Press and upper back

Behind the neck press: 2 x 10 x bar
75 x 5
95 x 4
115 x 3
135 x 2
150 x 1
135 x 15
Close grip pull ups: 3 x 5
One arm db rows: 110 x 20

Ehh... started low carb yesterday. Energy level was low , cant say if was due to only taking 30 grams today. Or maybe it was just a mental thing at this point. I've decided just to go back to BTNP , since for me I feel they are more beneficial for me then regular standing OHP.

Sqauts

Squat: 2 x 10 x Bar
       2 x 5 x 135
       225 x 3
       315 x 1
       5 x 5 x 350

Standing Band crunches: 5 x 15

That was all......

Bench session.

Warm up: Light Db & Band movements

Bench: Bar x 20
           2 x 10 x 95
           2 x  5 x 135
           150 x 5
           185 x 4
           225 x 3
           260 x 2
           310 x 1
           260 x 17

CG Bench: 2 x 8 x 225

Arm curls: 2 x 10 x DON'T CARE

OK session , bench is slightly down right now. Cant complain since is only my second actual session in the past 5 weeks or so. Since , the new low bar position was taking  a toll on my shoulders . Specifically my rotator cuff which is just now getting accustomed to the new position.

Pulling

Warm up : PVC

Front Squats: ( unto a parellel box) 315 x 3... Oh do these suck. *Note...Im using a box so I can concentrate fully on bar position and not have to divide my concentration on proper depth.

Rack Pulls: ( below Knees).. Heavy single  Not worth mentioning , I didn't take into account that my upper back was still slightly fatigued from the work  I did from the other day

Well ... For the record to Hell with sumo deads. They are too hard on my hips at this point. I've decided to play around with a Bastardized version of a Brad Gillingham Dead routine.

Over head press and back

Warm up: Light band/db movements

OHP: 2 x 20 x bar
         95 x 10
         120 x 5
         145 x 4
         175 x 3
          200 x 2
          225 x 1
          200 x 8.....Ehh didn't push it. My shoulders were still feeling beat up from the new bar position on squats

Dumbbell rows: 170 x 8 / 110 x 12....last set I just focused  on squeezing   the hell out of the muscles involved

Pull downs: 4 x 8 x some weight

Shrugs: 455 x 10 / 315 x 30 ....... Just didn't feel like using much weight.

So so session.... energy level was up and down tonight. 

Sunday squat session.

Warm up: PvC pipes
Crap load of shoulder mobility work.

Squat : 2 x 10 x bar
            2 x 5 x 135
            225 x 3
            275 x 1
            330 x 1
            385 x 1
             440 x 10..... NOT what I wanted my lungs gave out before my hips and legs did.

Champion Training Day

Me picture with a true legend

 

All right, as some may or may not know I was in training for my next Meet when I came aware of a seminar being hosted by Reactive Training System.  . Which, by chance, occurred exactly one week from the day of my Meet go figure, Which put me in a predicament of either going to the CTD were I would lift in front of some of the best and get feedback or just focus on my Meet. To make it more of a hard decision it was being held less than 40 miles from my home. Luckily for me I got nailed by a Flu bug which threw my training into the shitter. So making the decision became somewhat easier on my end along with having someone point out to me that in the long run it would probably be more beneficial in the long run to attend the CTD. Since any type of actual coaching for me doesn't exist. In retrospect considering the quality of the individuals there, I’m not sure why there was any question in my mind in the first place.

Here is a rundown of who was there and doing the hands on coaching

Jeremy Hartman:

 

Teen National Title, 4 Consecutive Collegiate/Jr. National Championships, and a Men’s Open in 2008.Gold Medal dead lift at the 2008 IPF Open World Championships at 218lbs. He is currently the strength and conditioning coach for the High School which the seminar took place.

