Adios 2008

Did a sixty minute spinning workout on the ol stationary bike last night. Pretty cool actually. We got this dvd called ride the rockies. Turns out it's the boulder peak triathlon course and you're in a pack of about six pro cyclist/triathletes that live in the area. Nice to see the flatirons again, even if it is on a littel tv screen.
Got up this morning and drug my sled with 35lbs to the highway and back. That's definately going to become a regular routine. Got he blood flowing nicely. Deadlifts tonight. Strongman workout in the morning.
If I make it through tomorrow with no booze I will have gone seven days sober. Easily the longest I've gone without a drink in the last ten years.
I believe that God is listening to your prayers on my behalf and I cannot thank you enough for them.

Oh, it's ON!

http://www.nastrongmaninc.com/pdf/entries/metroflex09.pdf

I've got two months to prepare for a penultimate finish. I'll be happy with that for this year. If I can stay on the road I'm on, I'll win this thing next year.

frick'n freezing

As I'm trudging down the boring road of existence, it occurred to me that I haven't been blogging like a good little blogger because I have nothing in my life interesting enough to actually write down. The irony is that I have so little going on in my life/job at this moment that I actually have the time to write about having nothing to write about. I've been averaging about one or two workouts a week. this is not making me skinnier or stronger. I've been eating and drinking pretty much everything I can get my paws on. This is also not leaning me out. Blah. Just writing is making me feel like a short fat average 30 year old headed for a mid-life crisis garnished with a cardiovascular stint♥.

On a brighter note, I've proven that my family can survive in a 62 degree environment. Hopefully the next 300 gallons of propane will last more than 1 month.

Merry Christmas!

Back to life, back tooo Reality.

C-
Welcome back to reality. I'm glad you survived the rig. Going forward, any job that you may have you'll always know that it can actually get worse. Really shitty jobs have done wonders for my career. And don't forget that you are now elligible to file for unemployment!

Ouch

Everything on me hurts. That was a fun weekend, but I'm glad to say that today marks the beginning of 30 days of detox. Its time to clean out the ol system. I've got to drop a couple hundred pounds and regrow some lungs. I know I've been talking the smack for a while now, but I think this round I may actaully have the motivation for it. Cheers.

Happy Friday.

OK. I'm posting because I feel a need to. I've not actually got anything newsworthy to post here, but I feel guilty because my life is so boring I haven't really had anything of any interest to post in quite a while. Work is boring. The gym routine is steady and I'm still making gradual gains, but still nothing earth shattering that I feel I need to put down in pixels. Next weekend is the "Bachelor Party of the Century". Actually, as it turns out, I'm not really the guy to go to for planing fanfare. I'm just not that creative when it comes to boogieing down. The best I could do was, admittedly, based on selfish intent. We're going to load up in a motor home and drive to hellandgonefromallwomen. We're going to drink four hundred beers and see how gracefully we can negotiate single track at mach 1. At some point we'll end up at the local pub and drink all of their beer too. I know. I know. This doesn't really compare to the hallucinogens, midget strippers, and freaky clowns that seem to always highlight the really epic bachelor party stories, but like I said, I'm being selfish.

yesternoon

Got 405 off the three board press. It's getting closer to my chest every week. I'm still gunning for a full single of 405 by Jan 1, but that doesn't seem nearly as far away as it should.
On another sad note, it looks like I wont be able to make the midget wrestling / freakshow tomorrow night at the coliseum. Apparently, Meg thinks a cookout with her family is more important than this historical event in our community. They actually have a "micro" midget stripping pole dancer as well as a midget marolyn manson impersonator. Can't believe I've got to give this all up for family time. Oh well. Hopefully they'll be back next season to make our world a little less cheerful.

bagger

Floor press:
worked up to 365, missed it twice. (bummer)

Four board press (lockouts)
worked up to a single with 425. (new pr)

DB bench:
5 x 10 with 85's

Db rows:
2 x 15 with 85's (used straps)

I've started taking aminos before and after my workouts. We'll see how that affects recovery.

Good Mojo.

(Loveland Pass opens today!)

itch

Can you feel it? It's coming. Oh yeah.

clench time

So I spent the first twenty minutes of my day purging my bowels of somthing that resembled menudo. Sure made me look forward to speed squats.

squats: 6 sets of 2 @ 55% with medium bands
Rack pulls: worked up to a singel at 90% or 455 lbs
zercher squats: 5 sets of 10 with 135 lbs
good mornings: 4 sets of 10 with 85 lbs

GVT sucks

OK. So I've had all I can stomach of the ol German volume training. I know that volume training has its place, but I hate it with such a passion I just can't keep it up more than two or three weeks at a time. Guess that's why I'll never be swole like the Terminator. It's time to get back to training like a man. A man with no intentions of wearing a thong on a stage, covered in baby oil and fake-tan, trying to pass off what would otherwise be conceived as a horrible bowel cramp for a natural smile. That being said, I started a three day a week circa-max cycle this week. I'm going to try to start posting my workouts more often so I can keep track of them and so you guys can know just how pathetically weak you are.

