Speed bench day

Today was all about speed.  I'm loving lifting with chains.  It adds a new dynamic that is hard to explain if you've never tried it.

Most of the workout was flat bench where I worked up to 10 sets of 2 on 295 (including chain weight).  It felt really good and I didn't have any pain, anywhere.

I rounded out the lift with some auxiliary triceps and pressing work, as shown below:

6/29/2015
				Weight	Reps
Warm-ups and stretch
Bench with 90 lbs chains				155	6
				155	6
				205	4
				245	3
				295	3
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				295	2
				245	10
				155	20
Incline Medicine Ball				100	15
				100	15
French Press				85	15
	superset - descending			85	6
				65	8
				45	10
				25	20
Skier to burnout				150	25
CoC (2.0)				195	20
Stretch and cool-down

Strongman Saturday

Today was event day - Strongman Saturday.  I was fairly beat-up from the week having lifted four times.  Fortunately, yesterday was a day off.

We spent the entire lift on the medicine ball which mimics both stones and sandbags, and has reaching benefits into all things full-body.  Here is a quick video of me and Brian:

Here is the workout:

6/25/2015
				Weight	Reps
Warm-ups and stretch
Medicine ball to 50 inch				100	10
				100	10
				100	10
				150	10
				150	10
Abs				60	40
Stretch and cool-down

Deadlift Saturday

Today was about speed with some decent weight, but nothing overwhelming.  I used bands on about 2/3 of the lift.

I had a number of issues with my neck and back, but once warmed-up, was able to pull without much issue.  A good sweat goes a long way to feeling better, sometimes.

Prior to my workout I was able to get about 90 grams of protein, mainly from yogurt and shakes.  I consumed about 25 grams of isolate during the workout, and greased myself up with a 1/2 burger with an egg, post workout, and about 60 more grams of protein.  After dinner and tonight's casein shake, I should finish the day close to 300 grams.

And here is today's workout, where I backed-off, then went back up before backing-off a second time:

6/20/2015
				Weight	Reps
Warm-ups and stretch
Deadlift warm-up				135	8
				135	8
Deadlift from wheels (13 inch)				225	4
				225	4
				375	2
				425	2
				465	2
				515	2
				595	2
				425	2
				465	4
				465	4
				375	6
Grip work				100	100
Stretch and cool-down

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!

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.