posts later.

Here is a quick video of bent rows on 305 lbs for 10 reps and today's lift:



Saturday 7/21/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
Incline bench 135 10 1350
135 10 1350
135 10 1350
135 10 1350
135 20 2700
Deadlift 155 8 1240
155 8 1240
245 3 735
335 2 670
425 1 425
475 1 475
Bent rows 245 8 1960
305 10 3050
Curls 50 40 2000
50 40 2000
Abs 60 140 8400
Day's total 30295 lbs

Friday, July 20, 2012

Recovering from the flu

I had a case of either food poisoning or one day stomach flu, yesterday, and it was miserable.  I'm feeling quite a bit better today, but I lost 7 lbs - mainly water I'm sure, but still!  Today it was tough to get anything done, but here is a quick video of some mid-weight shrugs (415 x 15 without wrist straps) and then today's lift:


Friday 7/20/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
Rolling thunder 98 10 980
153 10 1530
173 5 865
183 1 183
Hang cleans 155 4 620
205 3 615
Shrugs 45 30 1350
205 8 1640
295 6 1770
345 6 2070
415 15 6225
205 15 3075
155 15 2325
Curls DB 30 30 900
40 30 1200
50 30 1500
Abs 60 150 9000
Day's total 35848 lbs

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Hands and arms workout

I played a little bit of basketball today to get the heart pumping and then also followed-up with a decent lift, so I'm pretty tired!  I got some new toys in the mail today - Rogue bumper plates - 55 lbs and 25 lbs, and also a set of farmer's handles, so the arsenal is growing!  Today was my first time ever trying the farmer's hold (too hot to go outside and walk), so I'm happy with how I did.  Here is a quick video of me lifting 255 lbs in each hand:


And here is today's lift (255 was light in each hand, but 325 was too much today!):

Wednesday 7/18/2012
Lift Weight Reps Total Weight
Triceps extensions (rope) 70 30 2100
100 25 2500
150 20 3000
200 15 3000
250 12 3000
Seated rows 100 25 2500
150 20 3000
200 15 3000
250 10 2500
Farmers holds  230 10 2300
410 10 4100
510 10 5100
3 attempts 650 0 0
Abs 60 150 9000
Day's total 45100 lbs