Monday:
box squats 6 sets of 2 @ 70% (355)
rack pulls: worked up to 1RM (515)
Deep front squats: 5 sets of 10
Good mornings: I don't recall

Wed:
Floor press: 1RM (355) got it on the second try.
4 board press: 3 sets of 3 @ 85% (315)
DB bench: 5 sets of 10 (85's)
DB rows: 4 sets of 10-15 (65's)

I finally got some average and strong bands to start training my squat and bench with. Hopfully I'll start seeing some upwards movement again.

Oh, for that which i cannot have.

I need me some sleep in an evil sick sort of way. I think I might need a new liver as well. I certainly wore this one out. I was chasing a herd of deer around a cotton field on my dirtbike at 2am. As fun as that was, I should have been sleeping. Ick. Nothing like getting plowed with your "accountability partner". Since our climbing trip, I've essentially missed two weeks of training and have not really gotten any slimmer. I gotta get out of this slump. quickly.

BFG

Big Fat Guy. Look mom, it's a beached whale! With a beer. Gotta do something about this.

Callipygian Trolls

thought I'd post up my team mascot for fantasy football 2008. So far, the funnest part of this "sport" in the last two years has been drawing the damn troll. Here's the one from last year.

Over the Hill

This morning was arm day. There are four of us working the GVT program so we have to split into groups of two to get through in roughly an hour. Mike and I usually work together because the other two guys are in a much lighter weight class. I decided to do 10 sets of ten with everyone else because we were working smaller muscle groups. We started with incline dumbbell curls. It's an impersonal exercise because you don't ever really need a spot and so there is no one really encouraging you. I made it through several sets and then started failing at around 7 reps with 35lb DBs. The last set I got pissed off and eeked out 10 with good form. Then we moved over to the close grip bench press. I decided to push 185 for 10 of 10 and was confident that I could do it. By set six I was in a world of pain, but my mind was made up. I decided it would take attitude rather than strength to finish and the plan paid off. I was hurting as bad as anyone, but experience has taught me that I could handle the pain. Mike started dropping reps by set 5 and with each set I could see his mind starting to break. He mentioned several times that he was doing worse than the week before. On set 9 he got pinned under the bar on rep 5 and I had to lift it off him. Between 9 and 10 I explained to him that this set had nothing to do with strength in his muscles. This was all about mental toughness. I told him that he couldn't crawl under the bar again looking like he was gearing up for a good nap and expect to finish strong. I told him that intensity was the only key to progression. 90 seconds after set 9, he pushed 10 clean reps out for set 10. He has no idea, but I'm pretty sure I learned more than he did this morning. Now, if we can just apply this principal to every other aspect of our lives....

17,710 lbs

Squats: 9 sets of 4 with 385lbs. Pushed 10 reps on set #10.

tuesday.

Stayed up late watching a movie. Missed my workout this morning. Made it in at luch with just enough time to bech press.

295lbs for 10 sets of 4. On sets 7 and 9 I only got three. Set ten required a barbaric "yelp" to get the last rep.

Good fun.

Gun day

Yesterday Josh was walking around the office flexing his "guns" talking about how excited he was for today's arm workout. He's the only skinny bastard I know that can actually flex bone. Anyway, he didn't show this morning. Something about his legs hurting too bad from yesterday. What a vag.
Here's how it went down for me:

Seated Zottman Curls: 10 sets of 5 with 45lb DBs
Skull Crushers: 10 sets of 5 with 120lbs
DB hammer curls: 45lbs x 8, 65 x 8, 65 x 6
Tricep pressdowns: some arbitrary weight with most of the rods on the bowflex. I made it hurt for three sets of ten.

My arms hurt.

Not dead, but not exactly alive.

yesterday morning I did a rediculous leg workout. This morning I went for a walk with Meg. This afternoon I came home and finally made myself go for a run. Well, not so much a run as a trot or perhaps a fast fat-guy walk. A canter, maybe. Neverless, I made it farther than expected without throwing a clot. Actually felt pretty stinking good. I just know I couldn'a gone a lick faster without sending the pulse rate into the stratosphere. I stretched when I got back, but i'm certain I'll need a wheelchair to get around tomorrow.

Enough.

So, I'm at the end of day three with no wife. More importantly, no mom for my boys. With the exception of Chicken Wing, I've got to be one of the worst mother's alive. I simply can't be left alone this long with nothing to do but babysit. self destruction doesn't even come close. Self annihilation is much closer to the proper illustration. I stayed up till four thirty in the stupid morning drinking beer and watching movies as if I'd never seen a tv before (by the way, I highly recommend Vantage Point. best flick I've seen in a while.) And that was after a half bottle of Tito's that I killed before lunch. Sheesh. I need my wife back. How the bleeding heck do single guys survive it?

It's Naught a Tooma!

