Been a few days since my last post but have been pretty busy getting things in order for our competition April 27th. I can tell you it is going to be one hell of an event. 

The last couple of training sessions have been a bit of a deload. I really upped the volume the last few weeks and it definitely hit me this week. But that was my intention. I love getting out of my comfort zone when it comes to training because I know it will make me better in the end. 

Back squats 3x8@315

3x3@365.

Leg Curl 4x10@80

That was all for Thursday. As I said I was feeling the need to deload a bit. There comes a time to push and and time to pull back. I have been pushing for 2 months and it caught up to me, which was planned to overreach. 

Saturdays lift was more of the same mentality. Light work mostly body building style.

Floor Press Close Grip

225x12

245x8

275 3x5

225x12

DB Row 3x12@70

Lat Pulldown 3x10

DB incline press 3x12@70

Curls for the girls. 

That was it. I have been eating and resting and am looking forward to deadlifts on Monday. Going to be rep work this week. Still not happy with my form on deads and seem to be out of my groove, so will be using Katie's help to make sure my hips are to low and I'm pulling back instead of up. 

1/2 Press Day...Max Effort focus
As I said before I am going to work in fat grips for the next few weeks since the gym I'm at doesn't have an axle bar. So here we go

Fat Grip Military Press 3x1@230 these are always done standing. I did these with a belt, my first time ever using a weightlifting belt. Different feeling and I need to get used to it. The belt I go as a present from my beautiful and talented girlfriend for Christmas. It's a Titan Toro lever belt.

Back off sets 4x4@205
Felt pretty good, probably had one rep left in the tank on each set which is what I was aiming for.

Behind the head press 3x8-10@155
I do these for the haters and also cause I love them.

DB Shrug 3x10-12@100
Gotta get dem traps

Neutral Grip DB press seated 3x12@60
If you want to press more, press more...so I did!

Triceps....a bunch of pull downs

DB Lateral Raise 3x10@40

TRX Scarecrow 3x6 slowwwww tempo

Excellent session today that kicked my ass. Left the gym very tired but pleased with my presses. Fat grips will be used on all overheads for the next 4-6 weeks and I am looking forward to see the progress I get as I get more comfortable with them. Since my gf is awesome and happens to be a massage therapist I was able to get some compression yesterday after my lift which helps a ton with soreness the following day. Don't forget I am hosting a Platinum level strongman contest through NAS this April! Hit me up for details. info@liftheavybehappy.com

12/29 Push/pull 

BB incline press 5x4@275

Wanted to switch up my flat benching so I decided to start with incline. To give an idea of how crappy my form is on flat bench when my max was 315....I could put up 315 on incline as well. This is no longer the case but I've always had a pretty good incline compared to my flat. Long story short, I suck at flat bench but it has been improving. Did some nice easy sets of 4. These were not paused. 

Assisted pull ups 10,8,6,4

Decrease assurance weight each set. Slow and controlled to really get a good stretch in the lats. Neutral grip. I prefer neutral grip cause I feel you get a bigger range of motion and can work more lats and less rear delts. 

Db bench 3x8-10@95

Nothing to special here. Slow tempo. 

Chest supported row 4x10 3 plates

Flys 3x12@150

As I said before I will be adding these in to really sculpt my man cleavage haha. Plus just want to get some different accessory work in and I haven't done these consistently in some time. 

Reverse flys 3x15@70

Reverse Curls. 

3x12@80

Lat pull ng 3x10@165

Hammer curls. 3x10@40

I just want to take some time to wish everyone a safe and happy New Year! I myself cannot wait or what 2013 has in store! Every year seems to bring more happiness and more pr's! There are big things coming from Legendary as well.

12/26 Press session, rep and volume focus.

OH Press Fat Grip 4x6@185. These went well. I will be doing these more often than regular barbell press since I recently hit my goal of a body weight strict press! I followed these will another strict press 3x8@135 with the fat grips.

Behind the head press
1x8, 1x10, 1x12 all at 95 lbs. Had quite the should pump after all the presses, it was almost painful...actually it was haha.

DB shrugs 3x10-12@100
DB front raises 3x10@35 slow tempo
DB lateral raises 3x15@25 slow tempo

Kneeling OH med ball throws
3x10@12

couple sets of triceps exercises.

Solid pressing day, as I said will be doing more work with the fat grips in the future.


12/27 Squats!!!! Speed day, explosive day, power day...whatever you want to call it

Seated box jumps 5x5...these are done sitting on a box that puts me below parallel to remove any momentum when jumping.

Box jumps 3x5...Gonna show those basketball guys in the gym what a man looks like when he dunks!

Speed Squats
6x3@225 with 15 seconds rest between sets.
3x3@250 with 30 seconds rest between sets.

Paused squats (3 seconds at the bottom) 3x3@275

Front squats
3x6@225...I miss my wrist flexibility haha. I used to have no trouble getting into position with the front squat, this will take some work to get back to that.

Snatch Grip Deads off of blocks
3x15@260....these raped me and absolutely fried my erectors.

