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.