Wednesday 12/30/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 75lbs 1x3, 100lbs 1x2, 125lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 65lbs 1x3, 80lbs 1x2, 95lbs 3x5

Power clean - 65lbs 3x5, 65lbs 1x3, 70lbs 1x2, 85lbs 5x3

Monday 12/28/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 70lbs 1x3, 95lbs 1x2, 120lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 65lbs 1x5, 95lbs 1x3, 120lbs 1x2, 135lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 85lbs 2x5, 125lbs 1x3, 180lbs 1x2, 215lbs 1x5

Monday 12/21/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 80lbs 1x3, 105lbs 1x2, 135lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 60lbs 1x3, 75lbs 1x2, 92.5lbs 3x5

Power clean - 65lbs 3x5, 70lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 105lbs 5x3

Kettlebell swings - 20kg 5x16 on the minute

A few of the later squat reps weren't the best. I would start to move forward just a touch...nothing terrible, but not optimal.

My power clean form was lacking on a lot of the reps. I still have some that are getting caught in the hands and not racked nicely on my shoulders. Time to move down in weight and work on form.

Friday 12/18/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 75lbs 1x3, 100lbs 1x2, 130lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 60lbs 1x5, 85lbs 1x3, 110lbs 1x2, 125lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 75lbs 2x5, 115lbs 1x3, 165lbs 1x2, 195lbs 1x5

Kettlebell swings - 20kg 5x15 on the minute

Wednesday 12/16/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 1x5, 75lbs 1x3, 100lbs 1x2, 125lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 1x5, 70lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 100lbs 3x5

Power clean - 65lbs 3x5, 70lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 100lbs 5x3

Kettlebell swings - 20kg 5x12 on the minute

I hit the press reps, but they were hard reps. I'm going to reset my press back 10% and microload from there.

Everything else is good. My weight is around 210lbs or so right now.

Monday 12/14/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 70lbs 1x3, 95lbs 1x2, 120lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 60lbs 1x5, 80lbs 1x3, 105lbs 1x2, 120lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 70lbs 2x5, 110lbs 1x3, 155lbs 1x2, 185lbs 1x5

Kettlebell swings - 20kg 5x10 on the minute

For the start of the new 4 month period I'm repeating my last weights on these lifts. I'm starting with the 20kg bell for my swings and I'll work up to 5x20 again before moving up to the 24kg bell.

Friday 12/11/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 70lbs 1x3, 95lbs 1x2, 120lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 1x5, 70lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 105lbs 1x5, 2x4

Power clean - 55lbs 3x5, 70lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 105lbs 5x3

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x20 on the minute

The last reps of the last 2 sets of the press were the first reps I missed this month. It has been one month and 12 sessions so far. Since I just missed 2 total reps I'm going to repeat this weight (next Wednesday). From this point forward I will be microloading the press with the new 1 1/4 lb plates I just go.

Wednesday 12/9/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 65lbs 1x3, 90lbs 1x2, 115lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 60lbs 1x5, 80lbs 1x3, 105lbs 1x2, 120lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 53lbs 2x5, 97lbs 1x3, 155lbs 1x2, 185lbs 1x5

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x20 on the minute

I'm having to ramp up calories a bit. I was starting to get stuck around 205lbs or so. I'm around 208 this afternoon. My target is 210lbs by early next week.

Monday 12/7/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 65lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 110lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 1x5, 70lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 100lbs 3x5

Power clean - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 1x5, 70lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 100lbs 5x3

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x20 on the minute

Squats and press are feeling a touch heavy. I'm going to start adding more calories.

I ordered a 160lb bumper set from Rouge....2 ea. 10lb, 25lb & 45lb bumpers. The cleans are getting to the point that I don't want to drop and catch them any more in the interest of healthy elbows and shoulders.

Friday 12/4/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 60lbs 1x3, 80lbs 1x2, 105lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 1x5, 80lbs 1x3, 100lbs 1x2, 115lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 53lbs 2x5, 97lbs 1x3, 145lbs 1x2, 175lbs 1x5

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x20 on the minute

I got the 16kg up to sets of 20. I'll keep it this way for another week...maybe moving up a few reps and then starting again with the 20kg bell.

Wednesday 12/2/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 65lbs 1x3, 85lbs 1x2, 100lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 65lbs 1x3, 80lbs 1x2, 95lbs 3x5

Power clean - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 65lbs 1x3, 80lbs 1x2, 95lbs 5x3

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x18 on the minute

Weight is around 202lbs right now.

Monday 11/30/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 55lbs 1x3, 75lbs 1x2, 95lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 1x5, 75lbs 1x3, 95lbs 1x2, 110lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 53lbs 2x5, 97lbs 1x3, 135lbs 1x2, 165lbs 1x5

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x17 on the minute

Another successful training session. Just gotta keep em coming like clockwork, eat and sleep.

Friday 11/27/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 50lbs 1x3, 75lbs 1x2, 90lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 3x5, 60lbs 1x3, 75lbs 1x2, 90lbs 3x5

Power clean - 45lbs 3x5, 60lbs 1x3, 75lbs 1x2, 90lbs 5x3

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x16 on the minute

My weight is around 198lbs or so. I'm still trying to consistently eat 3 meals of over 1,000 calories with at least two snacks in between. Eventually the snacks will become meals also, but that will be in a month or so.

Wednesday 11/25/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 50lbs 1x3, 65lbs 1x2, 85lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 50lbs 1x5, 70lbs 1x3, 90lbs 1x2, 105lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 53lbs 2x5, 97lbs 2x3, 135lbs 1x2, 155lbs 1x5

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x15 on the minute

Things are moving on up. The swings are starting to make me breathe hard and that's all I want them to do. I'm going to work up to 20 swings on the minute and then start working the bell sizes up but keeping the 5 minute time period. Just enough cardio to keep my gpp in check.

Monday 11/23/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 45lbs 1x3, 60lbs 1x2, 80lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 3x5, 55lbs 1x3, 70lbs 1x2, 85lbs 3x5

Power clean - 45lbs 3x5, 55lbs 1x3, 70lbs 1x2, 85lbs 5x3

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x12 on the minute

Friday 11/20/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 3x5, 45lbs 1x3, 65lbs 1x2, 75lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 3x5, 70lbs 1x3, 90lbs 1x2, 100lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 53lbs 2x5, 97lbs 2x3, 145lbs 1x5

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x11 on the minute

Everything is going well so far.

I got my new Burgener & Rippetoe York barbell yesterday and got to use it today. It's beautiful. I knew that I liked the York knurling from using the York barbell at Girya. I love this bar!

Wednesday 11/18/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 2x3, 70lbs 3x5

Press - 45lbs 1x5, 55lbs 1x5, 65lbs 1x5, 75lbs 1x5, 80lbs 1x5

Power clean - 45lbs 3x3, 55lbs 1x3, 65lbs 1x3, 75lbs 1x3, 80lbs 1x3

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x10 on the minute

Just finding my starting weight for the lifts. I used the recommendations from the book and started with an empty bar and kept adding until the bar speed noticably slowed. I was tempted to add a bit more to the press but I figured that starting light is a good thing and will let me stay on the program longer.

I'm trying to eat a good amount, but not gain fast yet. I'm about 195lbs at the moment and I'd like to stay under 200 for the first month and then start ramping up the calories as the weight starts getting higher.

Tuesday 11/17/09

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5lbs a bit more than midway out 3x5

8lb sledgehammer levering

I'm a little sore from yesterday.

Monday 11/16/09

Afternoon:

Back squat - 45lbs 2x5, 55lbs 2x3, 65lbs 3x5

Bench press - 45lbs 2x5, 65lbs 1x5, 95lbs 3x5

Deadlift - 53lbs 3x5, 135lbs 2x5

Kettlebell swings - 16kg 5x10 on the minute

First day of Starting Strength and I'm stoked. I got to wear my new Rogue Do-Win weightlifting shoes. I thought they were going to be tight but they are super comfortable. I went barefoot for the deadlifts though. Squatting in these shoes lets me get just a hair below parallel very comfortably with more control than I had before.

Everything feels pretty good. I'm ecstatic.

Friday 11/13/09

Morning:

Elliptical program 2

Kettlebell deadlifts 24kg - 3x10

Afternoon:

Ring dips - 16x2 (first 8 sets on the minute and the rest on two minutes)

My legs are still sore from working after a while of not working...especially my operated leg. It is going away and my muscle is filling out fast. It's crazy how quickly your muscle can atrophy when you really baby it for a decent perdiod of time. I feel that my exercising right up to my surgery is making it very much easier for me to get back up to speed.

I'm also getting back to doing Z-Health Neural Warmup in the mornings along with some stretching in the morning and at night before bed.

I'll start some foam rolling again pretty soon also.

I'm going to take the weekend off, eat well, rest well and get ready to start Starting Strength next week.

Thursday 11/12/09

Afternoon:

16kg goblet squats - 3x5

Hanging l-sits - 4x 15 seconds

Swinging an 8lb sledgehammer around

I am just so thankful to be able to move again that I'm doing a lot of stuff. Pretty light, but at this point I want my mobility up to snuff. My leg is still a bit sore and stiff but I can get my goblet squats down just below parallel. Not bad for just being at 5 weeks after surgery.

Wednesday 11/11/09

Morning:

Elliptical program 1

Kettlebell deadlifts 24kg - 3x10

Afternoon:

Ring dips - 2x 1,2,3,4 1x 1,2,3

Calf raises - 2x50

I'm really just getting my left leg to move again. The atrophy is pretty crazy but it seems to be reversing now that I'm using the leg for everything again.

Walking correctly requires concentration still. My surgeon made me aware of how important it was to re-train myself to walk correctly without a limp.

Tuesday 11/10/09

Bodyweight squats - 3x5

Hanging L-sits - 4x 15 seconds

Some sledgehammer work

I just got back from my one month follow up with my surgeon regarding my hip replacement surgery.

I was given the go-ahead to do what I feel like doing! Obviously there are some things I should not do for the rest of my life like jogging, etc. but I have the green light to start training again.

I've been thinking about what my weaknesses are and I feel like raw strength is something I'm missing. My cardio is strong when I hit it hard and I'm not weak, but considering my size I'd really like to spend some months on just developing raw strength.

I've been considering Power To The People and Starting Strength and I've decided to go the SS route for now. I'll probably start next week very light...possibly even from an empty bar on all lifts and just building up slowly and making sure my form is bulletproof.

Stoked!

The bodyweight squats kicked my ass.

Monday 11/9/09

Ring dips - 10x3 done gtg style throughout the first part of the day

Hanging L-sit - 3x20 seconds

Calf raises - 2x50

Friday 11/6/09

Ring dips - 10x3 gtg style throughout the first part of the day

Hanging tuck lever (45 deg angle) - 3x 20 seconds

Calf raises - 2x50

I'm really starting to feel the groove on these and getting good tension all over.