OK. So the pain game is in full swing. Yesterday I did fifty reps on bench press with 275lbs or ~ 75% of my 1RM (10 sets o 5). Then 10X10 with pulldowns. 3 sets of eight with DB rows and 3 sets of eight of Tricep pressdowns. Michael and Mike are doing are doing 10X10 on the main exercises with 60% 1RM. I'm not sure who has it worse. My weights will go up faster and the reps will be up and down. The intensity and concentration required is rediculous. Their reps will stay the same and the weight will gradually come up. Should be interesting to see the results after two months.
Today (leg day) was a lesson in mental toughness. Or, at least I kept telling them it was all in their minds. They disagreed and would've kicked my ass, but they couldn't really lift thier legs anymore. My workout went like this:

• squats - 9 sets of 5 at 75% - 365lbs.
• squats - 1 set of 10 at 365lbs to pick up the slack from the other two guys.
• ham curlz - 10 sets of 10 at some arbitrary weight on Mike's bowflex. I made it hurt.
• Walking DB lunges w/35's - 3 sets of 16 steps
• Romanian DL - 135lbs for 3 sets of 8

Michael's workout:

• Ham curlz - 10X10
• Squats - 10x10 @ 175lbs. Had to insult his manhood to get him to finish the last set
• done.

Mike's workout:

• Squats - 8 sets of 10 @ 275
• Projectile vommit for 20 minutes
• Come back in the gym and proclaim that's the hardest he's ever puked.
• done.

Should be a fun two months.

I'm seriously looking forward to this climbing trip.

Sproing!

So yesterday I did a max squat with 495. Haven't maxed out a squat in ages. Last time I did I pushed 505 in a squat suit and knee wraps. Felt pretty good. The strongman training is having some good cross-over value. Next week we're starting a new program. I've posted on german volume training in the past, but I've never really gone through a full program. Should take two months to get through it. I don't think it will hurt my bench if I play it right. Nevertheless, my body is needing a change of pace for a little while. I haven't been able to convey to the other guys how bad this is going to hurt. The last time I did any GVT i was sore down to the bone and I was just playing around with it a little. There shall be sweating and cursing at a new level starting next monday!
I'll be doing the advanced cycle. The others will be doing the 10x10 program.

http://www.wiredfitness.com/v2/articles/Exercise/Advanced%20German%20Volume%20Training.pdf

Seeing stars

Pressed two clean off three boards with 405. Went for a single with 425 and nearly blew my spleen out my eye. Missed it. 405 will fall by the end of the year.

feedback

Gimme some feedback and attempt to be serious. My boy in Abilene has got more work to throw at me than I probably have time to do. He's suggested that I put up a simple website for him to point referrals to. Haven't done one of these in a while, but I don't think I'm completely worthless at it. simple. to the point. got some style.

www.seventhlayer.com

Why I hate gun shows.

I've got just enough stupid red neck in my to love going to gun shows. Of course, I haven't been to one in a bout ten years. I suppose when you live in the entertainment dessert of the universe you do what you can to get by. It was a family outing believe it or not. I mentioned that we might try to find a gun for Meg to practice with to make her a bit more comfortable when I have to go out of town. So she buys herself a slick little snake charmer 410. I'm not sure what's happened to this woman. All of a sudden she's buying guns and bugging the hell of me to find her a tat artist. Anyhow, while we were there I traded in my Walther P22 for most of a Ruger Charger. Go here: http://www.ruger.com/Charger/ and watch the video. Very fun little gun.

On another note, I got back in the gym this morning after nearly two weeks off. Nothing amazing to speak of, but it felt good to move and sweat again.

I think Sept 12 is my last day of school this quarter. I should be able to get everything in early which would make that the perfect weekend for a man trip.

regular reflexions

Poopie line up (from left to right). This image is from Paul Chek’s, “How to Eat, Move, and Be Healthy.”

Sinker n’ Stinker: This guy is named as he behaves. He is like a smelly piece of black coal that sinks to the bottom of the bowl after an arduous attempt to squeeze him out with tremendous force. His appearance is due to an overexposure to toxins such as processed foods, environmental toxins, and medical drugs.

The Swimmer: This guy is light in color and floats. He is a pain to flush. His appearance is due to a high content of undigested fat.

Bodybuilder: This dude is jacked! He is typically big and round. He makes you strain to get him out. If you pop a blood vessel in your eyeball when you poop, you’ve probably met this guy. His appearance is due to eating too many protein bars and shakes.

Pellet Man: He looks like rabbit poop. His appearance is due to altered states between peristalsis and dehydration.

Diarrhea: “If you’re sliding into first and you feel something burst…” This guy needs no introduction. His appearance is due to your crappy diet and your body’s attempt to purge you of it.

The Flasher: If you can identify what you’ve eaten by looking at your poop, you are being flashed! Undigested food particles making an appearance in your bowl are a sure sign that this guy has crashed your party. His appearance is due to food intolerance and an inflamed gut wall.

