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!

Thursday, April 30, 2015

Dehydration!

24-hour stomach flu has wiped me out!  I'm super dehydrated and while today was a key lift day for the week, it won't be happening.

I hit a killer deadlift session on Tuesday, working up to low 500s double-overhand, then finishing off with 4 sets of Romanian pulls for 20 reps each.  That really put the hurt on!

So Wednesday, when I got sick, trying to recover from Tuesday, while throwing up and not eating, was beyond rough.  I've had no solid food in almost 48 hours, at this point!!

Recapping, otherwise:

Monday was bench where I worked up to 365 x 5
Friday was a lot of squatting with a killer final set of 20 reps that made it hard to walk until Tuesday!

Overall, things are going well.  I continue to get stronger, and even when I'm not making sizable gains, can tell I'm cementing strength.  It is like on bench, where even with a few months off, I'd almost always be able to get 3 plates.  Similarly, certain other lifts are reaching new thresholds that always seem to be reachable, even when I don't perform them, specifically, on a regular basis.

Tomorrow, I should regain a little bit of strength, so hopefully by Saturday I can lift again!

Thanks for reading!

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Just catching up on workouts

18-Apr Overhead, supersets
20-Apr Full body MD press, curls, abs
21-Apr Light squat and stretch
21-Apr Weight Reps
Warm-up and stretch
Deadlift 135 8
245 6
355 6
415 3
455 2
315 8
315 8
135 12
Bench 135 8
225 6
275 4
315 2
315 2
315 2
115 60
Reverse Hyper 60 150
Abs 60 120
Triceps (overhead) 45 75
Grip (axle) 205 65
Cool-down and stretch

Thursday, April 16, 2015

Still recovering from an abdominal tear

I'm getting better, slowly, but consistently.  It has been almost a month, and I squatted 525 x 2 today.  It felt weak, and probably looked worse, but I did it.  That's 300+ 1 week out, 400+ 2 weeks out and now 500+ past 3 weeks out.  That is solid.  I feel it, but it doesn't really hurt, so that's good.

Over the weekend, I hit cardio.

Tuesday I hit some really light deadlift, followed by strict standing rack presses up to 235 x 2.

Today was about 10 sets of squat, rolling thunder, reverse hyper and a lot of stretching.

Onward and upward.

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Lifting injured

Lifting injured...I'm doing what I can.  It isn't a lot, and it isn't heavy, but I'm moving and hitting some things that I need to hit to not lose too much ground.

Monday I hit overhead, and managed to work up to 165 x 2 x 3.  I hit 110 total reps of overhead, working up to that weight.  It never "hurt", but I felt my injured oblique the whole time.

Yesterday I got after some squats (SKWAATS!), and worked up to 335 x 2 x 2.  Fortunately I still moved the weight easily, even though I had to be careful and not over-engage my lower-back muscles.  I worked in some curls and a bunch of grip.

Tonight, to fill in some gaps, I hit calf raises, and to cross a mental gap, I worked up to 405 x 6 x 2.  It felt fine, but I could also feel the oblique the whole time.  The injury is healing, but I'm constantly reminded it is there.  I was also able to hit some cable rows and light shoulder work.

I've been stretching, consistently, and have also done some cardio in the past week.  Considering the circumstances, I'm happy with my progress.

Thanks for reading!

Saturday, April 4, 2015

100 rep Saturday

I'm recovering from a slightly torn oblique muscle.  The first few days were very painful.  I'm about 2 weeks off of the injury and day-to-day doesn't really bother me anymore.  Sneezing is the worst, and rolling over still reminds me, but for the most part, I'm ok.  Lifting is another issue...the wrong angle really highlights the injury, whereas a careful lift with the muscle disengaged is fine.

Today I was able to do things for high volume with low weight:
  1. Lockout bench 100 reps
  2. Squats 100 reps
  3. Calf raises 100 reps
  4. Curls 100 reps
  5. Lateral raises 100 reps
  6. Captains of Crush 100 reps
Following the workout, I actually feel really good.  I managed a little bit of a sweat and feel loose, so mission accomplished.

On Thursday, I did my standard shoulder maintenance lift with rubber bands for 1,000 total reps, and I rode the bike earlier this week for some easy cardio.

I'm still at it, just being careful.  While the lifting is off the standard pace, I've restricted my diet a little bit.  I've cut back on protein and total calories.

Hopefully by mid/late next week, I'll be back lifting in the 30-50% range, whereas today, most of what I did was an empty bar.

Thanks for reading!