The hanging tuck is going to be my "pull" for the moment. Any pulling aggravates the tendonitis in my left elbow. These are done with the arms straight.

Wednesday 11/4/09

Ring dips - 16x2 (first sets on the minute and the rest on two minutes)

Front levers with bent arms (45 deg angle) - 6x 10 seconds

Calf raises - 2x50

Monday 11/2/09

Ring dips - 3x 1,2,3,4,5

Ring rows (45 deg angle) - 3x8

Calf raises - 2x50

I'm feeling much better. I'm still following hip precautions and my leg still has some swelling.

Saturday 10/31/09

Ring dips - 1x2, 6x4

Ring rows (45 deg angle) - 5x5

Calf raises - 2x50

I'm consistently feeling stronger in my dips. I'm adding the angle rows to see if I can have a pull like this that won't put as much stress on my arms in the workout to avoid making the tendonitis worse.

My upper body and arms feel solid after doing this for a few weeks. My triceps are definitely picking up a bit of mass. I just eat a lot and include at least two protein shakes a day.

Thursday 10/29/09

Ring dips - 3x2, 1x3, 1x4, 2x3, 1x4

Calf raises - 2x50

I'm pretty much just doing the dips gtg style. sometimes there will be 10 minutes between sets and sometimes just 2 minutes. I'm getting stronger in these already as I got some sets of 4. A lot of it is just maintaining good tension and not letting concentration slip.

I'm healing well. The most uncomfortable part of my recovery right now is my knee. Almost 3 weeks after surgery and there are bruises that feel like they are still down to the bone. I'm glad I wasn't awake for whatever brutality it took to manipulate my leg into place during the surgery. Lots of ice, elevation and rest.

Tuesday 10/27/09

Ring dips - 7x3

Calf raises - 2x50

I just can't do pullups any more for a while. I have to let myself heal all the way. It might be that all I can really do right now are lots of ring dips. That wouldn't be terrible. I got sets of 3 today....that's more than I could do when I first got my rings set up and it feels much harder than sets of 5 on the bars.

Sunday 10/25/09

Chinups and dips (on bars) - 3x6, 2x5

Calf raises - 2x50

gtg on ring dips

The tendonitis in my left elbow is still there and I feel it more now that I'm doing some pullups. Apparently I have to completely quit pullups for a while.

I'm becoming more mobile so next session I'll do ring rows from my back on the ground instead of pullups.

I get the staples on my suture out tomorrow morning!

Friday 10/23/09

Ring pullups and dips (on bars) - 5x5

Calf raises - 2x50

gtg on ring dips

Wednesday 10/22/09

Ring pullups and dips (on bars) - 5x5

Calf raises - 2x50

I'm just resting a lot and eating a lot aside from this.

Monday 10/19/09

I did gtg ring pullups and dips throughout the day - 5x5

I figured at this point I will do this 3 times a week for a few weeks and see what I can build from this while I'm healing.

I can walk without a cane at this point if I like. I keep one in my hand just to have something extra to use in case something goes wrong.

The swelling in my leg is moving down to my feet. My wife keeps making cracks about my fat foot. I'm feeling better all the time but I still get exhausted by the middle of the day.

Friday 10/16/09

In liu of any training information I'll keep my blog updated with my rehabilitation in case it can help me or someone else down the road.

The swelling in my leg is slowly going down. I'm moving more easily all the time.

I can walk unassisted if I like or with a cane, but I use a walker for stability. My surgeon stressed using the walker to make sure that I worked on keeping a proper gait. He told me that I could most likely use a cane fairly quickly but I would be limping. This would lead to my limp lasting longer than if I use my walker and practice proper walking mechanics. This makes a lot of sense to me as it is very similar to the adage not to train over a disfunction.

For me right now the biggest worries are falling or infection.

Starting next week I'll start incorporating pullups and dips into my routine and work on regaining proper movement with my lower body. I'm eating like a horse again and concentrating on healing and recovery. Lots of chilling involved. Thank god I have a decent little home theater and about 5 billion movies to watch!

Wednesday 10/14/09

I'm back home...minus one original hip and plus a new metal on metal hip. I have a 40mm metal ball which is supposed to be fairly good sized according to my surgeon. That was just what I was looking for.

I can't believe how much better I IMMEDIATELY felt getting out of the hospital. The food was horrible and I was naseaous the whole time. I'm back in my home now and I'm out of it with an extremely sore leg but I am feeling pretty good considering.

I believe the soreness is the muscle and soft tissue that was shoved around to get my old hip out and the new one in. My surgeon avoided cutting muscle or tendon to make this happen.

It's like having a new toy...except I won't be able to play with it for a few months. :)

Monday 10/12/09

Today I have surgery to replace my hip.

Since my last entry I've just been taking it easy. I spent a few days experimenting with my new rings from Rogue Fitness. They definitely make even pushups much harder due to the lack of stability.

Goodbye left hip...you served me well for 42 years. Sorry I couldn't have taken better care of you. :)

Saturday 9/26/09 - TSC

My results from the TSC are:

Deadlift: 315
Pullups: 12
24kg snatches in 5 minutes: 95

Jordan has a post on his blog including a video HERE.

The 315 deadlift felt really good. The higher rep, lighter weight deadlifts I have done to accomodate my bad hip seemed to do the job. I felt like I could have easily hit the weight I hit in April.

I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't hit that 13th pullup. My pullups were strong and Jordan commented that my form was great. He also pointed out that I did pretty good maintaining my pullups since I went up 20lbs in bodyweight and dropped back down again for the TSC.

I was just a bit disappointed that I couldn't break 100 reps in my 24kg snatch test. My hip and knee did not allow me to prepare the same way I did for April. My strength was actually pretty good to start...I hit 24 in the first minute which was the pace I wanted. By minute 3 I was breathing hard and at the end I actually had to set the bell down twice. It was my cardio that was weak.

Even though I was fighting with my hip and knee I felt that I learned a lot of good lessons about my training and especially how to implement my programming. I think I have a decent chance of competing in April and if I hit my recovery and post op training intelligently (operative word here) I can improve on the numbers I hit this TSC if not last Aprils.

Wednesday 9/23/09

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol using VPP - 30 sets of 7 reps

gtg dips with 20lbs throughout the day - 6 sets of 4

gtg pullups with 20lbs throughout the day - 6 sets of 3

My technique is getting better already on the VPP. I could have gone on for longer, but I just wanted to get a good sweat and start breathing hard.

Since I haven't been swinging my knee is feeling better. I'm going to wait until my hip gets fixed and see if movement issues with my hip, etc. are creating a situation where my knee is not moving correctly. If it's something wrong with my knee (still!) then I need to get it fixed later.

I have a surgery date - October 12th, 2009 I will have surgery to get a full hip replacement on my left side. I have a bunch of appointments in the next few weeks, "hip" class, pre-op with my surgeon, pre-op with the anesthesia people. Everything is moving quickly now!

Did I say my last semi-hard day the other day? Apparently I lied.

Tuesday 9/22/09

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5 lbs a little farther out than midway - 3x5

8lb sledgehammer levering

Real mellow.

Monday 9/21/09

Morning:

Z-Health Neural Warmup
4lb hammer rotations 1x10/10
"Horse stance" - 1x1 min, 2x2 min

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol using VPP - 22 sets of 7 reps

I've also been gtg with weighted dips today - 20 lbs sets of 4 and weighted pullups 20lbs 2 sets of 5 and 35 lbs 3 sets of 2

Today is the last semi hard day this week. I'm going to ramp it down over the next couple days and take Thursday and Friday off.

I did the VPP with the Max VO2 because I still can't swing or snatch. This way I get some cardio and work the pressing groove. I had to stop at 22 sets...not due to cardio, but because my shoulders got tired. Jordan showed this to us at one of his workshops and even though I'm a bit sloppy with this it looks to be a great protocol.

Thursday 9/17/09

Morning:

Fighter pullups (towel grip) - 7, 6, 6, 5, 4

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5 lbs a little farther out than midway - 3x5

8lb sledgehammer levering

Stiff leg deadlifts - 28kg bell - 1x20

I'm deloading the way I planned for the TSC. I'm hoping my knee and hip will ease up on me enough to compete next Saturday. Depending on how I feel early next week I'll have a good idea. I'm hurting just walking around right now.

My weight is coming down. I'm about 186 lbs today. I've been substituting my breakfast and lunch with protein shakes: milk, whey protein isolate and milled flax seeds. For my breakfast shake I also add Alive liquid vitamins. It's worked well as I've never been this lean with this much muscle in my life.

If nothing else I'll shoot for a pullup pr next week. I'm going to keep deloading and pretty much stop everything I'm doing by Wednesday next week and cross my fingers that my knee and hip will get way better so I can snatch.

Wednesday 9/16/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 28kg - 2x5

Fighter pullups (towel grip) - 7, 6, 5, 5, 4

Afternoon:

20kg bu press - 3 ladders of 2 rungs

28kg swings - 7 sets of 10

I couldn't really swing hard today. My knee and hip are both shooting little bolts of pain whenever I drive with my hips. Not good. I hope this goes away by next week. It would be sort of funny (I suppose) if after all of this I can't compete in next Saturday's TSC. I'll have to see what happens.

Tuesday 9/15/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 28kg - 2x5

Fighter pullups (towel grip) - 7, 6, 5, 4, 4

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5 lbs a little farther out than midway - 3x5

8lb sledgehammer levering

Double bell deadlifts 24kg & 28kg bells - 2x10

I need to start tapering my effort now over the next couple of weeks. My hip is really sore all the time, my knee that I had surgery on hurts at times and my left elbow still is healing from the tendonitis. I need to concentrate on recovering :).

Monday 9/14/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 24kg - 2x5

Fighter pullups (towel grip) - 7, 6, 5, 4, 3

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 52 sets of 7 reps

Just to fill in some detail on what I'm doing...

I do the goblet squats in the morning not intending that I will get strong from it, but so that I practice the movement in the goblet squat often. I do Z-Health Neural Warmup just before the goblet squats and I do 10 rotations with a 4lb blacksmith hammer for each wrist as well. Sort of a morning tonic.

Pullups feel good. I was 190 this morning after my shake and two 16oz glasses of water. I was getting around 186 on Saturday, but per the advice of Faizal from the Dragon Door forums I had an overeating day on Sunday to help prevent my body from going into starvation mode. I feel strong and I'm getting really lean. I hope to be a solid 186 or so by next weekend.

Saturday 9/12/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 24kg - 2x5

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 20 sets of 8 reps, 30 sets of 7 reps - 50 sets total

Snatches went well today. My strength isn't the weak point any more...it's my cardio that's holding me back from more now. That's coming along though.