The Poopie Policeman: This guy is “the shit!” He is what all of our poop strive to look like. He is well-shaped (with a consistent contour), passes easily, is light brown in color, and smells earthy, not foul. Yet, he floats…but not too much. Mmmm.

shushami

Rather than post the same comments to both of your bloggies, I'll just plop it up here. We're back from the island. It was a much needed blasty-blast. Now i'm in Houston. Hooray. Got to spend a whopping five minutes with my kids before an exec started whining. Now I'm here. Blake's actually getting old enough to get pissed when I leave. That sucks. I like those kids. Sure hope this crap pays off for em'. Hmmm....just realized that I'm speaking in short phrases. I suppose that's what vodka and Squirt(tm) will do for you.
I did, however, find an artist to do the tat work I've been scheming up here in houston. I've found many great artists that could do the job, but it takes time to do it right and I'm here more than anywhere else. Should be nice. (Cody, we should still go check out the place in al-b-q to get some ink in ya. That place was my first choice, just didn't know when I'd ever have the time.) Check out http://superchangotattoo.com/wp/ Pruett is the guy that is working on mine. Said it would take a while to put together. Guess I'll be having several sessions every time I come to a board meeting. Should pass the time.
Blah, blah, blah...I'm out of steam.

peaceout

Countdown to launch

Props to my boy B for getting high marks on his last test!

Bling Bling

I pressed out 365 much easier than last week. Felt good about that. Shot for 375 and missed it. But I did get it off my chest. It'll go up soon.

We leave for Cozumel on Thursday. Apparently there is a tropical storm hovering over the island at the moment. Good thing it's an all you can drink hotel. Sex. MaiTai. Sex. MaiTai. Sex. Maitai. This could be the best vacation ever!

木曜日

This has got to be one of the best workout weeks I've had in a while. Haven't been drinking much. I give that as much credit as anything else. It amazing how productive I can be in a day when it doesn't include getting smished. So monday I bagged a new bench PR. Tuesday we weren't scheduled to do anything, but Mike had missed Monday so I decided to get out of bed and meet him in the morining and help him with his bench. He was about half an hour late, so I decided to do some extra shoulder work. I worked up to a standing overhead press of 225lb for a single. That's a pr for me, but I haven't really been working it all that hard. I've got to get my shoulders stronger and my form better for overhead pressing if I expect to do anything with strongman next year. I finished up with some heavy one hand dumbell clean and presses. These have got to be one of my favorite excersises because of the huge range of muscles that it works. You can just about do these with no weight and still be sweating your butt off after a couple of sets. Yesterday would normally have been our outside workout at my place but we decided to meet in the gym and do some squat work. I slept in. At noon I went in determined to do squats in my jeans and boots. Didn't even bring a shirt to change into so I went topless. I was dressed in exactly what you shouldn't wear to do a squat workout. All the same, I managed to work up to two sets of six with 405. Next I decided to pull some heavy weight off the safety pins from just below knee hight. Worked up to 405 for an easy three or four and decided to start doing singles and not count the weight as I stacked in on. My last attempts I added on 50 lbs. and missed twice. I thought it was around 515 just glancing at it (we're out of 45lb plates at 405 so I was using smaller weights). After a lot of screaming, grunting, and straining I added it up to 575. I was pissed I couldn't get it, but 525 went pretty easily. I'm still gunning to pull 500 off the floor by the end of the year. Today was speed bench day. 8 sets of three with 255. Now I'm ready to rest a couple o days.

Monday. Again.

I bagged 365 on the bench today. Wouldn't exactly say I crushed it, but it went nevertheless. Kind of surprising really. I was tired and running late this morning. Then I had to make an emergency stop at the truck stop for an early morning colon blow. I'll never put Tabasco on mac and cheese again. Anyhow, by the time I got to the gym the other's had finished benching. I did four rushed warm ups, huffed some ammonia, and sent it home. The funny thing was, even as I climbed under the bar, I really didn't think I had it in me today. It's never happened that I didn't think I would get a weight and then actually got it. I can only assume that I've gotten stronger. Goooo Me! Only forty pounds to go by the end of the year.

Monday

Didn't sleep at all last night. That was a bit painful as I went to bed really early. I think it had something to do with my diet. Yesterday was a pretty drastic change for me. Very little fat, high protein, high fiber, low sugar. Several small meals spaced through the day. I think maybe I was having fat withdrawals, or possibly alcohol withdrawals. Who knows. I still managed to drag out of bed at 5:15 and go to the gym. Wasn't my best day of lifting, but it felt great and I broke a good sweat. Here's the funny part. I feel great this morning. Usually by now, I'd be snoring at my desk, but I feel like I've had a good nights sleep. I weighed in at 210.5 this morning. That means that I've pooped out four pounds in the last couple of days. My goal is to be at 198 by the end of this month.

