A good start to 2012

I've gotten off to a fairly good start in 2012.  If you reference back a few posts you'll be able to see what "A" and "B" lift days are.  Thus far this week I've hit 2 A-days and 1 B-day.  I also got in a good CoC workout starting on the trainer and building up to a full close on the level 2 captain of crush.

Today, I mixed up the lift a bit.  Here's my workout:

4 supersets on 50 lb cords
     Reverse shrugs x 25
     Tricep extensions (downward) x 25
     Lat pulls x 25
     Reverse flyes x 25
Dumbbell shrugs, 3 sets of 20 using 60s
2 combo sets on 100 (straight bar)
     Shrugs x 25
     Straight leg deadlift x 25
Straight bar curls (bar only) - burnout
Calf raises, 2 sets of 25 on 135

The lift felt pretty good and was pain free, though nothing went above 90 degrees for my shoulders.  This will probably be the status quo for a while...minimal presses, including bench!

Thanks for reading, and check back tomorrow!

2011 in Review

I feel like 2011 was a fairly successful year.  I was able to meet my weight goals of over 100,000 lbs per week and I also managed to average over 4 miles a week of running.  In terms of personal records for bench, deadlift and squat, I was hampered for half the year, nearly, with shoulder issues (shoulder impingement syndrome in both shoulders) which held me up.  For the short/medium-terms I have to reassess my PR goals as the focus must shift to getting back to 100%.  While I do that, I plan to focus a bit more on the cardio side of things and log more miles.  I also seem to be able to deadlift without issue, and will try to make some gains there (not in terms of PR) with rep advances at medium weights.  That should ultimately benefit my squat when I'm able to fully support the bar again.  When I've squated recently I've had to rig a system with wrist wraps to hold the bar...not pretty and I'll post a picture soon so you know what I'm talking about!

Time to give a shout-out to my workout partners, Dave, Paxton, Nate and Nathaniel.  Dave is ramping-up to run a marathon soon, so his weights are down, but he will put up 300 before the year is done!  Paxton (14) had a PR of 150lbs on bench yesterday and is looking for solid gains in 2012.  Both Nate and Nathaniel (16) settled out around 130lbs on bench.  They are both stronger than the numbers show but had long football seasons that held them up a bit.  2012 will hopefully be a good year for everyone, but I really look forward to the young guys making some big gains...fun to see them grow!

Thanks for reading this past year and I hope you continue to follow the blog this year!

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!

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!

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

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!

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!