KB Swings 3x10@50

12/24 Deaflifts. heavy focus objective

The plan was to work up to a heavy single. The plan did not go as well I as had hoped. All sets were done no belt, no straps and in oly lifting shoes as usual. My pulls felt pretty good and quick but didn't feel great. When I plan to go up to a heavy single I treat my attempts like a meet. I give my self 3 attempts then if I have anything left I'll do a fourth. I am a big proponent of not missing lifts, I don't think you learn a whole lot by missing other than you're not strong enough that day to handle the weight. I also feel missing(esp when you have to grind) taxes the body way more than successful attempts.

First attempt was at #511 pounds. I hit this easily and was ready to go up. Here is where I made a mistake, I jumped to #561 and that was just to big of a jump. I should have gone to 540ish  first then 560. It came off the ground fast and got to above my knees before my knees did a little rebend and I had to set it back down. Tried again and just didn't have it. At that point I decided to take my frustration out some block pulls.

Block pulls off of 100 lb plates.
5x5@ 420 no straps, no belt
3x3@470 straps, no belt. These were very difficult and form defiantly started to break down towards the end but oh well sometimes that happens on the road to stronger.

Safety Squat Bar.
4x6@225 slow tempo.

Machine Leg Curl 3x10@80 

Neutral Grip Lat Pulldown 3x10@185
Seated Row 3x10@150

Was pretty pissed about my deadlifts but will take it as a learning experience. I hope everyone had a fantastic Christmas, I got some new goodies that will make me stronger in 2013! Also don't forget April 27th is our NAS Platinum contest held in Maryland.

12/20 Mah Fukin Squats...heavier focus

Box Jumps 3x5
Seated Box Jumps 3x5
The height was around 40" for both. Not very difficult but still taking my time on the height since I haven't consistently done them until recently. I'm really glad I've added these back in to my program.

Back Squats up to some heavy singles. No belt, knee sleeves on. These felt really good. Anyone who has  seen me squat knows the only thing deeper than my squats are my thoughts! I bury all of my squats.
5x1@445
5x3@385

I like to get some type of pull on my squat day so today I decided on barbell RDL. And I threw the leg curl in there cause I like isolating them and getting some extra work for them when I'm fatigued. I am really trying to bring them up. Everyone knows how crucial hammys are to squatting and pulling and overall manliness.
RDL 4x10@225

Leg Curl 4x10@80


12/21 End of the world push/pull....or to me just another Friday. If the world ended, centuries later they would have found my body underneath a barbell benching.

CG bench 3 second pause at the bottom 3x3@275
CG bench touch n go 3x5@245

Low pull row with rope attachment. Love these for increased range of motion.
4x12@150

Swiss Bar Incline Press
3x10@185 slow tempo

Assisted Pull ups
4x8

Pec Fly Machine. Working on that man cleavage. First time doing these in years.
3x10@100

Reverse Fly Machine
3x15@70

Face pulls
3x20

EZ bar Reverse Curls
4x10@70 slow tempo

DB hammer curl
3x10@45

Solid lifting both days. Very happy with my squats.

12/17 Deadlifts -Reps focus

Had a crazy idea that for this week I would do straight sets of 10 for deads. All I can say is that this was the hardest 3 sets of deads I can ever remember doing. That being said I am glad I did them and it was obvious from the start that it was going to be very difficult. I know most people reading this are probably saying 10 reps on a deadlift is stupid and not going to build much strength because the weight is to light if you can do 10...all i will say is...you're wrong. Increasing reps has done great things for all of my other lifts in terms of strength and endurance. Keep in mind this is not every workout, as i've stated before I like to vary reps and sets. After living in my comfort zone of 1-6 reps for so long I knew I need to switch it up a bit and get some higher reps in, especially for strongman where most local competitions will have a set weight for reps in a 60 seconds...4 reps wont cut it.

I Didnt have a weight in mind for my sets but ended up at 375 for 3x10 with straps. It absolutely kicked my ass. It felt like I has just run several all out sprints. I was sore, winded and tired. I will be looking to get this number up to 400 in the next few weeks.

Sumo pulls from the floor
3x5@335

TRX inverted row
3x8-10

Leg Curl
4x8-10

Wide Stance Squats with a 3 second pause at the bottom
3x6@225

Lat Pulldown wide grip neutral
4x10 @ 180 


12/18 OH Press-Speed focus

I was still pretty fatigued from deads the day before but decided to press on ( haha get it?)

Push Press, my form is pretty bad as I have always preferred strict pressing so i have been working these in to get better.
5x5@155 This may seem like more of a strength based rep/set scheme but the weight was light and my erectors were crushed from deads so i went lighter than i had planned. 30 seconds rest between sets.

Standing DB Press Fat Gripz neutral grip
5x8@70

Behind the head strict press I love these and have the mobility to do them, you jelly bra?
3x10@110

Lateral Raises DB
3x15@25

TRX Scarecrow
3x10

Tricep Rope Pulldown
15,12,10,8@ increasing weight each set.

I'm very excited to announce our NAS Platinum strongman contest coming in April! We have partnered with the NPC which does bodybuilding, figure, bikini. This is going to be an all day festival and really awesome. Details to follow. Any questions on training, nutrition or contest information contact me greg@liftheavybehappy.com