BEYOND STRONG: There's Something in the Basement

Nick's Circuit

First, I did 40 minutes of biking yesterday on some sore ass legs.  Hills sprints + squats hurt like hell.

Today: Nick's Hell Circuit

The Power 10

1. One Dumbbell Clean and Press (each arm)
2. One Dumbbell Swing (each arm)
3. One Dumbbell Side Swing (each arm)*
4. Two Dumbbell Clean and Press
5. Two Dumbbell Bent Lateral Raise
6. Two Dumbbell Snatch
7. Two Dumbbell Upright Row
8. Two Dumbbell Squat
9. Two Dumbbell Bent Over Row
10. Two Dumbbell Deadlift

I was going to add 1 minute of heavy bag at the end of each run, but the wife wanted to do it with me so we alternated 1 minute of heavy bag and 1 minute of rope jumping.

I used 30 pound dbs and rested 2 minute at the end of each run.  Did it 5 times through in 23:45.  Averaged 154 bpm and burned 465 calories.  And it was fucking hard, but I will be doing it again! 

Been thinking about October.  I turn 33 this month, and I want to start a trend.  I want to squat my body weight for 33 reps.  I am around 223-228 depending on the day, so it would be a chore.  I will do it close stance, no belt.  I also want to pull 315 for 33 reps as well.

The problem with this challenge is it is going to get HARDER every year...

 

Training Fun

Legs are sore, as are my knees.  I have this feeling that when I am a not very old man they will be replacing my knees.  They get so sore deep in the joints and ache a lot when I run.

Today:

-Seated Powertec oh press: 180 x10, x10, x10, x10, x10.

-1-arm oh press/first rep cleaned: 113 x2 right hand, x3, left hand, x3 both hands, x4 both hands.  Taught this movement to my wife.  She said no way with 45 pounds, then by her 3rd set she was mastering it.

-Behind the back shrugs: 270 x20, x20, x20

-Hammer grip shrugs: 270 x20, x20, x20, x20, x20, x20

Between each exercise I did a bunch of stuff.

-2.5" thick bar: 130 x3 singles left hand, 110 x3 singles right hand.

-Stronger Grip rafter pinch plate wrist curl: 13 x8, x8, x8.

-Climber reverse curls: 5 x20, x20, x20

-Head Harness: 45 x20, x20, x20 both directions.

Need to sit down and hammer out a solid weekly grip routine.  Havent trained it in so long I dont remember how! 

Parent-Teacher conferences tonight.  I am sure my kid's teacher will love seeing a long bearded tattooed guy coming in...

Don't hate me cause I am beautiful!

The Bear

11:30 last night my trash can/dumpster was bouncing off the side of the house.  Luckily I was awake (watching football) so I knew it was an intruder.  I grabbed my .45 ACP and bolted out of bed in my boxers to investigate.  I threw the outside light and on was greeted by a 200 or so pound black bear helping himself to my garbage.  He was hungry, and not very afraid of me.  My wife opened the window and start to take pictures, meanwhile I was just trying to scare him away before he hauled bags of shitty diapers across my yard.  I yelled, slammed the doors, and swore at him as he walked up and down my steps attempting to get my garbage.  At one point he even sat in my yard and itched himself and batted at one of my hanging skeletons.

Finally a couple softair pellets got his attention enough to get him moving.  He ran off into the woods and I had to go out into the dark and pick up his mess...of course I had my pistol in hand.  I know according to the law you cant kill them unless they attack (or are in season), but I will say if that bear would have taken one step towards me he would have had a face full of 240 grain hydroshoks!!!

That's real country living...

Todays fucking HELL:

-Squats: 225 x10

-Hills: x5 (30 secs rest)

-Squats: 225 x10

-Hills: x5

-Squats: 225 x10

-Hills: x5

-Squats: 225 x10

-Hills: x5

-Squats: 225 x10

Ran the driveway.  Mistake...should have ran my steep hill.  Had a little hamstring popage on the3rd set of sprints so I had to do the last 7 at a jog pace.  Hurts, but it gets better after a few days.  Next time I will do the STEEP hill.

Wife got 3 sets with 95 pounds for the squats and was sick as hell.  Thought for sure she was either gonna puke or pass out, but she held on and is looking forward to doing it again.