 Brian Siders

 

  is a world champion power lifter and regular participant in the Arnold Strongman Classic. Brian started lifting in high school; mainly just training the bench press and upper body. Brian started focusing on squatting and dead lifting in the winter of 1997, and started doing full power lifting meets in 1998.]Brian trains 6 to 7 days per week and up to 4 hours at a time at his gym he built at his home.[  Brian has set several power lifting world records, including a world record total of 2,452 lbs. at the 2004 USAPL Senior National Championships,] and another world record total of 2,529 lbs. at the 2004 IPF World Championships. Brian currently holds the IPF world record in the bench press of 775.5 lbs and total of 2,596 lb in the super heavyweight weight class.

 Mike Tuchscherer:

 

Mike Tuchscherer competed on Saturday March 3rd at the 2012 Arnold Raw Challenge setting seven IPF raw world records. He weighed in at 264 pounds and squatted 716.5 lbs deadlifted 782.6 lbs and totaled 1934.5 lbs. All three are new IPF raw world records. Mike also benched 435.4 lbs raw.

Ed Coan

 

 

If I need to go into Eds achievements Ill fill two pages. Besides if you dont know who he is. Then you need to remove yourself right now. Because, I’m not sure if I’d want to be associated with you.

 

 

Well , I got up Saturday with only a few hours of sleep due to a late night of High School football and still feeling not a 100% due to the damn  bug which has been hanging around like luggage. So it made a less the optimal start. Luckily after getting some breakfast a gallon of coffee and about 800mg of Ibuprofen I felt somewhat less zombie like. Even though I had to slightly fight the urge for human flesh the remainder of the day.  I was the second to arrive at the high school were the seminar was being held, the first being the head strength and conditioning coach for the University of Indianapolis. I was surprised at the very low turnout. Out of 30 open slots only 12 people were attending it which made it even more hands on coaching.

 The meet and greet:

Well before we hit the weights there was about 30 minutes of people introducing themselves.  I'll be honest even at a ripe old age of 41 I felt like a kid and was nervous being around Ed Coan . Luckily, the notion set in with me that he just a regular guy whom has moved allots of weight in his time and I started to feel more comfortable. It also helped that Coan is a pretty humble guy and has a very down to earth attitude. It was funny a younger guy was talking to Ed and was talking a million miles a minute and was into full geek mode. During the exchange I was amused to find out that the whole " Philip Coan dead lift" program you seen on line wasn't written by Coan he just gave a rough outline and Philip ran with it. "I would never do that much work" These were his own words, I had to bite my tongue to keep from busting a gut.

Squats:

 Three of us older bastard ended up flocking together and squatted in the same squat rack. As I started to squat Ed came behind me and got on me for pushing my ass to far back on the start of it. He point blank told me pushing ones ass back like I was works for multi ply guys , not raw. During my progression to my top set for the day Brian Siders gave me advice on shorting my walk out, showing me how he does it with heavy weight. I worked up to 550 for the day. At that point Brian called Ed over to watch. As I was getting under the bar Brian said "Ok,no pressure you just have one of the greatest watching you". I'm, thinking to myself , "Oh Shit". Well I hit it pretty easy in my mind with room to spare.After my last set Ed informed me that I should get the bar lower. I honestly, never thought about it but this entire time I've been doing a High bar squat.  Well Ed got me back under the bar and positioned me.. for the record it sucked due to my lack of shoulder mobility. It's going to take me awhile to get my shoulders were they need to be to the point that my shoulders don't feel like they aren't being dislocated. Jeremy Hartman gave me several band stretches to help me in that department. I was told by Mike Tuchscherer that structurally I was designed to squat based on my body structure.

Bench:

Was a Shit show on my part..  Basically for some reason I could stay tight at all! Mike Hartman pointed out I need to bring my feet back more. Along with the fact that I'm not utilizing my upper back or lats in the movement. I always thought I was, until Mike set me up on the Bench, Damn again! My Lats started cramping up with no weight just from being in the proper set up and being tight.

Deadlift:

I figured this would be the one lift were I needed the most coaching since this is the one lift I  pretty much suck at relative to my other two lifts. But I'll be damned I was told my Brian Siders that my conventional form was better than his. Crap!! Brian and I talked; he and I have similar leverages he suggested that might want to consider trying a modified sumo deadlift. Strangely enough Mike Tuchscherer during the dead portion suggests that I might want to involve my legs more into. So it seems that the general consistence thought seems to be it might be productive for me to experiment with sumo to a point.

