10/4/13 Deadlifts

2 Weeks out, 18lbs to cut. Not concerned.


Today I hit some decently heavy pulls along with some speedwork and assistance that smoked my posterior chain. Todays workout went as follows:


Deadlifts: Worked up to 405x2

 
I wanted a triple out of this but it wasnt in the cards. As per usual my lockout is looking ugly. Luckily, my pull tends to get better as I cut weight so things could turn up.

After this I hit 3 supersets of 405x1/30s rest/315x3 speed reps

Next were pause squats. I've been having trouble getting a feeling for depth squatting in olympic shoes but everything felt on point today. I worked up to 315 and it felt incredibly strong.

 

After this I finished with some block pulls to work on my awful lockout. Off 6" blocks I hit 225x8, 275x8, 275x8 beltless and called it a day

9/17 skwats, 9/18 bench

           I'm gonna combine these two posts because neither is really outstanding by themselves. On the monday after Skiba's I decided to hit some more squats to keep working in my oly shoes. My lifts went as follows:

Squat: bar x 5, 135x5, 225x2, 275x1, 325x2, 325x2, 325x2, 405 x walkout


 

 

Here's some footage of my 3rd double with 325 as I felt it was the best. I'm still having some trouble feeling out depth in oly shoes because I have to consciously stop myself from going complete ass to grass. I feel strong as shit though and once I get my rebound out of the bottom right things are gonna go well.



 9/18/13 Bench:

Today was my big bench day for the week. Since I'm 4 weeks out I'm doin a lot of benching and not a whole lot of assistance. My workout went as follows:

Paused Bench: bar x 10, 95x5, 135x3, 165x2, 185x1, 195x2, 195x2, 195x2

After hitting my 3 heavy doubles I did a 10 to 2 pyramid of touch and go:
135x10
145x8
155x6
165x4
175x2

After this I finished with Tabata TRX Rows/Fallouts and Tabata Cable Flys/Bicep Curls

Despite being this close to a meet, my bench always feels best when I'm doing a lot of volume and this workout was the tightest my bench has felt in a long time so hopefully I can keep this rolling

9/15/13 Skwaaaaats

            Sorry I'm already slacking on this but this wasn't a normal week. Sunday I had the privilege to lift at Skiba's Barbell in Carteret NJ and meet powerlifting legend Dan Green 

 

For those of you who don't know, Dan green holds the raw world record totals at both 220 and 242 with his best lifts including a 826lb squat, 518lb bench, and a monstrous 815lb pull. Just being in the same room as him reminded me why I compete in this sport. A huge thanks goes out to AnimalPak who puts on these events that allow people to meet their idols.


While I was at Skiba's I just worked on getting used to my oly shoes a little bit more. I hit a bunch of random singles up to 345, nothing spectacular but things are starting to feel more comfortable.

Bench 9/13/13

               So today was my accessory bench day. I've been playing around with my assistance work a bit to see what feels good and what doesn't. Today's lift went as follows:


Bench: bar x 5, 135 x 3, 165 x 1

Slingshot bench: 205 x 1, 225 x 1, 255 x 1

Here's a video of my slingshot bench: 

Not the cleanest lift in the world but the racks on the bench we're too high for me to set my shoulders.

After this I went back to raw benching and hit 4x1@185 paused.


Assistance:

Bandbell Bench - 35lb Bells, 4x10 Superset with 4x10 Barbell Row @ 135

Bandbell Incline Bench - 25lb Bells, 4x10 Superset with 20 Band Pull Aparts

Finished with some anti rotation ab wheel rollouts and called it a day. Nothing too exciting but tomorrow I get to lift with some Universal Nutrition sponsored athletes so expect some cool footage

                So word on the street is that people actually care enough about my contributions to the world of fitness that it was requested that I restart my training blog. So here it is:

I'm currently in the middle of a training cycle leading up to the Ultimate IPA Powerlifting meet in Ithaca, NY on Oct 19th where I will be competing in the Raw Junior 148lb class.

In the past year I've posted a 1000lb total (375, 215, 410) in the Junior Raw 165 class and a 955lb (325, 205, 425) total in the Raw Junior 148 class. Although these meets went well, they're still no where I'd like to be.


But enough of the excuses, lets get down to training. Today was my heavy pull day and it went as follows:

Sumo Deadlift - 135x3, 225x2, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1x4
I've been trying to do as many reps as possible above 405 to help me from a mental standpoint

5 Second Paused Squat  - 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 275x1

Snatch Grip RDL from 2" Deficit - 135x8, 135x8, 185x8, 185x8







If you want something to absolutely destroy your posterior chain, these should be your go-to. They work from your traps to your hamstrings and the wide grip forces you to keep your  lats locked in.

After this I finished with 3x10 Anti Rotation Ab Rollouts and called it a day. So there's day 1 in the books. Don't fret, there will be much more excitement to come

WE'RE RELAUNCHING!

Hi everyone! Exciting news....we are relaunching our blog! It's been a little less than a year since we last posted....and a lot has been going on! Steve and I relocated to New Jersey, where we both work as personal trainers at 24 Hour Fitness in Paramus. So far, its been a great experience for us! As far as the lifting goes....we're been making serious progress. I have done 2 meets since the Albany Strength meet last October, and Steve has done 3 meets since his last one. Here are the results from our latest meet which was USAPL New Jersey States on August 10, 2013:

Chrissy: Junior 114 Raw, First Place
Squat: 145
Bench: 88
Deadlift: 215
Total: 448

Steve: Junior 148 Raw, Second Place
Squat: 325
Bench: 205
Deadlift: 425
Total: 955

Right now we are in training for our next meet, which is an IPA meet on October 19. We are so pumped for it, especially since its being held in good old Ithaca, NY! We lifted in this same meet last March, and it was a great meet for both of us. We've decided that we like lifting in the IPA more than USAPL...lifters for lifters baby!....so NJ States was most likely our last USAPL meet. We're ready to do some big things in the IPA!

So you can expect training updates, fitness tips, and pretty much anything else we feel like posting! Sorry we were on hiatus for so long...life got crazy! But we're back and better than ever!