Friday 9/11/09

Morning:

Fighter pullups (towel grip) - 5, 5, 4, 3, 2

That's all I did today aside from a lot of recovery stuff...mostly stretching & foam rolling.

My new rafter mount pull up bar came in today. I was jealous of Jordan's new TAPS unit...I didn't have the money for something like that but I need real bar to work with. I can mount this on a beam outside that will allow me to do pull ups without needing to bend my legs. It's also a full 1 1/4" diameter with knurling. I can't wait to use it!

Thursday 9/10/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 24kg - 2x5

Fighter pullups (towel grip) - 5, 4, 4, 3, 2

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5 lbs a little farther out than midway - 3x5

8lb sledgehammer levering

Double bell deadlifts 24kg & 28kg bells - 2x20

No more cardio bs for the moment. I want to keep muscle and hopefully even gain some. The deadlifts were grueling.

Wednesday 9/9/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 24kg - 2x5

Fighter pullups (towel grip) - 5, 4, 3, 3, 2

Afternoon:

20kg bu press - 5x1/1

28kg press - 4x1/1 (except that on my left side I only made reps 1 & 3)

28kg swings - 15 sets of 10 on the minute - 150 reps in 15 minutes

My grip strength in the towel pullups is coming along so quickly it's ridiculous. Not even a hint of failing on all reps. I hung for a while at the end and would lower the last set of each rep very slowly. I'm going to bump up my ladders to 7 next week and keep up the towel grip.

The pressing I just wanted to use to maintain strength. The bu presses are good, the 28kg bell was obviously too much for me today on the left side. I should drop to the 24kg for perfect form singles or doubles next week.

Swings were good. As my weight drops I'm thinking that I need to make sure to not tear myself down. I'm going to drop the weight vest cardio in my routine now and just stay on two days VWC and one day of swings with two dl days and taper off for the TSC.

Tuesday 9/8/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 24kg - 2x5

Fighter pullups - 5, 4, 3, 2, 2 (reps from 3 down were towel pullups)

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5 lbs a little farther out than midway - 3x5

8lb sledgehammer levering

Elliptical - Program 5 (out of 6) wearing 20lb weighted vest - 30 minutes

Double bell deadlifts 24kg & 28kg bells - 2x10

I'm getting really lean now. I'm substituting a protein shake with fiber in it for lunch. I'll have another shake after workouts. It's working well.

Monday 9/7/09

Morning:

Goblet squats 24kg - 2x5

Fighter pullups - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 (reps from 3 down were towel pullups)

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 12 sets of 8 reps, 30 sets of 7 reps

The last few weeks I've been gtg with towel pullups. Just between 2 to 5 sets of 2 to 3 reps here and there when I felt like it. My grip has responded quickly and my tendonitis in the elbow looks to be healing. It is still sore and my arm is still a bit weak feeling but it is getting better. I'm thinking that I will try to work up to doing next week with towel pullups to 5 reps if possible. Without doing pullups for a month and doing row instead my pullups actually feel very strong. I bumped my head on the garage ceiling on one rep.

I'm back with Max VO2 twice a week until the TSC starting today. At that point I'll probably jump right back into the ROP until my surgery (unless my surgery happens before the TSC).

Saturday 9/5/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets to 3 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between rungs (pr)

24kg swings - 10 sets of 20 on the minute - 200 reps in 10 minutes (pr)

Not bad. I was feeling a bit beat yesterday but I recovered enough to push out 2 prs. Some of the presses got leaned to the side a bit but I definitely feel stronger on these than last week.

For my swings I just wanted to push the sets of 20 out there some more. First time I hit 200 in 10 minutes with the 24kg. All hardstyle shoulder height.

Thursday 9/3/09

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5 lbs a little farther out than midway - 3x5

8lb sledgehammer levering

Elliptical - Program 5 (out of 6) wearing 20lb weighted vest - 30 minutes

Double bell deadlifts 20kg & 24kg bells - 2x20

Tough workout. I weighed 189 lbs after my workout. I think I've settled on the weight that my calories in support. Time to eat even less for a few more weeks.

Wednesday 9/2/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets to 2 rungs with 28kg rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

24kg swings - 8 sets of 20 on the minute, 4 sets of 15 on the minute - 220 reps in 12 minutes

Pretty good workout. My left side needs more work to lock the pressing groove in.

Tuesday 9/1/09

Afternoon:

Lever block curls - 12.5 lbs a little farther out than midway - 3x5

Elliptical - Program 5 (out of 6) wearing 20lb weighted vest - 30 minutes

Double bell deadlifts 20kg & 24kg bells - 2x20

I picked up a pretty nice 40lb weighted vest on craigslist for $20. I've been looking for one and this was an awesome deal. I'm glad I took 20 lbs out for the elliptical as it really added a whole new dimension to it.

I'm simplifying things a bit more by taking out the loaded cleans on the variety days. I'm doing enough.

I met with a surgeon today to talk about options for my hip. Resurfacing is not an option, I need a full replacement. His name is Vladimir Khapchik...very straightforward, didn't lecture me and didn't talk down to me. His bio is pretty cool if you check the link.

I told him I wanted to go with him and lets do it as soon as possible. His scheduler will call me with a date for surgery. It looks like it will be this year for sure.

Monday 8/31/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets of 1 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

2 minute 24kg snatch test - 48 reps

24kg snatches 2x5/5

24kg swings 2x20

This was supposed to be a 3 minute test :). I lost focus on my breathing and form at minute 2 so I put the bell down. I tried to practice the hand switch at the bottom for the first time on this test. I got the first 2 switches down, but after that my form broke down a bit and I couldn't stay focused. I'll keep trying the switch though.

48 reps in 2 minutes is the pace I want though. 1 more minute at that pace and I would have had the 72 reps I wanted. Pretty fast pace, but that's the point of the 3 minute test...to get used to snatching faster. If I hit everything hard for this last month I should hit a pr at the TSC at least...and hopefully have a real chance at hitting 120.

Saturday 8/29/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 3 sets to 3 rungs, 2 sets to 2 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute - 100 reps in 5 minutes

It was 98 degrees today and I had to do my workout outside. It was in the shade, but it still took its toll on me.

The third reps of my c&p ladders in the first 3 sets wasn't the greatest on my left side, but I got it up and really worked hard on keeping the pressing groove correct.

I had visions of hitting a 10 minute pr today in my swings considering how quickly my endurance is coming on. However...the c&p ladders with renegade rows in the heat smoked me and on my 5th set of swings I started to get sort of light headed so I called it a day. Still a good solid workout and a stepping stone towards future progress.

Thursday 8/27/09

Afternoon:

Elliptical - Program 5 - 30 minutes

3 sets - 8lb sledgehammer levering 1/1 alternating with 28kg loaded cleans 5/5

Double bell deadlifts 20kg & 24kg bells - 2x20

The elliptical program is in there just to give me a mindless way to get rid of 200 - 300 calories and get warmed up for the rest.

I weighed in around 192 after my workout this afternoon...it was a lb or so more earlier when I was all hydrated. I've been pretty focused on my diet for the last week and it's really starting to pay off. I'm just about as lean as I was in April at the TSC and I'm about 5 lbs heavier. I'm still shooting for 180 - 185 in a month. Shouldn't be a problem at this rate.

Wednesday 8/26/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets to 2 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

24kg swings - 8 sets of 20 on the minute, 4 sets of 15 on the minute - 220 reps in 12 minutes

Swings are coming on strong. My knee that I had surgery on is sort of sore. I guess I'm going pretty hard on it ballistically.

Tuesday 8/25/09

Afternoon:

Elliptical - Program 5 - 30 minutes

3 sets - 8lb sledgehammer levering 1/1 alternating with 28kg loaded cleans 5/5

Double bell deadlifts 20kg & 24kg bells - 2x20

I thought the deadlifts would be a cake walk...um...that would not be the case.

Monday 8/24/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 24kg - 5 sets of 1 rungs with 28kg renegade rows matching reps for each arm in between ladders

24kg swings - 6 sets of 20 on the minute, 6 sets of 14 on the minute - 204 reps in 12 minutes

I missed Saturday but it was on purpose. I was feeling beat down and my joints were feeling creaky...especially my knees.

I'm going to simplify my routine just a bit more and ease up on my variety days. The circuit I was doing would most likely fit well into a size gaining cycle, but when I'm cutting calories it was kind of beating me down.

I'm going to add renegade rows in between my ladders. On my variety days I'll probably do loaded cleans (single bell) and either deadlifts or one legged deadlifts with some grip and ab work.

Thursday 8/20/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set - 4 total sets:

double cleans 1x10
renegade rows 1x8/8
double clean to front squat 1x8

It's my breathing more than anything that is getting crazy as the reps climb. I'm pressurizing my abdomen for the rr and squats and on the last reps I really want to start breathing hard. Good workout though...this routine is a winner so far. We'll see what the results are like in a few more weeks.

Wednesday 8/19/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 sets of 4 rungs

24kg swings - 7 sets of 20 on the minute, 5 sets of 14 on the minute - 210 reps in 12 minutes

This routine feels like an old friend. It's not actually that long ago when I first was doing the ROP though...only about 1 year ago. I've come pretty far.

My swings are feeling strong. I'm very happy with the way I feel like I'm moving in the swings. I am still practicing and looking for the perfect form.

I was about 195 today. I feel like I'm thickening up to be honest...I think its the circuit I'm doing T/Th. Still...I need to eat just a bit less.

Tuesday 8/18/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set - 4 total sets:

double cleans 1x10
renegade rows 1x7/7
double clean to front squat 1x7

I got 7 reps this time for the rr and front squats (except for set 3 where I screwed up my breathing and had to put em down after rep 6 :) ).

After each of the exercises sweat showers from me and my breathing and heart rate are...pretty high. Once I get to 10 for each exercise I'll think about moving up. I don't have another 24kg so the jump would be to 24kg & 28kg bells which would be a 17 lb jump. Doable I guess...I'll see when I get there...lol.

Monday 8/17/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 ladders to 3 rungs

3 minute 24kg snatch test - 66 reps

Hey not bad...my snatch form wasn't as tight as when I'm hitting the Max VO2, but my wind is pretty good from the swings I've been doing. My hip drive has some strength also. Last test I got 61 reps and I wanted 64....66 is pretty decent. I wasn't breathing as hard at the end of the test compared to last time either. That will help when the test gets extended to the full 5 minutes. I need to increase my swing times.