The Blubber Within

So I knocked out two sets of 3 reps with385 and one set of 2 with 395 on the ol three board press. Felt pretty good about that. I'm still on track to hit a clean 405 by the end of the year.
Anyway, later in the morning I'm CVS to have a passport photo made (Mike invited Meg and I to go to Cozumel with him and his girlie friend end of this month, all expenses paid. Couldn't really pass that one up) and I've got a few minutes to kill so I stop at one of those blood pressure checker thingys. I thought briefly about asking for some KY to get my arm in the cuff, but managed it after a few moments. It gave me a reading of 156/96 with a pulse rate of 66. I'm pretty sure that's in the hypertension range. Kind of messed my day up to be honest. Then I noticed at the bottom of the instructions on the thing it says that if you arms are bigger than 13 inches it may not give an accurate reading. So now I'm not sure what to make of it. I'll probably have to schedule a physical just to make sure I'm not about to kill over.

It's happening again

OK. So I just purchased the Highland games Throwing and Weight trainging videos. Shot in analog in 1997. That's gonna be some high quality stuff! OH well. Gotta learn somehow and I'm pretty sure I'm not going to bump into anyone around here with a lot of experience in the sport. Here's the way my next year should go. Strongman in the winter/spring. Highlands games in the summer. And possibly a powerlifting meet in the fall. Could be a fun year.

Everyone looks tough in a kilt

Seriously, though. If I'm going to entertain the idea of climbing my big outta shape butt up a cliff, you guys are gonna have to kilt up and do a highlands games comp with me. It's all throwing events. Not much real weight involved. I think you have to be drunk to compete. I'll check into that one...

Lucky Charms

An Irishman is sitting at the end of a bar. He sees a lamp at the end of the table. He walks down to it and rubs it. Out pops a genie. It says, "I will give you three wishes."
The man thinks awhile. Finally he says, "I want a beer that never is empty."
With that, the genie makes a poof sound and on the bar is a bottle of beer. The Irishman starts drinking it and right before it is gone, it starts to refill. The genie asks about his next two wishes.
The man says, "I want two more of these."

.....................................

So anyway, here's how my monday/bench press workout went.

Regular bench press
bar x 10
135 x 10

2 board press
225 x 6
315 x 5
355 x 2

3 board press
385 x 3

4 board press
405 x 5 Felt lighter than I was expecting. I was hoping for one or possibly two, but ended up completely failing at 5. It's the little things that keep me going.

Monday

Well. 365lbs beat me down again. Nearly got it, but I ran out of gas. Stayed up way too late last night, again. It appears that I'll never learn. Oh well. It's time to take few weeks off of straight bench press and break it down to get it stronger. I need to work some heavy 2-3 board presses. I'm failing at about the halfway mark. I know I can lock out over 400 so my triceps alone aren't the issue. I got it off my chest ok this morning, just couldn't get it to the lockout "zone". Hmm...must keep moving forward.

On a brighter note, Mike and I got through a killer strongman workout this Saturday. My grip is deffinately getting stronger. I'm thinking I'll be much more prepared for a strongman comp come the first of the year.

August Burns Red

Sounds like a road trip is brewing for August. This will be most excellent. Now we must decide a destination. I've heard the limestone in the Austin area is nice, but I think I would prefer to make that a winter trip. Fat and heat don't mix well. Colorado is probably out of range and Meg would kill me if I went without her. I think that leaves New Mexico. Any mountains are better than cotton fields and typically cooler. Might be fun to re-visit Cochiti Mesa and White Rock. Find somehwere cool to camp in between. Thoughts? Comments?

Mustard I & II

The 365lb bench beat me down again. I just didn't have my head in it this morning. Oh well. Next week.
I bought another four hundred pounds of plates to keep at my house. That'll get me kicked off with my strong man training. Heavy sled work, farmers walk, and the log press will all be covered now. I still need a heavier tire.
A stange thing happened at the concert this weekend. Logan Martin, the body builder kid that everyone used to somehow mistake me for, was working security with us this year. At some point in the morning he happened to be taking a crap in the stall opposite mine. I hear a shout across the bathroom, "Hey Glenn, you ever get a chance to do a strongman comp?". I thought this was a bit of a breech in etiquite, as everyone knows that men do not speak to each other in the bathroom, but I answered, "Yes I did. It was a blastee-blast." This was apparently the ammunition he needed to destroy all men's room policy. He dove right off into a conversation about how he and a group of friends were wanting to get involved in the sport but had nowhere to train and nothing to train with. "I just happen to have a solution to both of those problesms", says I. So, to make a short story as short as possible, we're supposed to be puting together a small group to train once a week and go to the next comp together. Should be fun if we can make it work.

Anonymous

Can someone please give this beautiful little girl a name? Sheesh.

Monday Headliners

So. Today young Baby-bin Cody has entered the world. Hopefully, by now, the proud parents have come up with a more fitting name for my new neice. Nevertheless, she is here on planet Earth. As I understand it, she arrived much the same way a cannon ball exits the cannon.

On a sillier note, I missed a 365 bench today. Twice. I'm blaming it on a lack of music in the gym this morning. Oh well. I'll kill it next week.