 I’m not going to bore the hell at everyone so I'll just get down to it and list a few interesting bits from the seminar.

 

Consistency.. Every time you perform a lift from how you set up the lift to how you perform it.

"I believe in the Russian philosophy, you only have so many true Maxes in your life time don't waste them in the gym" Ed Coan

 I asked Coan how he develop his Bench considering his relatively long arm length, (people tend to overlook he had a fairly damn good one). His response was that he got his assistance exercise as strong as possible so that he had no weak point.

Listen to what your body is telling you.

 When you make changes to your program introduce those changes one at a time. Donâ??t go hog wild and revamp everything in your program all at once.

Always try to be smart on meet attempts and try for 9 for 9 , most guys whom win Meets at the higher level normally go 7 for 9 or better.

 I asked if there was any benefit for a Raw lifter to implement gear into ones training. by Mike Tuchscherer and Brian Siders felt there was benefit in the aspect of providing  extra overload.

 Ed Coan feels that the the current % used by most for speed work isnâ??t high enough to develop explosiveness.

 Jeremy Hartman is not a fan of touch and go Dead lifting.

 Mike Tuchschere is a big advocate of pause squats and pause Dead lifts.

Coan and Siders are big backers of using overhead pressing to help develop the bench.

 "People read too much" Ed Coan

Reps to build the Deadlift

 Jeremy Hartman resets on every rep on deads up to 20 seconds

Instead of speed work Coan suggested just focusing on lifting as explosively on your work sets.

 Keep things as simple as possible.

Jeremy Hartman is a advocate of rotating between conventional and sumo deads in the offseason.

 Coan based his Meets attempts on how he actually felt on the day of the Meet.

Ernie Frantz, Vince Anello and Larry Pacifico were all of the same mindset that one’s sumo should be the same or close to ones conventional if not it was a sign of a overall body weakness ( this was not from the CTD but it was from a e mail to me from Hartman)

 Well this was just a few things covered.  I should go more into detail but I think most get a general idea.

 

Benching while still sick

Warm up : Light DB/Band movements

Bench: Bar x 20
95 X 2 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
215 x 5
250 x 4
290 x 3
320 x 2
335 x 1..paused
355 x 1 ..paused
375 x 1 ...paused
300 x 12
That's all she wrote. Still not 100 % due to the bug im fighting. I pretty much didnt have anything extra energy wise to even consider doing any assistance work. Pretty much spent the majority of time between sets trying not to blow chow .I haven't weighed myself lately but im sure ive dropped some weight over this week just by how my cloth are fitting.

squat/pull shit show

7 of 9
Warm up: Pvc pipe
tread mill 10 minutes
light stretching

Squat: Bar 2 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
225 x 2 x 3
275 x 5
320 x 4
375 x 3
415 x 2
435 x 1
460 x 1...added belt
485 x 1 ....Belt and added knee wraps

Block deads: It all went to hell at this point...
Basically this session was a complete shit show. Basically going into it things weren't right, pretty sure I have caught or I am coming down with a a bug..maybe the flu. Normally , I tend to come down with something like clock work this time of year. But FUCK!!! Worst time for me to come down with something!!!
At any rate I knew I was in trouble when 275 on squats felt heavy and 485 with belt and knee wraps took a shit ton effort then it should, considering last week it flew up with neither wraps or belt.
Now block deads ugh that was a horror show in itself.... I was scheduled to go up to 525. Needless to say I didnt even get close ,I could only manage 425 on my warm up sets while 475 gave me the middle finger. Stupid as I am I tried it three times in a row. Well my body decided it was payback time... I ended up practically having to crawl back in the house were I spend a good 15 minutes on my back laying on the floor ,light headed and weak as hell.When I did muster up the energy to move I proceeded to blow chow in the trash can as my wife called me a dumb ass for training while being under the weather.

upper back shit

One arm DB rows: 2 warm up sets
160 x 15

Pull downs: 4 x 8 - 10 x some weight
Shrugs: 605 x 3/ 365 x 20
Alternate DB curls: 2 x 12 x some weight