Saturday 8/15/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 sets of 4 rungs

24kg swings - 6 sets of 20 on the minute, 6 sets of 13 on the minute - 198 reps in 12 minutes

I had my pressing ladders all screwed up this week :). I should have gone to 5 sets of 2 rungs on Monday and 3 rungs on Wednesday. Oh well. Pressing was great today. In my later sets I was really feeling the groove on the way up and down. Very solid feeling - my lat was feeling more engaged than ever sucking my shoulder down. I'm still not second nature on everything zipping up as I still have to consciously squeeze my glutes and abs. I'm getting better control all the time. That's why I practice!

Swings are coming along. I'm going to have to get some kind of variation in intensity during the week to go with the ROP style light, medium and heavy days. I'm thinking something like 12 minutes on Monday, 15 on Wednesday and 20 on Saturday. I need to push the sets of 20 to at least 8 minutes soon. It is a matter of mentally driving yourself at that point as my heart is beating like a jackhammer and it's hard to commit to another set of 20 swings and control every breath during the set.

But that is part of the practice...the mental control over how much suffering you can endure. Not suffering in the sense that you are damaging yourself, but in the sense that you can push the limit of discomfort that can be endured. Trying to study it objectively almost in a meditative state seems to help. Observe what is happening and learn to control the fear reaction or whatever it is that holds us back when things become difficult.

Good workout today. I feel great. Weight is around 197 today. I've been back on the warrior diet since school ended and been fairly strict on it. I try not to eat anything at all until my overeating period starts, but I will have an apple before my workout, a carb mixture (that I'm almost out of and won't be using for a while) and a post workout shake of milk and protein powder. I also sometimes will have a handful of nuts or something very small. Tons of water constantly.

It's been hard to drop weight though I've been working hard and I'm getting leaner. I need to take a few hundred calories out consistently and I bet things start going down again. It's a fine line since I really want to keep all the strength possible.

Thursday 8/13/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set for 2 sets: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x7/7, double clean to front squat 1x7

2 sets: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x5/5, double clean to front squat 1x5

Moving up to 7 reps was tough...I backed off to 5 for the last 2 rounds.

I saw an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser. He immediately recognized that I need a surgery after looking at an x-ray of my left hip. He did refer me to a surgeon that does hip resurfacing to talk about the likelihood that I could get a resurfacing instead of a replacement. I will find out more later, but the surgeon I saw today did not think a resurfacing would work as the bone on top of the femur is dead and I have three large screws that would need to be removed as well leaving the femur weak. It may end up being a full replacement. I'll know more in the beginning of September.

Wednesday 8/12/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 5 sets of 4 rungs

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute, 7 sets of 12 on the minute - 184 reps in 12 minutes

I'm just going to keep adding a rep here and there to my sets of swings. I bumped it up to 12 minutes total.

Tuesday 8/11/09

Afternoon:

Circuit with double bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set for 4 total sets: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x6/6, double clean to front squat 1x6

This is a tough little routine. I need to work on that explosive drive with my hips. My abs are crying when I'm driving up in the squats.

Monday 8/10/09

Afternoon:

C&P ladders - 20kg - 3 sets of 5 rungs

In the interest of both simplifying my routine and being a little bit more goal specific I will be doing ETK pressing ladders M/W/F instead of TGU and the pushups. I'm going to do light, medium and heavy days as spelled out in RTK. Wednesday and Friday I'm going to do 4 rungs. Next week I'll jump to 5 rungs and hopefully the week after that I'll start from the beginning with the 24kg bell.

But I was thinking about things I was doing that were complicating my routine and overlapping. My goal that I can current work on without anything getting in my way is my pressing....so I should do some pressing instead of tgu AND pushups. I'll work my swings hard as well. My elbow isn't too sore, but it is weak feeling. And even though I love doing them I'm going to ditch the hindu squats. The double bell front squats twice a week will be plenty. An effective routine is a simple one.

Just finished the summer quarter at Foothill College with two online courses: Concepts of Exercise Physiology for Fitness and Nutrition for Sports and Fitness. I got an A in each of course. I have the time now to invest in learning more about fitness...summer was tough because it was condensed into a six week quarter.

Friday 8/7/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 80

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 1x18, 2x17

Afternoon:

Tgu - 24kg - 5x1/1

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute, 5 sets of 11 on the minute

My morning routine is more along the lines of a wake up type of thing to get my blood pumping first thing. I don't think I'm going to go for very high reps in the hindu squats. For me 100 seems like a decent amount for muscle endurance without really going too hard. The elevated pushups are for a few reasons: vanity (to get some balance to the back and shoulder mass I've been slowly adding) and to help with my pressing in the long term. In the few weeks since I've started with my feet elevated I swear my triceps have already added some mass. This is one area that I've wanted to do a little work on to help my long term pressing goals.

Thursday 8/6/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 70

Afternoon:

Circuit with 2 bells 20kg & 24kg alternating sides each set - 4 total sets of: double cleans 1x10, renegade rows 1x5/5, double clean to front squat 1x5

This routine is awesome! It was fun to do but definitely challenging. I won't need any ab work other than this that's for sure. I'm thinking that this is what I will do on T/Th for now with the PM on M/W/F. It feels good and I really like working the basics hard. I also feel that this will contribute to the goals I have set while allowing me to work around the injuries I'm sporting.

Wednesday 8/5/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 60

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 1x17, 1x15, 1x11

Afternoon:

Tgu - 24kg - 3x1/1

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute, 5 sets of 10 on the minute

I'm just going to go with this simple routine for now and concentrate on getting lean. Once I can get up to 10 sets of 20 on the minute I'll start adding time and work up to 20 minutes.

Tuesday 8/4/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 90

Afternoon:

Pullups - bw ladders 4x 1,2,3,4,5 1x 1,2,3,4 2x 1,2,3 - 82 total

Kind of a bummer, but my left elbow was extremely sore and weak feeling after these pullups...looks like tennis elbow. My theory is that (Jordan had told me this before) that the snatches were hitting alot of the same areas that the pullups were. I think that with the volume of pullups I was doing as part of the Armstrong Pullup Program and possibly along with the snatching I was doing that I developed an overuse issue in my left elbow. I think it's clear that the APP was too much volume for me (at least for now) even though I was regularly getting stronger on it. In the future I think that Pavel's Fighter Pullup Plan may be a bit easier on me volume wise but that would most likely depend on the program I am using aside from pullups.

This is a setback for sure as...it looks like 3 weeks minimum without doing any aggravating exercise is recommended for recovery from tendonitis. Even though I couldn't deadlift I was still happy doing pullups and snatching.

Right now, I'm starting to wonder if I should move back into just a simple Program Minimum routine three days a week (M/W/F) and maybe add one or two simple movements on two days (T/Th). Dialing back from what I'm doing would be the smart decision.

Monday 8/3/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 80

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 3x17

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 52 sets of 7 reps

Feeling good. The MaxVO2 went well and I could have ground out more sets, but I'm moving forward and I know that once I start doing 50 and (soon) 60 sets that 80 is just around the corner.

I saw my new primary care physician today and got a referral for an orthopedic surgeon next Thursday.

Saturday 8/1/09

Afternoon:

3 minute 24kg snatch test - 61 reps

I had enough time to get at least two more reps in, but my breathing was starting to get out of control so I figured it would be prudent to put the bell down. Not bad....I was hoping for around 64 reps. I had the cadence speed correct, my cardio is hard pressed to support that rate though. I'm back on MaxVO2 now, so it will be interesting to see how fast I pick up reps. If I want 120 at the TSC I'm going to have to hit 72 reps in the 3 minute test.

Friday 7/13/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 70

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 2x17, 1x15

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 44 sets of 7 reps

What's kind of funny is that I'm getting hindu squats back into my routine to help my knees feel better. My left knee was getting sore as I'm sure it is still healing from the surgery. Surprisingly the hindu squats are making it feel much better.

My weight was around 197 lbs today during my workout. I'm getting leaner and the weight is coming down. I'm starting to think that 180 is going to be a great goal. With the muscle I've gained I should be very lean at that point. I'm postive that a pullup pr will result at that weight as well.

Thursday 7/30/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 60

Afternoon:

8lb sledgehammer levering

16kg bu presses 1x3/3, 20kg bu presses 1x2/2, 24kg bu presses 1x1/1

Goblet squats - 20kg 1x8, 24kg 1x8, 28kg 1x8

Starting to ease back into my routine. Still no pullups this week. I'm counting on jumping back into twice a week next week.

Wednesday 7/28/09

Evening:

Hindu squats - 50

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 3x15

Monday 7/27/09

Afternoon:

Pushups with feet elevated 24" - 3x15

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 40 sets of 7 reps

I was still feeling beat up last week with a sore left elbow from pullups, a sore knee and I got a cold when my sister visited from Eureka. I took off a few days to try to allow my body to heal up. My elbow is still a bit sore...I'll see how pullups tomorrow affect it.

Tuesday 7/21/09

Afternoon:

8lb sledgehammer levering

Pullups - bw ladders 2x 2,3,4,5,6 3x 1,2,3,4,5 3x 2,3 - 100 total

Goblet squats - 20kg 1x7, 24kg 1x7, 28kg 1x7

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 1x 3x around the backyard, 2x 2 1/2 times around the backyard

L-sits - 2x30 seconds

Monday 7/20/09

Afternoon:

16kg bu presses 2x1/1, 20kg bu presses 2x1/1, 24kg bu presses 2x1/1

Tgu - 20kg continuous reps 1x4/4, 1x2/2, 3x1/1

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute

One more week of this and then back to VO2 Max. These two weeks of this PM style workout are intended as a bit of a backoff since my elbow was getting sore and my shoulder felt a bit sore from the pressing ladders I was doing. I'm going to stay on 2 days a week for pullups for now until the soreness is completely gone.

Saturday 7/18/09

Afternoon:

16kg bu presses 2x1/1, 20kg bu presses 2x1/1, 24kg bu presses 2x1/1 (pr)

Tgu - 20kg continuous reps 1x4/4, 4x1/1

24kg swings - 7 sets of 20 on the minute

The 24kg bu press pr snuck up on me. I don't believe I've ever been able to hit a 24kg bu press before, much less on each side. They felt heavy, but solid. I've really been trying to pay attention to my tension and my pressing groove lately. The grip work I've been doing with the sledgehammer levering and the farmers walks seems to help also. Stoked!

The swings are still tough, but my strength is coming back. Today it was in the 7th set that I started losing power in driving the bell up. I still need to get back a bit more consistently, but my form is feeling better each time. I'm working on making each rep correct. I know I'm on the right track because my glutes especially, but my hamstrings also are feeling it when I finish.

I was plugged in for this workout yesterday, but I was feeling lethargic so I put it off 'till today. It was a good workout.