In other news, I'm today starting a 30 day no-beer benge. That will be roughly 25 days longer than any other no-beer benge I've ever been on. Hopefully some rapid weight loss will keep me motivated.

The Red Letter Rock Fest is coming up this weekend (as well as my 10 year wedding anniversary). Check out the lineup at: www.redletterrockfest.com

Memorial Day

I went to the gym yesterday knowing that no one else would show up, so I figured I'd actually get in a man's workout. Actually went really well. I put up a new PR on the bench and on Pullups.

Bench:
135 x 10
225 x 6
275 x 4
315 x 3
335 x 1
355 x 1 (New PR)
335 x 2
315 x 3

JM presses: 3 sets of 8 with moderate weight. These put a lot of stress on the elbows and I'm still working on getting the form down.

Pull ups:
body weight (~210lbs) x 10
+25lbs x 8
+50lbs x 6
+75lbs x 3 x 3

DB rows:
85lbs for 3 sets of 10 (this required a lot of screaming)

Now this was my kind of workout. Short and heavy.
We've been in our new place for a week now and are finally sarting to make some order of things. Next week I'm going to start adding in some strongman specific training in my backyard. I'm really looking forward to that.

yadirF

Ran again this morning. Very pleasant. Could get used to this.

Pure Country

I went for a run this morning. That was nice. I didn't die, so I went beyond my expectations and I think that is a key to success. One must be willing to push oneself further than what is seemingly possible. I hate being fat. I could barely sit on the ground and tie my running shoes this morning. That's just gross. If being strong means being fat then I choose weakness. Not really. This is where I get stuck between a rock and a soft squishy mid-section. I've got to figure out how to stay lean and get stronger. All I can figure is to do more cardio, and when I say more I mean some cardio because right now I do none. Beer must be limited as well.

On a lighter note, our orange kitty "Lucky" returned after three days MIA. Thougt for sure he was coyote poop. Oh well, that made Meg very happy which will, of course, make my life easier.

Cheers!

Minus One

I had to have my new puppy euthanized yesterday because she had distemper. Apparently it would have been a slow painful death. I was pretty sad as she was a very cool dog. Fortunately the family didn't really have enough time to get too attached. Meg cried yesterday. By ten o'clock this morning she had already loaded up two chocolate lab puppies from the vet. Bury one, bring two home. I'm not really liking this math.

Busy Month

Bought a house.
Got a dog.
Put another bun in the oven.

Lame-O

I really don't have a lot ot say. Just felt I should say something as it has been a whiles since I've said anything at all. So, here goes.
My workouts of late have been sporadic to say the least. It seems I've been living part time in a Houston which is, as it turns out, a very unhealthy place to be. I did break down and go to the hotel gym on my last trip. I was desperate. As it turns out, the Mariott has an almost functional weight room that is pleasently seperated from the "cardio" room. They had dumbells up to 50lbs, a bench press "machine" that had what felt like a 250lb stack and pull down machine with roughly the same. OK. So I had to do a lot of reps, but I got my groove on nevertheless. In fact I was sweating all over the tiny room. Three people walked in at different times with motivation in their eyes and towl over thier shoulder. All three did a heel spin before they were all the way into the room. Guess none of them like working out in close quarters with a chubby wookie. I thought it was a bit funny when the first two did it, but when the third guy turned and bolted I nearly pissed myself.

Oh well. Back to the garage this morning. Much better. Hopefully I can stay on track for a good stretch now and make some gains. Except for a move to a new house, I don't have any trips planned for a few weeks.

aggression = ascension

I couldn't sleep last night thinking about my bench press this morning. After some good momentum two weeks ago, I got my butt kicked last Monday due to alcohol poisoning. It wasn't that unexpected, but I hate going backwards. I drank no booze this week except for a few beers Friday and Saturday. Even this was seriously moderated. (It should be noted here that this in itself is some kind of record for me.) When I got up this morning I was optimistic, but felt tired. Here's how the "working" sets went up:

225 x 5
275 x 5
295 x 5
315 x 5
335 x 5

I killed my best shirted one rep max five times. I'll be traveling the second half of this week and the first half of next, so next week will be a wash. I'm gunning for 350 x 5 when I get back. I'm pretty sure if I can lay down that kind of base, I'll be on track to hit 405 by the end of the year.

God allowing we'll have a contract on our house today. If that comes through, I'll be able to nail down closing dates and plan a bit better for a climbing trip. Hopefully we can still pull something together in May.

I Poo

I had myself a nice little gym session this morning. Shredded the old guns, I did. Today was the first day that I started to see some real improvement in the new crew. Not that anyone was significantly stronger than they were three weeks ago when we started, but everyone was pushing themselves. There was even a glimmer of competition. If we can keep that up, its going to be a blast-ee and some guys are going to get man-strong. As for myself, I've decided that a 400lb raw bench is within reach. I know I can pull 500 off the ground easily if I would just focus on it a bit. That gives me a 900 lb base in two lifts. I'm working my squat back up, but I'm doing it very slowly. I'm really focusing on perfect form in my squat. It's going to take a little time to put any big numbers up on that lift, but I've got time. As it turns out, turning my attention away from competition and focusing on lifting is making me a stronger human. And its more fun. And people actually want to work out with me. Go figure.