Alright session , feeling a little run down today

Bench session

6 of 9

warm up: Light Db/ band movements


Bench: Bar x 20
95 x 2 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
200 x 5
230 x 4
270 x 3
300 x 2
330 x 1... Paused
350 x 1...Paused
370 x 1 ...Paused   ...Way heavier then it should have been, paying for doing reps with 355 last week when it wasnt called for.
315 x 11... was kind of ugly , went to failure and petered out on number 12.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GntssnsLtRA

Close grip Bench: 275 x 8/225 x 6
Standing behind the neck press: 2 x 10 x some weight
Band push downs: 100 total reps

Squat/dead session...Kicking ass

6 of 9

warm up: Pvc pipe
10 minutes tread mill
light stretching

Squat: Bar x 2 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
225 x 2 x 3
260 x 5
300 x 4
355 x 3
390 x 2
430 x 1
460 x 1
485 x 1....Belt less , My wife whom calls depth for me on my heavy sets said that it looked easy.

4 inch block deads: worked up to 515 x 1......flew up pretty easy 
Deads from floor: 2 x 3 x 440....easy
Elevated stiff legs: 360 x 5
Standing band crunches: 5 x 15

At this point im pretty happy how things are going at this point. Going by how squats are going I should easily hit the numbers im gunning for at the next Meet. Im also feeling that im starting to see dividends from all the upper back work ive been doing as of late. Im pretty confident of a Meet PR on deads.

Upper back stuff

One arm DB row: 2 warm up sets
160 x 15

Pulldowns: 4 x 8 x some weight
Shrugs: 3 x 10 x 455
Arm curls: 2 x 10 X some weight

Bench session

Week 5 of 9

Warm up: Light band / DB movements

Bench: bar x 20
95 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
200 x 5
230 x 4
270 x 3
300 x 2
315 x 1
335 x 1......very long pause
355 x 5 .......This wasnt planned and just stupidity on my part .On a good note I think I had another rep in me.
295 x 12....ehh , pretty fried from the last set

Close grip Bench: Skipped it
Standing behind the neck press: 2 x 8 X some weight
Band push downs: 100 total reps

Well its nice to know I can still do bone headed shit . Ill pay for it latter more then likely, next time Ill stick to the plan

Squat and deads

Week 5 of 9

Squat/deads

Warm up: Pvc pipe
tread mill 10 minutes
light stretching

Squat: Bar x 2 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
205 x 3
260 x 5......right knee was sore for some reason  , went ahead and pulled up knee sleeves, normally dont do this until 400 plus
300 x 4
355 x 3
390 x 2
415 x 1
440 x 1
470 x 1.........Belt less
4' block pulls: Worked up to easy 495 x 1
Deads off Floor: 2 x 3 x 415.......Felt pretty easy, bar speed was pretty fast
Elevated stiff legs: 320 x 8
Standing Band crunches: 5 x 15

More upper back shit

Skipped training due to some serious family issues which pretty much put me in a unfavorable mind set  yesterday . So I pulled up my big boy pants and got in a so so session.

One arm Dumbbell rows : 2 warm up sets
150 x 20..FYI , Im not talking a Kroc row here but a stricter old school DB row.
Pull downs: 3 x 8 X some weight
Shrugs : 2 x 10 x 425, 425 x 15
Arm curls: 2 x 12 x some weight.     



Probably have another article wrote up by this weekend.   

Bench session

Bench session 4 of 9

warm up: Light Db/Band movements


Bench : Bar x 20
95 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
200 x 5
230 x 4
270 x 3
300 x 2
315 x 1
330 x 1...paused
350 x 1...Verrrry long pause
275 x 18......
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTckZ5O7bYA

Close grip Bench: 225 x 12 / 225 x 6.....Triceps were feeling fired on last set
Behind the neck press: 2 x 10 x some weight
Medium band push downs: 60 / 20 / 20

Not a bad session, considering my left shoulder and tricep has been bothering me .