Thursday 7/16/09

Afternoon:

16kg bu presses 3x1/1, 20kg bu presses 1x1/1

8lb sledgehammer levering

Pullups - 16kg around waist - 10x1

Goblet squats - 20kg 1x6, 24kg 1x6, 28kg 1x6

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 1x 3x around the backyard, 2x 2 times around the backyard

L-sits - 2x30 seconds

Pullups felt fine. I hit my forearms good before them and iced my elbow afterwards. Hopefully that does the trick. I weighed about 202 lbs today during pullups. Obviously I am taking in too many calories. The chocolate pudding I got from Trader Joe's isn't helping I'm sure, lol.

I'm going to shoot for being around 195 lbs by next weekend.

As I was putting the dumbells down after the first set of farmers walks around the backyard I stepped on a bee and got stung on the bottom of my foot.

Wednesday 7/15/09

Afternoon:

Tgu - 20kg continuous reps 1x4/4, 3x1/1

24kg swings - 6 sets of 20 on the minute

The swings are just brutal at this point. I'm working on making each one a perfect hardstyle swing. At the end it was my strength that gave out as my wind would have allowed another set. My muscles just weren't able to push the bell up to shoulder height on the last set. I'll just keep working on these and adding sets as often as I can.

I'm getting back to the basics and I love it!

I'll see how my T/Th days go. Yesterday was pretty hard on my cns, but the high volume of pullups had something to do with it I'm sure. My elbow got really sore after yesterday. If it keeps doing that I'll have to lay off pullups for a few weeks.

Tuesday 7/14/09

Afternoon:

8lb sledgehammer levering

Pullups - bw ladders 1,2,3,4,5 x6, 1,2,3,4 - 100 total

Goblet squats - 20kg 1x5, 24kg 1x5, 28kg 1x5

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 3x 2 1/4 times around the backyard

L-sits - 2x30 seconds

My pullup endurance feels pretty good. I made it through 100 reps in pretty good form.

Goblet squats sure get the ol' heart rate up. I think I'll work on upping reps to 10 and then moving up a bell size.

Monday 7/13/09

Afternoon:

Tgu - 20kg continuous reps 3/3, 1 1/2/1 1/2, 1/1, 1/1

24kg swings - 5 sets of 20 on the minute, 20, 15

I was starting to feel a little beat down by the end of last week. My left elbow was getting pretty sore from the volume of pullups I was doing and my left should was a bit strained from the pressing ladders I did last Wednesday. For the next two weeks I'm going to be doing TGU and swings on M/W/F and high/low volume pullups and goblet squats on T/Th.

This should give my body a bit of a break from the volume of the Armstrong Pullup Program and Max VO2. I'm planning on going back into that same basic structure after two weeks. According to Pavel's block training protocols laid out in RTK I should be able to ease right back into what I was doing. Depending on how this feels I may jump back and forth between these two blocks of training as they are "similar but different". Both blocks should help address my current goals.

My weight is hovering at about 198 lbs. I'm purposely trying to move this down slowly, but I do need to concentrate on a few less Calories every day to have this drop just a bit quicker. I feel that a body weight of 185 or so may end up being more advantageous for my current goals than the 195 I have up at the moment. I would most likely be pretty close to 10% body fat at that weight and I bet my pullups will be very strong as well.

Thursday 7/9/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x22

Afternoon:

8lb sledgehammer levering

Armstrong pullup program - 7x5, 4

One legged deadlifts - 28kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 2x10/10

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 3x twice around the backyard

L-sits - 2x30 seconds

Pullups are getting stronger every week. I started doing sledgehammer levering before my pullups to warm my elbows and forearms up. I'm cautiously thinking that these are helping the soreness I was starting to feel in my left elbow. It's also helping my wrist strength to do a bit of levering more often as my 8 lb hammer feels more manageable all the time. I'd like to stay on this program for another week or two before I back off and test myself. I'll see what my elbow has to say about that. I weighed in at 198 for pullups today.

The l-sits are pretty tough atm. My legs start to droop at the end of the second set. I'll work these up to 3 sets and then start slowly increasing time. I heard somewhere that getting these up to 1 minute is a good goal and that sounds pretty reasonable to me.

Wednesday 7/8/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x22

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - pullups 3x4, chinups 3x4, parallel grip pullups 3x4

24kg press - 4 ladders of 3 rungs

24kg swings - 6 sets of 20 on the minute

Swings are getting a little better. I'm huffing and puffing like crazy. Part of this is still my hammies and glutes getting used to driving the bell.

I need to warm up a bit before pullups. I'm getting a bit sore in my left inner elbow area lately. Some 15 lb clubell swings and a bit of sledgehammer levering definitely helped loosen it up.

Tuesday 7/7/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x22

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 7, 5

One legged deadlifts - 28kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 2x10/10

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 3x twice around the backyard

8lb sledgehammer levering

L-sits - 2x30 seconds

Ladder to 7 and another set of 7 even though I couldn't get the 8th rung are way stronger than last week. I weighed 200 lbs even during my pullups. I managed to eat pretty moderately at my Mom's and actually weigh a few lbs less after the weekend.

The farmers walks seem to be working. My forearms are burning less by the end. I'll start 3x around next week.

Saturday 7/4/09

Morning:

Pullups - 4x8

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 50 sets of 7 reps

It's nice and cool up here in Eureka, CA. That made it a bit easier to hit 50 sets in Max VO2 for the first time in a while. I was breathing hard and sweating tons, but it is definitely coming back.

My weight is still around 203 lbs right now. I haven't been committing to cutting calories enough to really start dropping. It's not getting any easier up here at my mom's house. For instance...Margaret and I rolled in last night at 8:00 and my mom had my favorite german meal ready for us: Sauerkraut and wurstchen. It was great...but there is no way that this weekend I'm going to be losing any weight. I'll start working on it a bit more seriously next week. I still have some months to go, but I need to lean out a bit to hit higher reps in my pullups.

Friday 7/3/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x21

We're on the road today to visit my Mom in Eureka. I'm bringing my Iron Gym pullup bar, 16kg bell, Gymboss, etc.

Thursday 7/2/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x21

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 6x5, 3

One legged deadlifts - 24kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 2x10/10

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 3x twice around the backyard

8lb sledgehammer levering

Wheel rollouts from knees - 3x10

This is a pretty good workout. I think the farmers walks are pretty tough on my hip. I'll give these another week. I may convert these to l-sits for time. That would give me a good grip workout without loading my hip. It will also complement the wheel rollouts I'm doing.

Wednesday 7/1/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x21

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - pullups 3x4, chinups 3x4, parallel grip pullups 3x4

24kg press - 3 ladders of 3 rungs

24kg swings - 4 sets of 20 on the minute, 1 more set of 20

Pullups feel strong, my presses feel good but my cardio is definitely lacking. I took too much time off from swings. I know that I didn't have much of a choice, but it does leave you quickly. I need to start working up some good stamina with a minimum of the 24kg bell if I'm going to be strong in my 24kg snatches.

My hip is sore most of the time now. I hope I don't have to wait a whole month before I can start working with an orthopedic surgeon at Kaiser towards getting my hip resurfaced. I will find out tonight how long I have to wait. I want to get my hip fixed as soon as possible.

Tuesday 6/30/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x21

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 6, 5

One legged deadlifts - 24kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 2x10/10'

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 3x twice around the backyard

Wheel rollouts from knees - 3x10

Pullups were stronger than last week. Couldn't quite make the rung of 7, but pretty close.

Monday 6/29/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x21

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 10, 7, 5, 5, 4

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 46 sets of 7 reps

I was about 200 lbs today.

Saturday 6/27/09

Noon:

24kg bell 3 minute snatch test - 59 reps

I was hoping for at least 60 but I took a few pause breaks at lockout too long to catch up at the end. I was just firing my hips for rep number 60 when the beeper sounded so it didn't count.

Still...I am right where I want to be. I was breathing pretty hard at the end but I got through it without needing to put the bell down.

I figured I needed to get this out of the way asap because it will be 90 plus today.

The FMS corrections I am doing per Jordan's direction are really helping my hip feel better. I could swear it is clicking less as well.

Friday 6/26/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x18

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 4, 2

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 36 sets of 7 reps

I had a tweak in my left wrist (that I've had two surgeries on) so I have left out grip specific stuff lately. I'm going to re-think how I add grip into my workouts for now as my two real goals are snatches and pullups at the moment. I believe that my wrist strength is a limiting factor right now so I may just do assistance exercises for a while with some bending and tearing gtg style. I'll play this one by ear.

Max VO2 I could have gone for more sets but my form was breaking down just a bit and I have plenty of time to ease into this. I'll do a 3 minute test with the 24kg bell tomorrow to see where I am there. 60 reps would be satisfactory at this point.

Thursday 6/25/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x18

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 11x4, 3

One legged deadlifts - 24kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 2x10/10

Wheel rollouts from knees - 3x10

Feeling like a broken record but...my pullups are feeling super strong. I wanted 9 training sets today and I got 11. Next week my training sets for day 3 will be 4 reps. I was about 202 lbs today.

I practiced Jordan's corrections from the FMS he did for me before the one legged dl. They definitely helped me feel more solid in my hips. My left leg felt much better.

Wednesday 6/24/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x18

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - pullups 3x3, chinups 3x3, parallel grip pullups 3x3

20kg press - 4x5/5

20kg swings - 8 sets of 20 on the minute

Pullups felt great. Strong all the way through.

I was going to do tgu but I would have to put the dogs outside to do it and it was super hot. I just had them stay in the cool house and lay in their beds while I did some presses.

The swings went better than I thought. My wind is coming back pretty quickly. I'm going to shoot for 20 minutes of this and then start moving up bell sizes again.

I saw the doctor for my hip this morning. I do not have a torn labrum. They do not know why my hip is "clicking". It could be a tendon snapping over something or it could be extra fluid in the joint. My feeling is that it is a tendon moving over something that isn't shaped the way it should be. Because...

I do have avascular necrosis in the bone due to my past injury (crushed femur head) from about 4 years ago. The head of the femur is now partially collapsed and no longer "round". Due to this it is a "square peg in a round hole" as the doctor said. This is scraping away at the cartilage in the joint which is causing arthritis in my hip.

Based on my desired level of physical activity it sounds like my best option is a hip resurfacing. I'm changing insurance right now so there will be a delay in getting "fixed". At least I know what is going on and what I want to pursue to get better. I want this out of the way so I can do my rehab and get back to working without discomfort again.

Tuesday 6/23/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x18

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4

One legged deadlifts - 24kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 1x10/10

Wheel rollouts from knees - 3x10

I made it to a pullup ladder of 6 reps today which is better than the ladder to 5 I did last week. I'm about 202 lbs today.

My goal is to very slowly lose weight until September. When I checked my bodyfat with calipers after the April TSC I was at about 14.5% bodyfat. I'd like to settle in a bit lower than that hopefully and weigh more than the 188 I weighed in April. 195 is my goal. I'm trying not to lose more than around a pound a week right now. It's pretty tough to get it that close, but hopefully by this weekend I'll be just around 200 even.

