Heaviest yoke of all time...well, for me!

WOW does my back hurt after this!!!  Check it out:

Before this we'd gone heavy on deadlift.  I didn't have much in the tank after a few bad nights of sleep as my poor 3 year old has a double-ear infection.  I did pull about 530, but I didn't feel great.

We also did log, and I bowed out around 260...not a bad start to the year.

I'm feeling it, though, now, and resting up.

Thanks for reading!

Recap of 2013: Progress and Goals

2013 was a really good year on the strength side.  I train clean and don't take any illicit substances, so with that in mind, my strength jumps are pretty good.  Here's a snapshot of where I stand going into 2014, what my gain was over the last year, and where I hope to land by the end of this year:



Deadlift
585 lbs, up about 40 lbs, new goal 620 lbs
This is decent.  I'm really strong off the floor, but need to improve mid-range.

Squat
600 lbs, up about 45 lbs, new goal 630 lbs
I'm pretty happy with this.  Slow and steady wins the course.

Bench
420 lbs, up about 10 lbs, same goal 430 lbs
I'm pretty flat here, but in an area of diminishing marginal returns!

Log/Overhead
260 lbs, up about 30 lbs, new goal 300 lbs
I have some real growth opportunity here if I can stay healthy in my shoulders.

Rolling Thunder
203 lbs, up about 20 lbs, same goal 225 lbs
My grip is solid, but my goal is world-class!

Captains of Crush
Stuck on 2.5, aiming for 3.0
IBID to the RT comment.

Atlas Stones
Van's red (once), vastly improved, want to run his whole stack
I need to man up and run it!

Farmer's Carry
708 lbs for 50 feet, up about 100 lbs, same goal 760 lbs
I feel this is easily within reach.

Yoke
750 lbs for 80 feet, up about 100 lbs, goal 850 lbs
I think I'll do this in the next 3 months.

Frame Deadlift
730 lbs without straps, new goal 800 lbs
I think this is within reach without straps, definitely with them.

Double-overhand Axle Deadlift
400 lbs, up about 40 lbs, new goal of 450 lbs
This is tied to the other grip-strength stuff.  I'll be hitting this in 2014!

If the year goes as planned, I'll be knocking the door of a 1,700 lb. 3 lift max, which I think is very respectable for being raw and clean.  I'll be working hard to get there.

SO, that is the 2013 snapshot.  Here I come 2014!  Thanks to everyone for reading, and remember, that Rome wasn't built in a day!

675 lb squat!

The year is wrapping-up, and I wanted to assess how my squat is doing.  I hadn't lifted in nearly a week as I'd gotten dizzy late last week due to lack of sleep and getting dehydrated.  Today was my first day back, but with tomorrow being New Year's eve, I thought I'd hit it hard.  Brian joined me, so with a spot, I knew I could go for it.  This is a banded-squat.  At the bottom, it applies somewhere between 50-100 lbs of assistance to come off the bottom, but at the top, isn't doing anything.  It feels somewhere in the middle of a normal, full-range squat, and a top-end squat.  If I had to estimate, it would be about 90% of actual max squat.

So with that background, here is a video of my top sets for singles, followed by the workout:

				Weight	Reps
Warm-up, roll-out, stretch, jog
Squat with bands				205	3
				205	3
				295	3
				405	2
				515	2
				565	1
				605	1
				645	1
				675	1
				295	6
Stretch

525 lb bench

I wish!  I did 525 lbs on high-end lockouts, but I'll take it.

High-end lockout bench works on triceps strength and taking the strain.  This is a very short range motion, but it really taxes the shoulders and arms, even just holding the weight for a few seconds.  I also hit full range bench, some intermediate lockout, and some triceps.

I had less than 30 minutes today, so did what I could.  Here is a video of the heaviest set I did:

Deadlift/Back

Not much time to write today, so in summary: rack pull on 725 lbs!  I feel pretty good.  The only thing hurting today is my sternum.  Forearms are marginally good, and shoulders aren't involved today, so I'm in good shape! :)

Here is the workout, and thanks for reading!

20-Dec
				Weight	Reps
Warm-up, roll-out, stretch, jog
Rack pulls warm-up				100	20
				155	20
Bent row				100	20
				155	20
Deadlift with bands (speed)				255	3
100 lbs bands				365	2
				415	2
Deadlift from 3 inches				315	2
				425	2
Quick floor pull				425	1
Rack pulls from knees				425	2
				515	2
				625	2
				675	1
all that fits on my bar!				725	1
				425	6
Bent row, press superset				155	50
with hip thrusts				155	50
Hip thursts				200	25
				200	25
Abs (weighted)				75	60
Stretch
			5	min cardio

Full-body workout

Last week I was both sick and too busy to lift.  I did shovel an inordinate amount of snow, and got a little bit of cardio in, but that was all I could muster.

Yesterday, I finally worked in a nice stretching session with some light cable work.

Today I hit a pretty grueling lift, with constant motion, so my heart rate was up the whole time.  I started on the elliptical, and then, with the exception of a few work breaks, went straight for over 100 minutes.  Here's what I did today:

18-Dec
				Weight	Reps
Warm-ups - cables, bands, stretch
Plyometric work				300	130
Overhead press barbell				45	30
				115	12
				115	12
				115	12
				115	12
Calf raises				205	20
				205	20
				205	20
				205	20
Shoulder fly				15	30
				15	30
Shoulder front raise				25	20
				25	20
Back fly				25	20
				25	20
Skier				50	50
				50	50
Shrugs				205	15
				205	15
				205	15
				205	15
Single Forearm curls				35	50
				35	50
Thinker curls				25	12
				25	12
Single front forearm curls				20	40
				20	40
Hammer curls				50	20
				50	20
CoC work				Various
Abs				75	160
Stretch
			5	min cardio

Max double-overhand pull with Rogue axle

While deadlifting today, I decided to see how heavy I could go double-overhand on my Rogue axle.  I'd done this once, before, lifting with Brian and Van Hatfield, and Van and I both went out on 385 if I recall...it was a while ago.  Well, today I became a man! :)  I got 400 lbs.  For a deadlift, it is nothing, but double-overhand pulling this on an axle is a big deal, if I do say so myself.  Check out the video and you'll see how: a) my hands barely reach around the axle and b) you have to hang on for dear life as the bar tries to rotate towards you.

I did hit a solid lift last week with Brian and then was so sore that I only did some light lifting and a lot of cardio.  We squatted up over 500 lbs on Tuesday, and like a genius, I played football for 90 minutes on Thursday, trying to outrun 18 year olds, and paid the price the next days.  But I'm back at it!  Here is today's lift:

12/5/2013
				Weight	Reps
Warm-ups - cables, bands, stretch
Log standing				85	15
				85	15
				135	8
				135	8
				205	2
				185	3
				185	3
				185	3
				185	3
				185	3
				85	15
Overhand axle deadlift				25	20
				135	10
				185	6
				235	4
				345	2
				400	1
Superset x 2
DB press x 20, OH axle x 10, Log x 10, Medicine ball x 3 x 10
Stretch
			10	min cardio

Thanks for reading!