Squat and Dead session

Week 4 of 9

Squat/deads

Warn up: pvc pipe rolls
tread mill 10 minutes
light stretching


Squat: Bar X 2 X 10
135 x 2 x 5
205 x 3
260 x 5
300 x 4
355 x 3
390 x 2
410 x 1
430 x 1
460 x 1.....Belt less

4 " block pulls: worked up to 485 x 1

Deads from floor: 2 x 3 x 385

Elevated stiff legs : 305 x 8

Standing Band ab crunches: 5 x 15

Regardless of the fact that im still only working in the sub maximum range. This session felt pretty damn easy.

More upper back stuff

T-Bar rows: 6 x 10 x 5 45's......last set was a suck fest
Close grip pull downs: 3 x 10 x some weight
Shrugs: 3 x 10 x 425
straight bar curls: 2 x 10-12 X Some weight .. ....if for a moment I thought these had zero benefit Id drop all direct bicep work in a flash.Id rather do a death set on squats.

Shit Bench session

Week 3 of 9

Warm up: Light band & DB movements

Bench : Bar x 20
95 x 10
135 x 2 x 5
180 x 5
210 x 4
245 x 3
270 x 2
300 x 1
320 x 1
335 x 1....Paused fo a 5 count
290 x 14..... .......This was a back off/ test set

Incline: 245 x 0.......Unracked it and Red flags went up

Shut it down....... Ive been injured on too many times by pride.

If anyone is familiar with Paul Carter this was a - 10 % day. Mentally I was all about it but my old carcass had other ideas. Left shoulder and tricep tendon felt like shit after the crappy back off set and they wanted nothing more to do with my plans of training.

Squat /deads

Week 3 of 9

Warm up: Pvc pipe rolling
10 minutes tread mill
light stretching

Squat: Bar x 2 X 10
135 x 2 x 5
185 x 3
240 x 5
275 x 4
325 x 3
360 x 2
395 x 1
420 x 1
440 x 1

Deads off 4 " Blocks: 135 x 5
245 x 3
335 x 2
385 x 1
425 x 1
470 x 1
Deads from floor: 3 x 3 x 360

Elevated stiff legs: 1 x 10 x 275

Standing band ab crunches: 5 x 15

A few notes:

All squats and deads done Belt less at this point..

More upper back stuff

didnt have a chance to post yesterday..

T Bar: 6 x 10 x same weight as last week. Getting use to the new handle, Probably add a little more weight nest week

Close grip pull downs: 3 x 8-10 x SW

Shrugs 3 x 15 x 405

Straight bar arm curls: 2 x 10- 12 X some weight

Bench session week 2 peaking phase

warm up: light DB movements & Band

Bench: Bar x 20
       95 x 10
       135 x 2 x 5
       180 x 5
       210 x 4
       245 x 3
       270 x 2
       290 x 1
       305 x 1
       325 x 1....Paused it for a 5 count
       270 x 18.....Had a rep left in me didnt want to do a grinding rep.


Incline: 265 x 9/ 225 x 10.....EEHHH, need to back down a little on the weight on these. The back off set on bench are starting to take a little out of me.


Behind the neck press : 2 x 8-10 x Some weight... on a good note, im using 50 lbs more then what I started with ,when I reintroduced them back in my routine.

Push downs: 3 x 12 x who cares its a freaking push down.


A few thoughts.....I love freaking guys out on my back off sets.Even if the weight isnt elite level. Its easy to do when most guys whom go to the local YMCA are hard press to just do 225 for a rep or two.

Since the radio at the Y is set on only one channel ..I want to kill the general manager of the local radio station whom changed formats.
They went from hard rock to.....

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5792204981326161348

Try lifting with this shit playing

Squat/Dead session peaking phase week 2

Warm up: Allot of rolling on PVC pipe
         light stretching
         10 minutes tradmill

Squat: BarX 2 X 10
       135 x 2 x 5
       185 x 3
       240 x 5
       275 x 4
       325 x 3
       380 x 1
       395 x 1
       430 x 1.....Got a wild hair since the amount I was working  with wasnt that heavy and decided to paused it in the hole for a specific period of time. Might pay for it tomorrow.