The one legged deadlift is a tough movement to lock in just right. Once I feel like I'm "owning" the sets a bit more I'll probably add a set for now and see how that goes. Once I can hit 3 sets solid I'll give the 28kg bell a whirl.

The wheel rollouts are feeling stronger as well.

Monday 6/22/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x18

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 10, 6, 5, 4, 4

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 42 sets of 7 reps

Farmers walk - 50 lb dumbell in each hand - 3 times around the backyard

8 lb sledgehammer levering and rotations

Friday 6/19/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x15

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 4, 3

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 32 sets of 7 reps

I'm not doing my hardest day per the Armstrong Pullup Plan which most likely would have been 5 maximum sets. The ladder is fairly easy on me and will get me warmed up and doing a decent number of pullups without going all out for 5 (which is from day 1 that feels hardest to me).

Max VO2 is getting a bit better. I felt more comfortable again. My form was breaking down at the end and it was getting hard to synch my breathing and tension correctly. Still...I'm starting to feel the groove again. I still have to get my hips a little farther back.

Thursday 6/18/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x15

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 8x4, 3

One legged deadlifts - 24kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 1x10/10

Wheel rollouts from knees - 3x5

Looks like training sets of 3 for day 3 are right on the money. I hope to get at least 9 sets of 4 next week on day 4.

I'm at 204 lbs right now.

Wednesday 6/17/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x15

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - pullups 3x3, chinups 3x3, pullups 3x3

I was also going to do swings today but I got a dye injection deep into my hip for the CT scan I had this afternoon. The Novocain is wearing off and my hip is getting...uncomfortable.

My pullups are feeling strong. My training sets tomorrow will be sets of 4. I'm excited to see how these will progress now.

Tuesday 6/16/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x15

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 5, 4

Wheel rollouts from knees - 3x5

One legged deadlifts - 24kg bell in hand of the leg doing the work 1x10/10

The one legged deadlifts are tough to do with correct form. I really had to tighten up for these.

Monday 6/15/09

Morning:

Pushups - 3x15

Afternoon:

Armstrong pullup program - 10, 7, 5, 5, 4

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 26 sets of 7 reps

Tore and quartered 40 cheap cards (to start...ended up being around 34 or so).

Bending - 4 green nails in a mix of do and du styles, 4 7" 3/16" sq. crs bars

I'm going to do the following every morning for now:

Z Health Neural Warmup
RKC arm bars - 16 kg for 30 seconds, 20 kg for 20 seconds, 24 kg for 10 seconds. I'll slowly increase the time on these.
Some foam rolling for my it bands and quads
Hamstring and hip stretching

Man...not having done swings or even that much cardio sure has taken its toll. I know this will come on quickly though and I'll bring it on slow and steady.

I took a lot of days off since last weeks workout. My hip was really aching so I really wanted to give it some time to rest up before I started in on this next cycle.

Pullups felt tough, but I'm happy to have 10 as my first maximum effort set. I'm still about 204 lbs right now so I'm happy with the pullup strength I have right now. I should easily get the pullups I want by the time of the TSC.

I'm back on the warrior diet as of today. Since I was thinking of food so much today I decided to take Tracy Reifkind's advice posted on her blog and got a pressure cooker! Actually I got two of them...the Fagor combo set with both a 4 and an 8 quart pressure cooker. Looking forward to making some good food!

Tuesday 6/9/09

Afternoon:

15 lb clubbell swipes

8 lb sledgehammer levering

Bending - 5 green nails in a mix of do and du styles, 3/16" square crs bar, grade 2 bolt

Monday 6/8/09

Afternoon:

Squats - 65 lbs x10, 85 lbs x10, 135 lbs x5, 135 lbs x20

Pullups - 20 lbs around waist 6x3, 15 lbs around waist 14x3

Single kettlebell pressing - 3x3 20kg, 3x2 24kg, 3x1 28kg

Squats are getting pretty tough at this point. I only have three more sessions scheduled for these in the next couple of weeks

I'm 205 lbs right now which is 17 lbs more than I weighed at the April TSC. Pullups are tough. I dropped the weight to make sure I kept good form.

My presses are stronger and stronger feeling. My form with the 28kg bell is getting much stricter.

Saturday 6/6/09

Afternoon:

Elliptical machine - program 5

Tore and quartered 40 cheap cards (to start...ended up being around 34 or so). Quartered 28 cards

Bending - 6 5 1/2" 3/16" dia. crs bars, 6 green nails in a mix of do and du styles, 2 grade 2 bolts

8 lb sledge levering

I bought a box of 1/4"x6" bolts at Home Depot. I don't think they are grade 2 though...I can barely get them to bend. lol. I was looking for some 60D nails also but couldn't find any. I need to get some stock that will get me to the yellow nail faster. I just need something a bit tougher than the grade 2 bolts I got from Fat Bastard Barbell Company.

I went to press the 32kg bell again to show off for my wife, Margaret. It seems like I can press it fairly easily on my right side now. My left side I was able to do an assisted press...not helping with the lift, but just stabilizing it from the side as Pavel demonstrates in ETK bonus materials (I think). I can't believe how fast my pressing strength is going up right now.

Friday 6/5/09

I was just messing around, feeling strong because I'm eating like crazy....and pressed the 32kg bell on my right side. My left wasn't going up. The press was leaning for sure but it went up to lockout. As a sidenote...the 24kg is feeling pretty light now. I can easily do 5 presses in a row on each side. I didn't want to go for a full pr there as I still have a workout to do later this afternoon. Stoked!

Afternoon:

Squats - 65 lbs x10, 85 lbs x10, 130 lbs x5, 130 lbs x20

Pullups - 20 lbs around waist 5, 5, 3, 3, 5x2

Press - 110 lbs 3x5

My pressing is paying off. I'm still using a bit of english but it doesn't feel excessive and I'm not using my hips or dipping at all to drive the bar up...just leaning back a bit on some reps.

The squats had me breathing pretty hard after 10 or so. The last 5 reps required some drive, but I'm really feeling my glutes being activated on the drive up and feeling strong.

I only have a couple more weeks of this routine to go but I think I'll change my pullups on this day to ladders. I was shooting for 5x5 and then adding weight but since I'm gaining weight as well it is hard to get an accurate idea of how my strength is progressing with them.

I'm around 204 or so right now.

Wednesday 6/3/09

Afternoon:

Deadlift - 135 lbs 2x20, 1x10

Single kettlebell pressing - 3x3 20kg, 3x2 24kg, 3x1 28kg

These deadlifts don't hurt my hip but man did I feel these in my glutes.

The 28kg presses require my form to be right on. If the bell wanders off path it ain't going up.

I'm getting noticeably bigger. I've still been keeping my weight going up steadily. I should be around 205 by this weekend. It will be interesting to see how much lean mass I've gained when I cut the fat I've gained. My abs still show, but I'm definitely softer. Still...it's crazy how well gaining works when you listen to the right people.

Tuesday 6/2/09

Evening:

Elliptical machine - program 5

Tore and quartered 35 cheap cards (started as 40 and shed some disintegrated cards)

Bending - 5 5 1/2" 3/16" dia. crs bars, 5 5" 3/16" dia. crs bars in a mix of do and du styles, 1/4"x6" grade 2 bolts, attempt at 5/16"x6" grade 2 bolt

Big difference between the 5/16" and the 1/4" grade 2 bolts. I couldn't even get the 5/16" to bend which would make it tougher than the yellow nail. At least I got a bend in that. I need to find a good in between piece of steel that will get me to owning the yellow nails.

Monday 6/1/09

Afternoon:

Squats - 65 lbs x10, 85 lbs x10, 120 lbs x5, 120 lbs x20

Pullups - 37.5 bs around waist 10x2

Press - 110 lbs 2x5, 1x4

20 reps is a lot when you have a barbell on your back. Last reps I'm feeling ready for the set to end. That's how it's supposed to be.

I didn't get the full 3x5 on the press. I'll repeat this weight on Friday and see how it goes up. Just like the kettlebell presses, technique is key.

Saturday 5/30/09

Afternoon:

Elliptical machine - program 5

Tore and quartered 38 cheap cards (pr). Tore 35 cards x2

Bending - 8 5 1/2" 3/16" dia. crs bars, 6 5" 3/16" dia. crs bars in a mix of do and du styles, 2 grade 2 bolts

Blob style with an upside down 15 lb GoFit bell

8 lb sledge levering

That was the strongest I've felt with these cheap decks of cards. The 38 card tear and quarter was done without shedding any of the cards from falling apart. Grip held them together well.

Friday 5/29/09

Afternoon:

Squats - 65 lbs x10, 85 lbs x10, 110 lbs x5, 110 lbs x20

Pullups - 20 lbs around waist 5, 5, 4, 3, 2

Pressing - 20kg bell - 10 sets of 5/5

I'll see how far I can go with the 20 reps in the next few weeks. I'll add 10 lbs a workout for now.

Pullups were tough. I feel strong but I'm about 200 lbs now so reps are going down.

Pressese didn't feel like they were dominated at the last few sets.

Wednesday 5/27/09

Afternoon:

Good mornings - 1x65 lbs, 2x85 lbs, 1x95 lbs

Deadlift - 20x135 lbs

Press - 95 lbs 5x5

I'm experimenting a bit since heavier deadlifts are making my hip hurt. I know that doing the goodmornings And the deadlifts is more than I should be doing. I'll figure out how I want to do this but most likely I'll keep the one high rep set of light deadlifts once a week until I get my hip sorted out.

Tuesday 5/27/09

Afternoon:

Elliptical machine - program 5

Sledge levering

Pinch lever block with 12.5 lbs at the end 3x5

Bending - 6 5 1/2" 3/16" dia. crs bars, 6 green nails in a mix of do and du styles

Tore and quartered 36 cheap cards.

I'm going to do the elliptical machine just to get some form of cardio while my hip calms down. Hopefully I'll be able to get back to doing swings again. I tried 16kg snatches 7/7 today and they didn't feel bad. I should be able to hit Max VO2 again in a few weeks.

Monday 5/25/09

Afternoon:

Squats - 65 lbs 1x10, 100 lbs 3x10

Pullups - 16kg (35 lbs) bell around waist 10x2

3x3 20kg, 3x2 24kg, 3x1 28kg

The squats at this weight aren't bothering my hip. It was the heavy deadlifting the other day that made it feel pretty bad for this last week.

The pullups went pretty well. They felt pretty strong and my weight is still climbing up there. I'm around 196 or so right now.

The pressing went awesome! All reps of the 28kg were brought up by strength without a push or assist. They were ugly no doubt and I was definitely leaning but this is a big difference. My pressing is definitely paying off. Just have to keep at it patiently.