Never leave a plunger in a blind man's potty

So! We're less than twenty-four hours from our annual trip to Muenster, TX for our Beer and Bike fest. Also, I think I got my house sold at lunch today. This would be very good. Apparently, a newspaper ad and a cheesey web site are better than the typical realtor around this place. Check this out: www.lewis-house.com

Viva! la Red River! (or something like that)

Power to the People

Bench press:

135 x 5
225 x 5
295 x 5
315 x 5
325 x 5

Finally moving forward again.

Pastel Bunny Poops

Had myself a fine Easter weekend. And to top it off, after several months of conquering fears, Blake finally to a poo in the potty all by himself. I nearly cried. I've never been so proud of a terd in my whole life. I thought for sure the boy would be wearing pull-ups to high school.

On another note, I've discovered a scientific breakthrough. Apparently a crappy diet, four kegs of beer a day, and not much sleep make me stronger. I've never been able to bench press more than two reps with 315lbs. Usually can't get two clean. This morning on my fifth set I knocked out five reps and had some left over. Maybe it's the garage atmosphere or the loud music, but something is working that I haven't been able to plug into for over a year.

To Trudge

So. I went for a walk this morning. How gay is that? Oh well. I suppose something is better than nothing. The guys are getting more serious about their whining. It's gone from joking about the pain to a lot of flinching and cursing. They simply can't understand why I'm enjoying this.
Anyhow, I've managed to do something evil to my back again. Didn't do it in the gym this time. I think it is from sleeping on our big fluffy pillow top mattress every night. I sleep in a hole slightly smaller than I am. I think this has begun to slowly destroy me. I've quit trying to sleep and I pretty much feel like I've got a knife sticking out the left side of my back all the time now. I'm going shopping for a new mattress today, but that's a rape waiting to happen. I don't know what to do, but my back is getting worse daily. I took 800 of ibuprofen an hour ago. May as well of eaten four Lifesavers for all the good its done. Any suggestions?

Monitor de LCD

I really have nothing to say. Just thinking about you guys. I love you.

Garage Dayz

First official day in the garage gym. Good time. Three people plus myself showed up. It was a bit odd working out with three guys that don't really have any idea what they're doing. But they pushed themselves pretty hard so it was OK. I've forgotten how weak mortals are. They're just walking around not even realizing how bad they're going to hurt tomorrow and the next day. This brings me joy. Tomorrow is squat day. Me thinks it's going to be interesting.

blog

Well, I've been on a two week downward spiral. I think I've been in the gym twice in a fortnight. Between traveling for work and trying to finish projects for school, I'm wasting away in reverse. I'm getting fatter and softer on a daily basis. But there is a ray of hope. I hauled all my weights over to our new garage gym. We start tomorrow (hopefully).

non sequitur

I voted for Dr. Paul today.
How funny would it be if he won Texas?

What is a Sump Pump?

We just unloaded the finest weight rack you'd ever want to lay your eyes on. Unfortunately, it came in about 1,000,000 pieces. I don't know how many beers its going to take to get it put together, but I'm sure we'll find out. I'm also sure that we'll need it that much worse when we do actually get the thing built. Nevertheless, it is beautiful.

Nothing to report

Nothing too exciting going on. Just wanted to post. Interestingly, one of the senior kids from our Bible class asked if he could start working out with us in the mornings. He's a star tennis player and a really awesome guy. Unfortunately, neither of those attributes have made him very strong. He actually showed up yesterday morning to start the second phase of a three month progressive cycle. Monday was bench and biceps. He was definately a trooper, but I doubt the poor guy could get the bar of soap to his arm pits this morning.

Happy Friday

I've been back in the gym yesterday and today. Nobody showed up this morning so I didn't have a real inspiring experience, but I cranked it out anyway. Yesterday was a really good one. Did some light deadlifts and more hamstring work. Tried some one arm clean-and-presses with dumbells. Three sets of ten on each side got me breathing and sweating like a big fat guy should. Loved the exercise though. Definately a good one to put in the archives. Then I decided to do some grip work, as I recently found that my grip is comperable to that of a fetus. A girl one. So anyhow, the gym finally got a set of 100lb DBs. Its a start. I picked em up and just held onto them for a bout 30 seconds. Four rounds of that and my forearms were deffinately pumped. I felt really great after that workout. I don't think it's going to take a lot to improve my hand strength quite a bit. Now if I can just figure out how to get a big tire off the ground faster...

Post demolition

I got up yesterday morning and walked on a treadmill for about half an hour and stretched. I thought that was plenty for the day. Then my father-in-law calls me and needs help moving a bunch of heavy junk into storage last night. It quickly became obvious that I have not recovered from the weekend yet. My hips and legs were killing me by the time we got done. I never realized how week my hips were until this weekend. Definitely a weak link that needs to be resolved.