4 " Block pulls: 135 x 5
                 225 x 5
                 315 x 2
                 365 x 1
                 440 x 1
Deads from floor: 4 sets of 3 X 330....these are pretty light at this point. Made sure to focus on the bar speed.

Elevated stiff leg deads: 250 x 10

Standing band ab crunches: 5 x 15

Not a bad little session.

Upper back stuff....

T Bar rows : 6 X 10 X 4-45's @ 25

Got a new handle to do these from Elitefts

Definitely  different, the change pretty much fried my lats and upper back.

Close grip pull downs: 3 x 10 x some weight.....I was going to do some pull ups , as I stated above my shit was pretty much crushed.

Shrugs: 2 x 15 x 405. 405 x 10....running low of juice

EZ bar arm curls: 2 x 10 x some weight.

Wasn't a super session, on the other hand it wasnt that bad. Pretty much im dragging ass due to not getting enought sleep the past two nights and eating like shit.

Bench seesion peaking phase week 1.

warm up: Light DB/band movements

Bench: Bar x 20
       95 x 10
       135 x 2 x 5
       180 x 5
       210 x 4
       245 x 3
       270 x 2
       285 x 1
       300 x 1
       320 x 1
       250 x 21....rep 21 was a grinder and it sucked ,might have gone overboard on that one.

Incline Bench: 275 x 8/ 225 x 8.......payed for going over board
Behind the neck press: 2 x 8- 10 X Some weight
Push downs: 3 x 12 x 140 ? used the stack but it seemed pretty light to be 140 lbs

Not a bad first session , Benching felt odd at first since I haven't done regular bench in almost 8 weeks. It took several sets for me to reastablish my proper groove. Luckily , my left elbow has calmed down and dint give any trouble, definitely will get out the ibuprofen and ice to head off any inflammation which might pop up.

First Squat /pull session for next Meet

Squat/pull session week 1

Squat: bar x 2 x 10
       135 x 2 x 5
       185 x 3
       240 x 5
       275 x 4
       325 x 3
       355 x 2
       375 x 1
       395 x 1
       420 x 1

Pulls from blocks: 135 x 5
                   210 x 5
                   250 x 3
                   315 x 1
                   365 x 1
                   415 x 1


Deads : 3 x 5 x 305

3" elevated stiff legs: 10 x 225

Standing band ab crunches: 5 x 15


Pretty easy session not surprising since it starts out light. On a good note , first time in several weeks where my hips didnt feel gummed up so everything was tracking the way its suppose too.

Starting sooner

Well, I was going to hold off until Sunday to start my peaking cycle. Unfortunately, if I Don't start lifting soon I'm afraid im going to have a psychotic episode. Trust me no one wants that to happen..

So to avoid this I'm starting tomorrow..........

Current Game plan.

As it stands at this point I been out of the weight room for almost a week. Come Sunday I will jump on my 10 week peaking cycle for my Meet in October. Right now im dealing with a slight case of Cubital Tunnel Syndrome (Tennis elbow) along with a slight case of tendonitis around my triceps on my left arm. This has me slightly concerned but im not going to freak the fuck out over it.
 Pretty much the peaking routine will be the same as I used for the last Meet other then a slight modification to the Deadlift portion of the program along with changing one or two movements on accessory stuff for bench.
  Ive already have my numbers set for what ill be going for which like last time I plan to take a conservative approach again. Basically , I just plan making sure this time around that I don't leave any weight on the platform like I did in the June Meet.


After the October Meet im going to go into maintenance mode on my lifts. Since I plan on spending a block of time on conditioning and improving my body composition.. Since im not into " The Dark Side" at least at this point along with not being a novice. Gaining any strength or size isnt going to happen and retaining strength and size in itself will be the main damn issue during this period. The bottom line is I need remove some useless body weight which isnt helping my lifts along with just destroying my coefficient numbers at Meets.

I plan on doing this for maybe three month. After which I will go back to my normal approach and hit another Meet late spring or early summer.

Bad Asses

Here are a few guys I consider Bad asses in my book for different reasons.....