Saturday 5/23/09

Afternoon:

8 lb sledgehammer levering and tossing back and forth

Tore some cheap cards. Tore and quartered 35 cards.

Bending - 10 7" 3/16" dia. crs bars, 5 green nails in a mix of do and du styles

Friday 5/22/09

Afternoon:

Bending - 10 7" 3/16" dia. crs bars, 3 green nails

Squats - 65 lbs 1x10, 95 lbs 3x10

Press - 105 lbs 3x5

Pullups - 20 lbs 2x5, 5x3

I'm trying to find something light that won't hurt my all of a sudden gimped out hip. These lightweight squats like this seem to work better. The heavy deadlifts the other day have to be the culprit for really making me sore. I think I'll try lighter goodmornings instead of deadlifts this next week and see how that works.

Wednesday 5/20/09

Afternoon:

Deadlift - 5x275, 5x250, 6 sets of 5x220

Pressing - 20kg bell - 10 sets of 5/5

Good workout. Maybe doing my first ever bear type dl workout wasn't the best idea after getting home from driving to Visalia and back again for work today. I left home at 6:45 and it was about 3 hours and 20 minutes or so each way with a stop in the middle for me to submit drawings for plan check. So being in a car for almost 7 hours and then dl workout...brilliant! I have a pull in my back now. Should be something I can work through.

I met with a sports doctor the other day that took some x-rays of my hip and showed me that the blood flow in my damaged hip is not up to snuff and the bone is dying. He didn't have the x-rays from immediately after my surgery (4 years ago) to compare so he had no idea if this was recent or the same as it was then. He also ignored what I told him about possibly tearing or pulling a muscle in my groin a few months ago. He was a fancy doctor and they were busy. I'm thinking he brushed me off because he didn't want to deal with me.

He told me I should never lift heavy again!

I did make an appointment with the guy who did my surgery in a few weeks. He seemed to be a straight shooter and I'll talk over all options with him. I may need another surgery...

Instead of getting bummed (I'm lying...yesterday I was bummed) I will keep on what I'm doing right now and see what my hip surgeon has to say about options.

I'm getting bigger and I'm getting stronger. Lots of food and a half gallon of milk will do that along with three heavy days a week of training. Two other days are intended to be very light with grip work only and two days off. 32kg press here I come!

Monday 5/18/09

Evening:

Squats - 120 lbs 5x5

Press - 100 lbs 5x5

Pullups with 20 lbs - 3x5, 4, 3

Everything feels pretty good. I'm getting heavier but I hit more reps in my pullups than last workout. I'm getting stronger.

Friday 5/15/09

Afternoon:

Squats - 110 lbs 5x5

Pressing - 10x5/5 20kg, 10x5/5 16kg

Pullups with 20 lbs (supersetted with first 5 sets of presses) - 2x5, 4, 3, 3

It's really nice to be sqatting again.

My pressing is starting to feel more solid. I did 10 sets with the 20kg bell this time. I'll keep increasing the sets I do with that bell until I'm doing all 20 sets.

Pullups feel hard. I'm gaining weight and that in itself makes a big difference in how strong pullups feel. I'll just keep working the 20 lbs and using the weight I gain as a gauge as to how strong I'm getting. My other pullup day I'll probably work heavy singles and doubles to work on my 1 rm strength.

Wednesday 5/13/09

Evening:

Deadlift - 235 lbs 2x5, 255 lbs 2x3, 275 lbs 2x2

Press - 45 lbs 1x5, 65 lbs 1x5, 75 lbs 1x5, 95 lbs 1x5, 105 lbs 1x5

20kg two handed swings 5 sets of 20 on the minute

This was my first dl workout in over a month now. I'll see how I feel tomorrow but it didn't feel too bad.

This was my first time doing the standing two handed barbell press and I really like this exercise. I worked the progression as Mark Rippetoe mentions in Starting Strength. I'm thinking that this will give me more balance in my pressing and get my left side closer to my right.

Swings feel good. My wind is definitely not up to snuff right now and my left hip is pretty weird feeling. I'm going to start with the 20kg and work my way up while I'm on this strength/mass building phase I'm in.

Tuesday 5/12/09

Afternoon:

Pullups with 20lbs around waist - 26x3, bw pullups 4x3

Swings 20kg - 20, 4x10

Monday 5/11/09

Evening:

Squats - 100 lbs 5x5

Pressing - 3x3 20kg, 3x2 24kg, 1x1 28kg, 2x2 24kg
Jerks - 1x3 28kg

My knee is still a bit sore so I set the bars in my rack a little high. I'm good to about parallel right now. My left hip is messed up now. I have a new appointment with another sports doctor in about a week to have it looked at. The physical therapist for my knee is great though. She immediately took a look at the alignment of my hips and discovered my left side was a bit lower than my right when I lay on my back. She is happy with the stretches I've been doing.

Friday 5/8/09

Afternoon:

High intensity pressing - 3x3 20kg, 3x2 24kg, 3x1 28kg (2nd & 3rd left side were assisted presses)

Card tearing - 19 cards quartered, 35 cards halved (pr), 18 cards quartered, 18 cards quartered, 18 cards quartered (2 decks total)

Bending - 5 7" 3/16" dia. crs bars, 5 white nails, 3 green nails, 1 grade 2 bolt, 7" 1/4" dia. crs bar attempt

Pressing might have been just a touch stronger than last week. The first 28kg press on my left side is a pr. I did some leaning to the side to get it there but not too extreme.

I'm working on that initial "s" of the cards when I tear them. When I get it just right the first tear starts nice and clean.

Bending is ok...the 7" 1/4" crs bar got bent a little bit more than I could last attempt but still no kink.

Wednesday 5/6/09

Evening:

Pullups with 20lbs around waist - 30x3

The first 5 sets I did some supersets with sets of 5 bw dips

Monday 5/4/09

Evening:

Volume pressing - 20kg - 5x5/5, 16kg - 15x5/5

Zero momentum situps - 3x3

Felt good. Tried to concentrate on making each press a solid one. I'm eating a lot right now to help with recovery of my knee and any exercise I'm doing. It seems to be working well.

Sunday 5/3/09

Afternoon:

Tore 32 cards (pr) and quarted them. Tore 20 cards and quartered them.

Pullups (bw) - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4
Dips (bw) - 5, 5, 4, 4, 5

8lb sledgehammer levering

Bent 10 white nails and 10 green nails as quickly as I could.

My hands and wrists were pretty tired after today. I'm getting a feel for the exercises and a routine.

Friday 5/1/09

Afternoon:

Bending - 10 white nails, 5 green nails, 1 6" 1/4" dia. hrs bar, 7" 1/4" dia. crs bar attempt

High intensity pressing - 3x3 20kg, 3x2 24kg, 3x1 28kg (all left side were assisted presses. 3rd right was an assisted press)

8lb sledgehammer levering - rear, front, rotations

Card tearing - 20 cards quartered, 15 cards quartered, 17 cards quartered

White nails are easy, green nails are getting easy. I bought some bar from Home Depot earlier today and cut it up into 3/16" crs 5" lengths, 1/4" hrs 6" lengths, 1/4" crs 7" lengths. The 1/4" hrs is WAY easier than the 1/4" crs bar. Maybe my wrists were just fatigued from the bending I did before it. I tried to move as quickly as I was able through the bends. The final 7" 1/4" dia. crs bar attempt was a no go as I got it to bend slightly but not kink.

Pressing went good. I can't wait to own the 28kg in presses because that means the 32kg will be right around the corner. I remember not being able to reliably press the 24kg on my left and now I can hit 3 sets of 2 military presses with it and my first attempt almost went up.

My hands were pretty smoked by the time I got to the card tearing.

Wednesday 4/29/09

Evening:

Pullups with 20lbs around waist - 30x3

The first 7 sets I did some supersets with sets of 3 bw dips.

The last few sets of the 30 pullups were a struggle, but I got them. My chin was somewhere over the bar, but I had to fight to get it there.

I just had my follow up appointment with the assistant of my knee surgeon. Everything seems great. I'm walking without a limp and it sounds like I can slowly start increasing what I can do right now. I'm going to start stretching and doing joint mobility for my legs again. I might be able to start doing some bodyweight squats once the pain and swelling are all the way gone.

Tuesday 4/28/09

Afternoon:

Bent 2 white nails and 4 green nails in im pads

Tore 22 cards and quarted them
Tore 30 cards (pr)

l-sits - 3 sets of 15 seconds

I'm really starting to feel the groove with the double overhand bending. These are definitely starting to feel easier.

The 30 card tear was a messy tear and it took a while, but it went all the way through. The cards used were the cheap cards I bought in bulk from a party store.

Monday 4/27/09

Evening:

Volume pressing - 16kg - 20x5/5

Zero momentum situps - 3x3

Sunday 4/26/09

Afternoon:

8lb sledgehammer levering -
Held at ends and brought down to my head and back up slowly - 1/1, 2/2, 1/1
Front and rear horizontal levers held a little up from the halfway point 3x10 seconds
Throwing the hammer back and forth
Swings up to vertical hold and then resist the negative on the way down - 3x5
Rotations - 5 a side both hands

Bent 10 white nails and 1 green nail
Tore 26 cards and got one of the halves quarted. Tore the rest as small as I could.

Hands and forearms are feeling pretty tired after this. The bends at the end were much harder when my grip was on the smoked side of things. Love messing around with the sledgehammer. So much fun.

Saturday 4/25/09

Morning:

Bent 5 white nails pretty quickly

Afternoon:

Tore some cards (cheap ones) - 10, 15, 20, 7 all quartered

This is pretty easy but I do feel it in my forearms.

My knee is much less swollen today. I got to take the ace bandage off. I'm icing it down at least 3 - 4 times a day for about a half hour at a time. I'm keeping it elevated for a while when I can also. Just chilling for the most part.

Thursday 4/23/09

Morning:

pullups - 10 sets of 8 gtg style

l-sits - 3 sets of 15 seconds
Wheel rollouts from knees - 3x5

I have surgery this afternoon for my torn meniscus in my left knee.

Wednesday 4/22/09

Evening:

16kg arm bar - hold for 30 seconds 2x1/1

3 ladders of 3 rungs C&P ladders with the 20 kg bell

Front and back levers with 8lb sledge

Bent 5 white nails

I was way choked up on the sledge levers. I marked the place with some tape so I can work my way down the handle.

The white nails are easy to bend, but I think they will help condition my hands as I work my way into harder stock.