 

My Life

This is my life.  My sole reason for opening my eyes every single day and not losing my fucking mind.  Without them I would be lost, broken, and wouldnt be able to summon the courage to even get out of bed.

I had plans on working out yesterday, but instead I spent the afternoon in my yard with the wife and kids.  We played football, jumped in leaves, and put Halloween blow-ups out.  I often wondered how people with kids couldn't find the time or want to workout...now I understand where they are coming from. 

I had plans to squat today...instead the wife and I are taking the hideous wall paper off the half bath walls.  I never knew how difficult taking care of a bathroom was until I had 4 of them...fuck me.  You have to clean something every day!!  I have to sweep and then I can start applying the new paint.  Hunter white looks much better then flower wall paper...

Maybe I can squeeze in a workout today.  I will just have to wait and see. 

The weights aint going anywhere...a healthy balance is the key to surviving this crazy life.

 

Big Happenings for Grip

Do yourself a favor if you are into grip and grip competitions: LISTEN TO JEDD JOHNSON'S GRIP STRENGTH RADIO @ http://gripstrengthradio.com/radio/.

Go to the September 23rd show and listen up.  Jedd is moving the sport in a positive direction here in the states.

I am not into grip like I used to be, but Jedder is my friend and I support everything he does.  I will be backing this movement 100%. 

WAY TO GO JEDD!

Sprints

Yesterday I did 20 hill sprints in 27:18.  My average heart rate was 153 bpm.  About 1.5 hours prior I ate a Subway turkey sub and 2 pieces of my daughters pizza that she couldnt finish.  The whole time I was running I was burping pizza and couldnt get enough to drink, which of course caused me to cramp up.  It was great fun.  This morning the arch on my left foot hurts so bad I can barely walk on it.  Not sure why these hill sprints do this to me, only thing I can figure is being on my toes the whole time since the hill is steep is stressing it.  My right foot always feels fine...most likely something weird with my gate.

Been thinking about possibly doing a deadlift or full meet late this year.  Certainly not committing to anything, as soon as I start training my blood pressure might spike again, but I am considering it.  As long as it doesnt effect my cardio workouts I will begin training slowly.  I refuse to cut back on my cardio workouts, so maybe the 5-3-1 with it's limited work will fit just right.

Wanted to make this known to my readers because I think it is important.  I have officially pulled my support for The Gripboard.  As many of you know, Bill Piche used to sell my KTA-Blob book to help support the board and it's expenses.  Some time ago I pulled it because I saw some things going on that I did not agree with, one of the biggest being the piss poor treatment of a Mr. David Horne.  After some talks back and fourth with Bill sometime later, I agreed to help out again and allowed it to be sold.  Then I watched the GB spiral into a forum full of 14 year olds and moderators who like to swell their heads up by "banning" or "warning" people who do things they dont agree with.  Allow me to call it like I see it: Most of the mods are weak, they cant hang with the strong dudes on the GB, so they do their best to hassle, nag, and whine to them via PM until they either leave or get banned.  Then you have a forum full of 14 year olds and the mods once again feel good about themselves.  At any rate, I am done with the GB.  I miss the good old days when Pat P., Steve G., Horne, Nick, Big Steve, Heath, the Vigeants, and many others would post.  Those dudes are STRONG...you have to wonder why they themselves have disappeared from the GB???  We all know it isnt because they no longer are training!!!  If I need my forum fix there are a couple good ones: http://www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com/forum/index.php and http://www.ironmind-forum.com/.  Randy Strossen called me out of the blue some time ago.  We had a good conversation about grip and training.  Randy and I have disagreed pretty aggressively on a lot of things, but I like Randy and he is a stand up dude with a solid business.  I still love to get my Ironmind catalogues in the mail!

I am very happy with how my back feels after doing 440 x5 Thursday.  I have no DOMS at all.  I have some ideas of different exercises I want to incorporate to do things right, stay healthy, and stay injury free.  Backing off and deloads will be a huge part of my training.  As I get older, I am discovering the less I do the stronger I get.  I took about 10 days off from benching, then came back and hit a 10 pound PR on my Powertech for 10 reps.  I will also be incorporating my super slow eccentrics into my 5-3-1.  I know it works.  As easy as that 275 bench was a few weeks back without free weight benching...you have to wonder.  I also want to build a handle squat platform as these always light my hips up.