2008 Texas Strongman

This was one of the coolest things I've ever done. I am so hooked its ridiculous. I've never been so beat up and sore in all my life. That is one fun sport! The competition was amazing. There were some really good athletes and everyone was super cool. You'd be strategizing the best was to carry a loaded keg with the guys you're trying to beat. there was also a huge crowd of spectators that kept the energy super high and positive. This was exactly what I needed to pull me outta the slump I've been in since the first of the year. I got my arse kicked severely, but I didn't come in dead last either. Did well on some of the stuff I was really scared of, and sucked on the things I thought I had a handle on. Crazy sport. I know what I need to be working on now. I'm gonna hit strongman head on and never look back. The cool thing is, the guys that won it weren't that much stronger than me. They had their technique down for sure. I really think within a year, I could be placing in the top three. Awesome weekend!

GLURBLE

Well now. its about two days until the ol meet in Ft Worth. I'm still hacking up a lung every couple o' seconds and generally feeling pretty dang not strong. this is going to hurt little glenny-poo like whackings and smackings on my poor tender head.

Super Monday

Shite. I've been sick since thursday, and it doesn't appear to be improving. I'm sitting in a hotel in houston administering some of grampa's cough syrup. I feel like poo. Tried to workout Saturday. Did some farmers walk. I suck. Just looked at my big steel log (i gotta come up with a better name for that thing), but didn't have the gumption to pick the thing up. I may likely die on Saturday. I suppose we all gotta go sometime. Might as well go with a grimace on the face and a lot'a weight over m' head!

Super Tuesday

What's so super about it anyway?

Dead bodies everywhere

So the ski trip was inspiring. Or, at least, revealing. I'm a big fat guy. I don't deserve to be on any mountain. Thank goodness for chairlifts, or the whole sport would be out of the question for me. Hike up on a mountain? No, no. I can barely hike my pants up after a challenging poop. I gotta get back in shape and under 200. I've reworked my gym sessions to be more intense and to ad in some cardio when I can't make it outside. Saturdays will be strongman training and more cardio. I'm on day two and already exhausted. This should be fun.

Get down with the sickness

So I decide to work up to a single trap bar deadlift this morning. No idea why. Just seemed like the thing to do. I decided not to count the weight, but to just keep stacking in on until I couldn't lift it anymore. When I was fo shizzle at my max single, I added the weight up. Managed to pick up 480. That's a 15lb PR for me. I'm not so unhappy about that, but I did jack my back a bit. Oh well. Pack some snow on booze on it! Let's go skiing!

Dang!

I really need to go skiing. (In all honesty, I'd take up riding giant porcupines in my birthday suit if the event took place in the mountains, in snow, and hell-&-gone from Snyder Friggen Texas)

GVT

German Volume Training. Dug this up a few days ago. Its a six day cycle that I intend to do for six days. Since I've been doing next to nothing for the last several weeks, I thought this would be a good warmup back into a routine. Made it through day two today. It hurt. The trick, I think, is to not sandbag. I'll keep this one around for an occasional change of pace.



Workout 1:Chest and Back:

A1) Incline D-bells w/ rotation : 10 x 6 - 1 min rest
A2) Wide Grip Chins: 10 x 5 - 2 min rest

B1) Flat Fly's: 3 x 12-15
B2) 1-Arm D-bell Rows: 3 x 8-12

Workout 2: Legs:

A1) Back Squat: 10 x 6 - 1 min rest
A2) Leg Curls: 10 x 6 - 2 min rest

B1) Step Ups: 3 x 12-15 - 1 min rest
B2) Walking Lunges: 3 x 8 each leg (no tempo) - 2 min rest

Workout 3: Arms:

A1) Medium Grip Chins: 10 x 6 - 1 min rest
A2) Skull Crushers: 10 x 6 - 2 min rest

B1) Off Set Curls: 3 x 10 - 1 min rest
B2) Back Supported Triceps Push Downs: 3 x 12 - 2 min rest

Workout 4: Chest and Back:

A1) Flat Bench: 10 x 6 - 1 min rest
A2) Hammer Rows: 10 x 6 - 2 min rest

B1) 1-1/4 Flt's: 3 x 8 - 1 min rest
B2) Seated Rows w/ Rope Handles: 3 x 10 - 2 min rest

Workout 5: Legs:

A1) Hack Squats: 10 x 6 - 1 min rest
A2) Step Ups: 10 x 8 - 2 min rest

B1) Seated Calf Raise: 3 x 12 - 1 min rest
B2) Standing Calf Raise: 3 x 12 - 2 min rest

Workout 6: Arms:

A1) 8+12 Curls w/ Fat Bar: 10 x 8+12 - 1 min rest
A2) Skull Crushers w/ Rope: 10 x 6 - 2 min rest

B1) 1 Arm Hammer Curls: 3 x 8-12 - 1 min rest
B2) JM Press: 3 x 12 - 2 min rest

I haven't a clue what this has to do with Germans.