Tuesday 4/21/09

Afternoon:

Pullups with 20 lbs around waist - 5 sets of 5

Wheel rollouts - 3x5
Zero momentum situps - 3x3

Monday 4/20/09

Afternoon:

16kg arm bar - hold for 20 seconds 2x1/1

5 ladders of 3 rungs bu press ladders with the 16 kg

Bent 3 white nails in im pads

Wheel rollouts - 3x5
Zero momentum situps - 2x3

Saturday 4/18/09

Afternoon:

20kg windmills - 2x3 all reps continuous with no reset
20kg bu press - 2x1/1
16kg bu press - 2x2/2

4# blacksmith hammer forearm rotations 1x10
4# hammer front lever 2x20 seconds
4# hammer rear lever 1x20 seconds

Bent 3 white nails

Felt pretty strong. Windmills and bu presses felt solid.

Friday 4/17/09

Morning:

Horse stance - 6 sets of 1 - 2 minutes each
Hindu pushups - 22, 17, 12, 7

Afternoon:

Wheel rollouts - 3x5
Zero momentum situps - 2x3

16kg bu press 3x1/1
20kg bu press 1x1/1

I think the left side bu press with the 20kg is a pr for me since I'm pretty sure I couldn't do it last night with Jordan at Girya. I really focused on keeping tight everywhere and made sure my abs were contracting also. What a difference - thanks Jordan.

Thursday 4/16/09

Afternoon:

Pullups - 13, 10, 9, 8, 7

I did some pullups before I went to see Jordan. 13 is a lifetime PR! Stoked.

Jordan went over some pressing stuff, clubbell shield casts, sledge levering, bending, card and phonebook tearing. I'm looking forward to focusing on really working on my grip while I recover from my knee surgery. It's gonna be fun.

Wednesday 4/15/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 150
Pushups - 22, 17, 12, 7

Monday 4/13/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 150
Pushups - 22, 17, 12, 7

It was a travel day today as we drove back up from San Luis Obispo after driving there from LA the day before. I did get Margaret's cold. I don't think it will be too bad.

Friday 4/10/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 100
Pushups - 22, 17, 12, 7

Thursday 4/9/09

Morning:

Pullups - 19, 9, 8, 7

Afternoon:

Elliptical for 30 minutes "program 5"

I just wanted to get sweaty and breath hard without going too hard this week. I only got one of those objectives as I didn't really breath that hard. Thank Max VO2 for that. I'll be back on it at least for the next two weeks until surgery on my knee.

Wednesday 4/8/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 100
Pushups - 20, 15, 10, 5

Afternoon:

Turkish getups - 24kg 15 minutes alternating sides
Partial getups (to sitting up position with hand on ground) - 1/1 x 3

I was working on the explosiveness to the elbow and then the hand like Jordan mentioned the last time he looked at my getups. I was getting better at it but I still need to work on it.

Tuesday 4/7/09

Morning:

Jump rope - 6 rounds of 1 1/2 minutes work 30 seconds rest

Afternoon:

Pullups with 20 lbs around waist - 4 sets of 5, 1 set of 4

Monday 4/6/09

Morning:

Hindu squats - 100
Pushups - 20, 15, 10, 5

Evening:

Turkish Getups - 18 minutes alternating sides with 24kg bell.

The tgu where broken into smaller sections as I was bbq'ing at the same time.

I'm wondering if the heavy swings I was doing caused the tendonitis of my patella tendon. It is known as jumpers knee and the swings and snatches were the only movements that seem to fit the bill.

I've been stretching a lot. My quads, hamstrings, hips, cossack, frog, etc. These last few days I've been really working on recovery.

Saturday 4/4/09 - TSC

The Tactical Strength Challenge was today.

I've been training for this day for about 6 - 7 months now and I condsider achieving this goal to be one of my life's major milestones.

A brief history for those that don't really know me:

I've been very active my whole life. I wrestled one year in high school before I became anti-establishment and discovered punk rock. I skateboarded for about 20 years, mountain biked seriously for a few periods probably totaling about 12 years or so. I also played ice and roller hockey and did a bunch of bmx riding.

I suffered a number of injuries over those years but the capper was a little over 3 years ago when I crushed my hip skateboarding. I needed surgery to put some screws in there to keep the ball attached to the top of my femur and would have needed a hip replacement if the bone lost bloodflow. I have alway played video and computer games my whole life as well so I really got into it after I crushed my hip. I played competitively for about 3 years for the 6th Armored Division in an online team based game called Battlefield 2.

During those 3 years I did nothing physical. Nothing at all and I definitely got soft from it. Late nights, soda, eating a lot, etc. I found myself up around 218 pretty soft pounds. I was having problems moving furniture around and my back was starting to complain when I lifted anything.

This was pretty unacceptable to me so about 1 year ago I decided to start getting back in shape. I started just doing hindu squats in the mornings and worked up slowly until I could do 100 in a row again. I started adding pushups, pullups, ab work and some elliptical stuff into my routines. I lost a bunch of body fat and started feeling good again.

Through researching pullup and pushup routines I increasingly found myself going to military fitness and martial arts fitness website where I started reading about kettlebells. I eventually found out how effective they were supposed to be and I got myself a 16kg kettlebell and bought Pavel Tsatsouline's Enter The Kettlebell. I ended up going nuts with my new toy and completely overtrained myself along with jacking my back up.

I had also been researching trainers in my area and found out that only 5 minutes from my house was the gym that Jordan Vezina RKC trained out of. Jordan quickly straightened out my form and had me simplify my routine so that I could really concentrate on getting better at fewer things. Jordan saw that I had an interest in getting stronger at deadlifting, pullups and kettlebells and suggested I train for the Tactical Strength Challenge to be held the next April. I would say that this was somewhere around October 2008.

I focused my routine around building up the layers of strength and endurance I would need to get to that level. I did the Program Minimum from ETK and then moved on to the Rite of Passage. I was also adding deadlifts to my variety days and doing pulllups and some pistols. From that point Jordan moved me into doing Kenneth Jay's Max VO2 routine twice a week along with heavy swings and pullups.

My initial goals when Jordan first got me fired up for the TSC was a 280lb deadlift, 15 pullups and 60 24kg kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes. I can remember the first time I tried snatching the 24kg bell and how intimidating it was to me. Jordan kept my progress moving smoothly (and kept increasing the numbers he though I should be shooting for).

I ended up with a 365lb deadlift, 12 pullups and 106 24kg kettlebell snatches in 5 minutes.

Here is the video Jordan took of my snatch test.

This was after 6 - 7 months of training for it. I had never deadlifted before that period and I had only been using a 16kg kettlebell for a few months before that point as well. Great results...I'm very happy with those numbers.

Also...in the last year I lost (my best guess) 40lbs of body fat, gained 10lbs of muscle. My back is indestructible right now and my endurance is insane. I feel great physically. I weigh 188 currently.

I wish that I had kept a training log from the very beginning of this journey and also that I had taken some pictures of how soft I was to give a good sense of the before and after.

This is what I look like now:




My goals now are to improve on my numbers for the next Tactical Strength Challenge in September and earn my RKC early next year. My life has changed so much now and I find myself on a new path. I don't know where it's leading but it doesn't need to lead anywhere in particular. It IS the journey and not the destination that is important I realize now. Todays success is the result of consistently following a plan and not ever giving up. It was a test to see where I am at this point in time and in no way is a destination.

Thanks to my wife, Margaret Trujillo, who supported me the entire time and let me do whatever it took to achieve what was important to me. Doing this on my own would have been much harder and I owe her a lot.

Thanks to Jordan for giving me the guidance and encouragement progress at a faster rate than I could ever have imagined when I first started. Jordan is a fantastic trainer that never let my enthusiasm get in the way of making sure I progressed safely and correctly.

This is only the beginning!

Wednesday 4/1/09

I just got back from the sports doctor and...

I have two issues with my left knee. I have tendonitis of the patella tendon. More importantly I have a torn meniscus which I set surgery up for on the 23rd.

I was going to do some swings today but I decided not to. I'm not going to do anything else at this point until the TSC. After that I'll get some recovery in and in about a month or so after surgery I can start hitting it hard again. It works out pretty well as I'll hit a "peak" and have a back off month.

I did about 5 sets of 5 pullups gtg throughout the day.

Tuesday 3/31/09

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 40 sets of 7 reps

Pullups throughout the day - 5 sets of 4 gtg style

Another easy day. My shoulders are really sore right now for some weird reason so I debated even doing snatches today. I'll see how it goes...if I have to do my snatch test with shoulders this sore then so be it.

I really leaning out right now. I'm at about 187 or so right now and I feel light but still strong. The warrior diet rules!

Monday 3/30/09

Afternoon:

32kg two handed swings 20 sets of 13 on the minute - 260 total

Pullups throughout the day - 5 sets of 3 gtg style

I wanted to take it easy this week so today are swings. 13 on the minute is starting to feel pretty tough though....I was definitely huffing and puffing after minute 10. I had some great sets in there where I really felt my hamstrings load up and my hip drive pushed the bell pretty hard. I love the brutal simplicity of hard two handed swings.

Sunday 3/29/09

Morning:

Attended Mark Reifkind's Max VO2 workshop at Girya today. He explained how Max VO2 works and the changes it can make in your body.

We did the 6 minute cadence test and I hit 32 reps with the 16kg bell on the last minute so my cadence works out to be 8. After the test Mark had us do 25 sets with the cadence we came up with. At home I've been getting my sets in the 15 second time period by pulling the bell back down. After starting to read Kenneth Jay's book I realize how important it is to use that downward force in the Max VO2. Great time...Mark is a very nice guy and explains technical stuff pretty clearly.

I came home and went for a single set of pullups and got 12. Another 5 lbs and I should get 1 or 2 more I hope...I'm still about 190 lbs right now. Still...that ties my all time record for pullups that I hit 15 years ago....and I have much better form now with all pullups to the chest or neck.

Friday 3/27/09

Morning:

Pushup/pullup ladder down: 20/8, 15/6, 10/4, 5/2
Hindu squats - 50

Afternoon:

32kg two handed swings 20 sets of 12 on the minute - 240 total

Still taking it light. My traps felt tight from the pushup/pullup ladders this morning for some reason. Instead of Max VO2 I just did heavy swings. I'm still trying to perfect my swing. I thought I hit a few that were the hardstyle type swings I want.

Tuesday 3/24/09

Afternoon:

Max VO2 - 16kg bell 15/15 protocol - 70 sets of 8 reps

I took yesterday off because I wanted to recover from Jordan's workshop on Sunday. Actually I was pretty sore and in keeping with slowing it down these last couple of weeks before the TSC I wanted another day off and I replaced my heavy swings today with Max VO2.

I guess it paid off...I realized about 20 sets in that I felt really good. I could have ground out 10 more sets if I wanted to but I'll leave that for another days pr.

Back on the warrior diet for these last two weeks. It was pretty dumb of me not to cycle it back in as I'm cutting a few more pounds off. Jordan mentioned it at the workshop when I told him how I seemed to be settling in at about 190 and my goal was 185.