More Training music

Bench session from Hell

Just put me to sleep

warm up: light DB/Band movements

Incline Bench: Bar x 20
               95 x 10
               135 x 2 x 5
               195 x 5
               225 x 4
               265 x 3
               300 x 2
               340 X 1

From the first set I knew something was up. As I had committed on my post regarding my last squat session something didnt "feel right" more accurately I didnt fell right. Tonight it hit me like a sledge hammer. From my first set to my last heavy set I was dealing with a cold sweat. After my last set I damn near took a nose dive and had to rush to the restroom to blow chow....

Always taste better the second time!!!

I'm sure the other members of the local YMCA enjoyed the sound .



Most , sane people would have called it...But, Ive never been known for having any common scenes. So I proceeded to do one more set before I called it quits.

         300 x 6....Definitely not what I was gunning for, all things considered I take it gladly. This finally set definitely knocked my Dick in the fucking dirt.

Changing squat form..maybe

Since ive been back at lifting ive adopted a medium squat stance... With my feet pretty much in line with my shoulders or a little past. Which in retrospect is wide considering how I use to squat in my younger days. Since I tended to squat High bar Olympic style. I came across this article recently by Jamie Lewis of Chaos and Pain

http://chaosandpain.blogspot.com/2012/07/squatting-like-youre-ceo-of-paper.html

It made several good points in my opinion....To the point I actually tried going extra wide once on one of my heavier sets. It felt awkward , mainly due to the fact Ive never really gone wide..BUT  I actually felt like my hips and glutes were actually getting more involved in the lift. Not to mention it seemed to take a few inches off of how far I traveled to hit parallela.

                                                                                       Stan Efferding squatting with a wide squat raw

                                                                                                       Another example


At this point going into my next Meet I will pretty much stay with my current stance. After which I will spent some time and experiment with a wider stance.

SO SO SQUAT SESSION

shameful

Warm up: PVC pipe light stretching

Squat: Bar x 2 x 10
       135 x 2 x 5
       225 x 3
       270 x 5
       320 x 4
       375 x 3
       430 x 2
       510 x 1....Didn't feel light but it didnt feel heavy
       430 x 3...Ill be honest something just didnt feel right at all on this set .I payed attention and actually listened and racked it.

Well, I went ahead and called it. Probably going to do a little work tomorrow to make it up.


On a side not .... Two local boys both around 8 years old whom plays on are local Youth Football league were ridding their bikes. They stopped by the open overhead garage door and watched me squat.

would you look at that.....

Upper Back stuff

T bar rows: 6 x 10 x 4- 45's@ 25
Pull downs: 3 x 10 x Some weight
Shrugs: worked up to 605 x 3/ 335 x 20
Pulls to throat: 2 x 20 x some weight

Not a bad little session. A little sore this morning nothing major. But ,my hands are feeling pretty stiff from the rowing and pull downs. Not so much from the shrugs since its the only thing I actual use straps for.

Bull pup...kicking ass

Well they are having a Lifting championship at the school my son attends for the Football team.

Bull pup came in at a massive 137 lbs at 14 years old

He ended  up putting up

Bench 160 lbs
squat 225 lbs....Coach got on him for going too deep LOL

Tomorrow they are maxing on power cleans.

One more week

Well , I got another week of training to go before Ill take a planned break of at least a week of zero lifting to allow things to recharge.After which ill move into Meet prep mode for the N.A.S.A Ohio Regional

http://www.nasa-sports.com/

I definitely need the break , between stress due to family issues and just horrible work conditions. For the record I work in a place thats a foundry and when you add the extreme temps we've been having this year it does take a toll.

Definitely noticing all the warning signs of a needed break for myself. Increased fatigue, isomnia, slight increase in joint pain and decrease in motivation.

Bench session

Warm up: Light DB and band movements

Incline Bench: bar x 20
               95 x 10
               135 x 2 x 5
               170 x 5
               210 x 4
               245 x 3
               280 x 2
               330 x 3.....Was only scheduled to do a single got stupid.
               280 x 10

Flat DB Presses: 100 x 13/8.....fried from inclines

SBTNP: 2 x 8-10 X some weight

Skull crushers: ( straight bar) 135 x 8...elbows were overly sore so I played it smart and called it.