Fall came to PA last week.  We went literally from green trees to very colorful, falling leaves in 5 or 6 days.  This is the best time of year to be outside!  We drove around the area a bit yesterday and less then 2 miles from our house we discovered Flipper Lake.  It is a small beautiful lake that is for fishing for kids under 12 only.  It is going to be an awesome place to take the kids!

It's college football Saturday.  Some good games on today, but I am going to try and squeeze in a workout.

Disappearing Act

Well, not really.  My in-laws arrived on the 16th and stayed until the 23rd, so I tried to limit my computer time to checking email only.  It is always nice to have the family come visit!  We did a ton of work around the house, did a lot of shopping, sat by a lot of fires in the fire pit and chime-ia, and drank way too many adult beverages.  Oh, and also ate like shit all week!  YEAH!

One of the days they were gracious enough to pile the kids into the SUV so the wife and I could take the bike, and they followed us to Benezette, PA.  Benezette is known for it's fairly large elk herds.  We didnt see much, unfortunetly, but my wife had not been on the motorcycle in a year so that was nice for her.  She loves being on the bike as much as I do.

I did get some training in.  A handful of lifting sessions and a bunch of cardio in the morning while everyone else was having breakfast and planning their day.  So I didn't completely slack...

I have about another month off on leave from work, then it is back to the grindstone until I am 50.  Ugh.  Just the thought of that sends shivers down my spine.  Since I now live an hour away, I will have to do some very condensed, intense workouts.  Getting home at 5, getting out to the garage by 5:30, I wont want to be out there all night.  Especially since I will be up at 5 am.

Still kicking around what I am going to do training wise, but Wendler's 5-3-1 seems to be the direction I am heading.  This will keep the main lifts in and give me a few assistance exercises so I can keep building strength and size, but also not be too wasted to do cardio.

At any rate, I trained last night:

-Sumo Deadlift: no belt, 335 x5, 385 x5, 440 x5.  Nice and easy.

-Beyond the range conventional pulls: 405 x2, x2, x2.  No belt.

-Rom deadlifts: 225 x10, x10, x10.

-Abs: 25 x20, x20, x20.

Dazzit.

absent

Been sick as hell, which I expected when I picked up my son's cold.  Nasty little bugger that is still holding on and still reeking havoc with me.  I got a few sessions in though despite no oxygen through my nose.

Yesterday I did 50 minutes on my bike before the 3:30 kickoff of the big games, then watched my Lions take an ass whooping courtesy of the Roll Tide.  That made me oh so happy...

Today's fun:

-Squats: 310 x5, 320 x4, 330 x3, 340 x2, 350 x1.  Belt only.  Not bad all things considered.

-Leg extensions: 106 x20, x20, x20.

-Leg curls: 63 x15, x15, x15.

-Single leg calves: bodyweight x20, x20, x20.

Cardio tomorrow.

A little change up for a bit.

Where will YOU be when the Craig Machine comes partying through???

Blah

-Barbell curl: 70 x10, x10, 2.

-1-arm curl: 25 x10, x10, 5.

-Cable curls: 40 x10, x10, 2.

-1-arm concentration curl: 25 x10, 30 x8, 3.

-7's: 85, 75, 65, 55, 45 x7, drop set.

-20 hill sprints, 35.08.  Terrible time.  I dont know why, but my heart rate just wasnt coming down as fast as usual.  Could have been the time of day, I didnt get started on the sprints until about 6:00 pm or so.  I felt good, was ready to rock and would look down at my monitor and still be at 145...grrrrr!!!

I got NCAA 2010 for XBox 360.  I am officially addicted again...

Today

-Flat Powertech Bench: 230 x11, x7, 2.

-Incline db press: 70 x8, x7.

-Decline bench: 260 x7, x6.

-Flat bench fly: 30 x10, x10.

-Flat Powertec Bench: 90 x50, x50.

Everything was super slow eccentric (like always) but on the concentric I pushed it up under control and really tried to flex the muscle hard at the top.  Wow.  Super pump!

-50 minutes on bike.  The hard interval gears are getting easy.  Hill sprints??  Average heart rate was 126 bpm despite pushing hard.