Past 2 workouts

Life is getting busy, especially with the baby coming on Thursday!  I've been negligent about my posting, so time to catch-up.

On Friday, although sore from Thursday's heavy clean workout, I lifted with a neighborhood kid for the following:

Log press standing, up to 235 lbs
One-arm kettle bell press on 80 lbs
Deadlift, up to 515 lbs
Kettle bell swings
Medicine ball cleans
Triceps extensions
Stretching

Then I took the weekend off as I didn't have time to lift.  Yesterday Brian and I lifted at Eastside with a new guy, Troy, and here's what we did:

Squat, warm-up for 5 sets, work up to 315 lbs
Carry and load medley, 150 lb. keg, 250 lb. sandbag about 50 ft, multiple sets
Axle cleans, up to 185 lbs
Extended lunges with overhead (Phil Pfister style)

The lunges were rough!  My hamstrings hurt today like I can't begin to explain.  The lift really works, so thanks to Phil for sharing that lift!

The plan is to go, again, today.  I hope I've recovered a bit by this evening, because right now, I've got nothing in the tank! :)

Getting better at power cleans

Yesterday was focused on power cleans.  Cleans are by far my worst lift, with overhead in a close second.  Being 6'8 doesn't help and the fact that, based on the video, I basically reverse curl the bar with momentum from the pull.  I guess if, in the end, the bar gets to your shoulders, all is well.  I just need to generate more power off the floor to pull the higher weights.

Here is a quick video of some of my sets working up to about 255:

I hadn't lifted all week on account of my neck, so I worked in some random things, and spent quite a bit of time warming up.  Here is the breakdown:

Warm-ups
Shoulder warm-ups				25	100
Leg warm-ups (swings, plyo)				50	100
Cleans (from floor)				155	6
				185	2
				205	2
				225	1
				235	1
				255	1
Floor rows				205	8
				205	8
				205	8
Lat pulls				150	30
				150	30
				150	45
DB curls				40	16
				40	16
Abs				60	60
Stretch
			5	min cardio

As always, thanks for reading!

Crazy log day!

Went heavy today on log!  My neck hurt too much to do anything else, so this is it for the day.  I've got a video of some of the seated work that we did.  Topped off around 300, going from different angles and heights.  We started standing, and ended standing, so we'll see if that helps.  My triceps are shot, and I'm tired, but it feels good!

And here is the workout:

				Weight	Reps
Warm-ups
Log press standing				70	8
				70	8
				120	6
				120	2
				150	2
				170	2
				200	1
				220	1
				180	2
				200	1
Incline log press				180	2
				230	1
				280	1
				330	FAIL
				300	1
Military log press				230	2
				250	2
				260	1
				180	10
Abs				75	50
Triceps extensions				75	50
Standing log press				180	3
Stretch

As always, thanks for reading!  Check back tomorrow as we're going to lift at the Wasatch Front Strongman Challenge venue here in Salt Lake.  Should be some tire flipping, and other fun stuff!

Bench day

Nothing too crazy to report today.  Yesterday I likely ended up doing 60 flights of stairs in an effort to better organize the storage in our house, so I was beat today.  Brian was, too, so we ended up benching...always a good workout when your entire core/legs are hurting.

We didn't go too heavy - my top set was 335 x 2, but it felt pretty good.  We were more aimed at volume, today, than weight.  We also did some auxiliary arm stuff, and I cooled down with some abs, focusing on the lower area.

Here is today's lift:

				Weight	Reps
Warm-ups
Bench				135	10
				135	10
				135	10
				225	2
				275	2
				295	2
				315	2
				335	2
			w/ 75 lb. bands	135	15
			w/ 75 lb. bands	135	10
				135	20
Band curls				50	30
				75	20
Triceps extensions bands				75	20
				75	20
French press DB seated				75	15
Abs				60	20
Stretch
			45	min cardio

My neck and forearms continue to hurt, and I'm hoping that changes in the next few weeks as the Wasatch Front Strongman Challenge is only 4 weeks away.  If it were today, I'm in no position to compete, so I need to figure this out!  Any suggestions?

Thanks for reading!

Olympia - America's Strongest Man

I headed down to the Olympia this past weekend for work, and caught part of America's Strongest Man.  I got to meet Brian Shaw who recently won World's Strongest Man, and from what I saw, owned a ASM.  Here is a video of the max overhead log press, where a few guys tied for a max lift of 430 lbs:

Today I lifted with Brian here at my place.  Focus was on overhead with some light squat.  Here is the lift:

				Weight	Reps	Total
Squat warm-up				135	warm-up	1500
				135	10	1350
				135	10	1350
				225	6	1350
				315	4	1260
Standing overhead				135	6	810
				135	6	810
				185	3	555
				205	3	615
				235	2	470
				255	1	255
				255	1	255
				255	1	255
				135	8	1080
				135	8	1080
Seated lockout				135	8	1080
				205	6	1230
				255	1	255
Burnout standing press				135	10	1350
Triceps burnout				75	40	3000
Stretch

Overhead and tire flipping

I've gotten beyond behind on my blogging!  This week has been an odd one.  I'm now a soccer coach to my daughter's 4 year old team which is a good time, but has changed our workout schedule.  On Monday, my neck was so sore that while Brian did Farmer's Deadlift, I just stretched and rolled-out.  On Tuesday I got a massage and did some very light shoulder/upper back work.

Yesterday I finally lifted.  I made sure to get loose to get the knot out of my neck (Tiger Balm is a big help there, too).  We started with overhead press where I built up to 225 x 2, and then did two back-off sets for 10 reps on 155 and then on plates, with a long lockout hold at the end.  Both my shoulders and triceps are feeling it today.

After the pressing we went over to the local high school and I flipped a 600 lb. tire about 25 times.  This tire is easy on a basis of weight but the grips are beyond difficult and yesterday it had been raining, so it made it very hard to flip.

That was the full lift.  Today I'm off to the Olympia for business, but hope to catch some of America's Strongest Man while I'm down there.  Our friend Van won't be competing this year as his daughter is battling cancer, but we look forward to him going after it again next year when his daughter is hopefully healthy!

I'm going to try to get some video/pictures of the show for my next post, so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading!

Heavy deadlift

I never got around to posting last weekend so here is what went down:

Eastside (a.k.a. Brian's)
Brian and Bronson

Yoke runs - stayed light (under 400 lbs) for a bunch of down-and-backs to warm-up
Frame deadlift - up to 700 lbs, multiple sets - this is my all-time max on Brian's frame

Here is a video of the deadlift:

As always, thanks for reading, and until next time!