10 OCT 11 -- Conditioning

It's Canadian thanksgiving today (ours is a month earlier than the American thanksgiving, being on the second Monday of October), and my gym is closed therefore for the holiday. Decided to hit the hills again this morning, and did 4 hill sprints.

Tomorrow, it's back to overhead pressing. Wish me luck!

08 OCT 11 -- Hills !

Woke up this morning, through no fault of my own, with the dog pulling the blanket off the bed. Then he went for the pillows. Next, it was his ice-cold nose burying itself in my face. I could tell he wanted me to get my lazy ass out of that bed.

Just some conditioning this morning. 4 times up and down on the country hill. The air's crisp and fresh this morning, and the leaves are still in their autumn array. A perfect morning for hill sprints.

07 OCT 11 -- Go Deeper!

Hit the squat today. Training max is 530 lbs, and it's 3 x 3 in the wave.

Warm up sets

135 x 5
210 x 5
265 x 5
320 x 3

Working sets

425 x 3
450 x 3
475 x 4

I was not overly happy with the last set. My depth wasn't low enough, and I think it may have been because I didn't get full rest from the previous set. My wife was filming the squat, and we were trying to figure out the best angle to film it from. I jumped into the rack too soon.

Assistance work today was based on the article which was posted on Jim's blog at JimWendler.com  The blog entry is linked to another article which Jim published at T-nation.com:

Boring But Big...And Really Sore

Since I've been doing the 5 x 10 squat assistance all along, I started at Cycle 2 --> 5 x 12 at 50%. That is, 5 x 12 at 265 lbs. Also, I made sure that I went ass to the grass on these squats. Plain and simple, but those extra two reps added at the end of each set are very taxing not only on the legs, but also the lungs and heart. It's a great pump. I can hardly wait till next week when I add three more reps each set for 5 x 15. I'll have to park the car closer to the gym for that workout, lol.

06 OCT 11 -- Bench Press 320 x 7

Bench press Thursday, 3 x 3 and the training max is 355 lbs.

Warm up sets

45 x 25
140 x 5
180 x 5
215 x 3

Working sets

285 x 3
300 x 3
320 x 7

I had set my goal for today at 8 reps, a bit unrealistic perhaps, but got a nice 7 reps on it. Here's the vid of today's final set:

Assistance work was kept basic and short today.

Close-grip bench press

225 x 10
215 x 3 x 10
205 x 10

One arm dumbbell row was 105 lbs x 5 x 10 each side.
I concluded with dips, doing bodyweight for 2 x 10 and then 25 lbs added for 2 x 6. I haven't done dips for a little while, so it was important to get a few sets in at the end today.

Stay tuned for squats tomorrow! I'm off to watch my kid play some grade 10 football. He's a big kid for his age, over 6 feet and is already starting to bulk up.

05 OCT 11 -- An Article from the Man!

I'm taking today off from training. Tomorrow, I hit the bench, hit it hard and take no prisoners, lol. I just read this article that my professor has written, Mr. Jim Wendler, and am feeling inspired by it. It was posted over at JimWendler.com and as far as it goes for me, is nothing short of the truth and counts as something that should be printed off, laminated, and stuffed into a gym bag to be read before every training session.

Here it is:

Time to Man Up

Read, contemplate, put into action....

04 OCT 11 -- Dead Lift !

Things weren't so dead today on the lifting. This was a good workout.

Dead lift training max 540 lbs, and it's 3 x 3 day.

Warm up sets

Power clean 135 x 5

Dead lift
 
215 x 5
270 x 5
325 x 3

Working sets

430 x 3
460 x 3
485 x 8

Considering that I had absolutely no drive at the beginning of the workout, this was a very good set.

Assistance work

Barbell shrugs 315 x 30, 335 x 10

Dumbbell shrugs 120 dumbbells for an alternating 20 reps, then 10 together.

Chin ups

Bodyweight x 13
35 lbs x 4
45 x 3
50 x 3

I was feeling a little phased out, so I concluded with alternating dumbbell curls using the 45 pounders for 3 x 16.

03 OCT 11 -- A Nice Surprise

I've been posting about the difficulties I've been having with the overhead press. How it is actually going backwards instead of forward. Today, during my 3 x 3 workout, I was able to meet the requisite reps on my last set. The first rep on that set almost didn't make it up, but the next two went up no problem. Here's the summary of that workout. By the way, training max is 250 lbs:

Warm up sets

45 x 15
100 x 5
125 x 5
150 x 3

Working sets

200 x 3
215 x 3
225 x 3

I decided to do two strip sets after the max set, doing one set at 85% and then one at 80%.

215 x 3
200 x 3

I went down to 135 lbs and did 3 x 10 of military press, then added one-arm dumbbell press for 3 x 10 each side with 50 lbs.

That was a wrap, and I decided not to overdo it today with any extra assistance. I've been wondering if I have been overtraining the overhead press. That could cause it to go backwards. If anyone knowledgeable out there has any advice, just drop a comment. I don't bite, lol!

See you tomorrow for 3 x 3 dead lifting.