Fried Turkey increases shoulder strength

Monday was overhead press day.  I wasn't feeling especially good about lifting, but I knew running was out of the question and I was in desperate need of some kind of detox.  Presses went like this:

200 x 5
210 x 3
225 x 1
245 x 1 (new pr)
The twenty pound pr was a big surprise.  In fact, I threw the weight on as more of mental game to keep my mind from becoming afraid of supra max weight.  I was actually caught off gaurd that it went, and then terrified to realize that my core supporters were rapidly turning into jello jigglers.  It just goes to show that several consecutive days of gluttony can be beneficial.  And that I need to do more ab work.

Throwback

Ok. So I've got a few minutes to get caught up here.  I want to list out the high points of the last couple weeks efforts.  Should be a fairly boring read which I wouldn't recommend, but I wanted to get it posted for my own archival purposes.

Starting on Monday, Nov. 7th.
OH Press: 180 x 5, 190 x 5, 200 x 5


Deadlift: 375 x 5, 400 x 5, 425 x 5
Sumo DL: 225 x 10 x 5

Flat Bench Press: 270 x 5, 290 x 5, 310 x 5
Incline Bench Press: 185 x 10 x 3, 185 x 8, 185 x 6

Squats: 375 x 5, 400 x 5, 425 x 5
Squats (no belt): 225 x 10 x 5

*OH Press: 190 x 3, 200 x 3, 215 x 5

Deadlift: 400 x 3, 425 x 3, 450 x 3

Flat Bench Press: 290 x 3, 310 x 3, 325 x 5
Flat Bench Press: 225 x 10 x 3, 225 x 8, 225 x 6

*I've decided that I'm OK with using some leg drive in the heavier overhead presses (85-100% 1RM).  This changes the excersise to something one might call a push press and makes it more dynamic than static pressing.  Some purists may claim that if I can't press the weight statically then I should lower the weight. Here are three reasons those people are jackasses.

1. This is a functional strength exercise in my program, not a bodybuilding movement.   I can't think of a real world scenario when you wouldn't use your legs to lift something heavy overhead.
2. There is no competition for static overhead pressing and therefore no strict rules.  Olympic lifters and strongmen both press overhead in competition, but they use as much leg drive as humanly possible.  The bench press is probably the most similar competitive lift.  If you're not using leg drive in the bench, you're doing it wrong.
3. You're lumbar spine will thank you when you bend your knees to absorb the eccentric portion of the lift.  A belt helps, but doesn't offer the same protection as in exercises where you're condensing your torso rather than elongating it.

Now, that being said I gotta point out that I still base my 1RM on a single controlled static press.  Because of the nature of this lift, a single rep begins and ends in eccentric contraction.  Generally speaking, a muscle group is about 40% stronger in eccentric contraction than in concentric contraction.  Assuming that you can lock the weigh out for a new shiny PR, you should be able to lower the weight under control with very little risk of injury.  In my opinion, that risk changes dramatically when you up the rep count.  You will begin to sacrifice control for energy conservation to complete high weight, multi-rep sets.

I'm done now.

TM II

I just registered for the Central Texas Tough Mudder on March 31.  Fortunately, I made myself a walking advertisement for the company in exchange for a voucher to this event.  That saved me $135 I wont have to panhandle for.  I haven't missed an iron workout in two weeks.  Haven't really been inspired to post em because they've mostly been boring and uneventfull.  I've slacked so much the last few months none of my numbers have improved, so I'm pretty much just retracing my steps right now.  It's been a couple weeks since I've run as well.  Gotta get that started back up propper.  I'd really like to run this TM at 200lbs.  That gives me four months to drop 15lbs.  It'll just be sad if I can't pull that off.

11-11-11

Would somebody presently living in civilization please grab me a couple of the 11/11/11 Stone Vertical Epics please?  That would be mighty decent of you.

Good Juju

Deadlifts last night.  First time I can remember pulling from the ground in recent history.  Honestly, I cant remember the last time I did any pulling, but it went pretty well in spite.  Went 380 x 5, 400 x 5, 425 x 5.  then did 225lbs for 5 sets of 10 sans the belt.  That rubbed a blister on my soul.  Did some situps and some ab-roller thingys and called it good.
Bryant and I finished up tiling the bathroom floor.  I've gotta say that's it looking mighty fine.  Some day soon I'll have a bathroom worthy of getting naked and wet in.


...That last bit was for the search engines....I'm trying to up  my page hits.  :)

Monday

Finally got back in my own gym for a regularly scheduled workout.   All the traveling and general slothfulness of the last several weeks has been eating away at me.  I don't think I have to go anywhere for a while, so I'm looking forward to getting back on track.  I'm not even thinking about gains right now, just pure old boring consistency.  That's where I've always found my biggest gains anyhow.  The time change should help out my morning runs.  Unless something unexpected comes up, this could be a fairly healthy winter.  And I'm gonna ski this year if I have to sell my liver ( although, I don't think it will fetch much).