Deadlifting

Since I'm taking next week off from strength training all together, I'm going hard and heavy this week. Next week we'll be having fun in the snow. Instead of snowboarding, I'm going to give skiboarding a try. Looks like a ton of fun.

1) Deadlift - 215x7, 265x1

2a) Full Squat - 5x10
2b) Hanging Leg Raise - 5x6

In a little I'm going to head back out to the garage for some barbell shrugs.

In other exciting news, we have been house hunting for a few months now, and hopefully that will all be over with this week. We'll see . . .

Presses, Chins & Other Upper Body Stuff

Another great training day to finish up this week.

1a) Press - worked up to an easy 70 x 8
1b) Chins - did a set between each warm-up and work set of presses

2a) Parallel Bar Dips - 5 sets
2b) TRX Inverted Rows - 5 sets

The whole workout took about 30 minutes.

Tomorrow is going to be a day filled with house hunting and probably some great food as well.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Hill Sprints & Lifting

Yesterday I planned on going for a nice long walk, but the icy and snowy roads changed all of that. So instead I ran 20 easy hill sprints in the yard.

Today's Training:
1) Power Clean - 95 x 5 x 3 (95#, 5 sets, 3 reps) I suck at these

2) Squat - worked up to 110 x 7 These were really easy, and that's a good thing. My new squat stance is coming along nicely, and I expect to get quite a bit stronger at these in the near future.

3a) Deadlift off 2" Board - 145 x 5 x 10
3b) Ab Wheel Rollout - 5 sets 11-10 reps each

Later on today I'll head back out to the garage and do some shrugs. I need to work on my traps.

In case you missed it, check out yesterday's blog post on my other site => Random Thoughts.

Upper Body Training

Another great training day for the books.

1a) Floor Press - worked up to 100 x 8
1b) Wipe Grip Pullups - 5 x 5

2a) Press - 56 x 5 x 10
2b) Neutral Grip Pullup - 5 x 10

3) Hill Sprints - 6

Once again, you don't need a lot of exercises to get great results. In my opinion, everyone would be better off if they simplified their training and used a handful of exercises.

Training Stuff

On Saturday we ran some hill sprints in the snow. Good times.

So . . . I was scheduled to deload this week, but I'm postponing it until a couple of weeks from now because I'll be away snowboarding, and I highly doubt I'm going to make it a priority to strength train that week.

Today's Training-

1) Deadlift - worked up to an easy 205x7: felt really light today

2a) Full Squat - 85 x 5 x 10
2b) Hanging Knee Raise - 5 x 12

3) Barbell Shrug - 5 x 10 (yes, I'm giving my traps some extra attention)

Got the whole workout done in about 40 minutes, excluding warm-up.

The number of exercises you use is not important, but using the BEST exercises is important.

Get more done with less.

This Week's Training Highlights

Here is a training highlight from this week's workouts.



Things are coming along nicely. I'm still using less weight on squats while focusing on my form since I tweaked my stance and squat depth.

It was a nice 20 degrees this week, so I was wearing multiple layers of clothes, but I loved every second of it!

Today's Training
1a) Press - 80x5, 90x 2 singles
1b) Neutral Grip Chins

2a) Parallel Bar Dips - 5 sets
2b) TRX Inverted Row - 5 sets

3) Hill Sprints in the Snow! - 6 sprints

This Week in Training

So I haven't posted my last two workouts and haven't put up a new post on my other website.

My computer started to crap out the other day, so I bought a new one yesterday and I've been setting it up today. I'm not tech savvy, so it's taking a while.

Tuesday Workout
1a) Floor Press - 115 x 5, 125 - couple singles
1b) Wide Grip Pullups

2a) Standing Press - 5 x 10
2b) Neutral Grip Chins - 5 sets

3) Hill Sprints - 6

Today's Workout
1) Squat - 125 x 5, 145 - single

2a) Deadlift off 2" Board - 140 x 5 x 10
2b) Ab Wheel Rollout - 5 x 10

I'm putting together a video of highlights from this week's training. I'll have that posted tomorrow.

Deadlifts & Squats

It's a rainy day here, and still cold.

Today's training:

1) Deadlift - 230x5 (felt great), 245 x 1, 255 x 2 x 1

2a) Full Squat - 5 x 10
2b) Hanging Knee Raise - 5 sets

While that may look easy, it's was tough. Five sets of squats is tough, even when using a light weight.

It's all about training economy and getting results.

Upper Body Training & Sprints

Another cold, but beautiful day here in Western Kentucky. Perfect for training.

1a) Press - worked up to 70 x6
1b) Wide Grip Chins - 5 x 4

2a) Press - 5 x 10
2b) Chins - 5 sets

3) Hill Sprints - 6 Easy sprint up the hill, walk back down, repeat

I didn't push my main work sets too hard this week, but that means next week I'll kick things up a notch before taking a deload week.

Don't miss No Nonsense Body Transformation Part 2.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Squat Training

Oh yeah, buddy. It was back to bundling up to train in the cold. Today is the coldest day so far this week - low 20s! I wore 3 long sleeved shirts, a hoodie, and 3 pairs of pants. But I loved every second of it.

1) Squat - worked up to 110 x 6. I recorded my squat sets to check on my form again. I'm hitting just below parallel before squatting back up. It's still little difficult to stop this early, but I'm getting better at it.

I could have easily squatted that weight for more reps, but right now I'm really focusing on my form.

2a) Full Squat - 80 x 4 x 10
2b) Ab Wheel Rollout - 4 x 11

3) Hill Sprints - 6

Got the entire training session done in about 40 minutes.

In case you missed it yesterday, head on over to my blog and check out No Nonsense Body Transformation Part 1.

More Cold Weather Training

Just finished up another great training session in the cold. It's even colder today and we have some snow on the ground. I love it!

1a) Floor Press - worked up to 100 x 6
1b) Neutral grip chins - 7 x 4

2a) Parallel bar dips - 5 sets
2b) TRX Inverted Rows - 4 x 12

3) Hills sprints in the snow - 6 (thanks goodness for cleats!) Today I sprinted up the hill at about 50% intensity, walked back down, and sprinted back up.

Today's Training & What I'm Working On

I hope everyone had an amazing weekend. I spent time with my family, ate some great food, watched a lot of football, and ran hill sprints in the numbing cold - and loved every second of it.

It's 20-something degrees here and I finished up my workout a little while ago. I had to wear two pairs of pants, two long sleeved shirts and a hoodie to stay warm. Call me crazy, but I LOVE winter. I love the numbing cold and having to bundle up. I could live like this all year long.

Anyway, on to today's training session:

1) Deadlift - 205 x 5

2a) Deadlift from 2" deficit - 140 x 4 x 10
2b) Hanging Knee Raise - 4 x 12

3) Hill Sprints - 6

Today I want to share with you the two main projects I am working on. Head on over to the other blog and check it out => What I'm Working On.

Presses, Chins & Sprints

It's Friday, and that means military presses for me.

1a) Press - worked up to 75 x 5, and then did a few singles with 85lbs
1b) Chins

2a) Press - 5 x 10
2b) Chins with various grips - 5 sets

3) Hill Sprints - 6

It's cold and cloudy outside today, and I love it. People think I'm crazy but I love winter. For some reason I love bundling up in multiple layers, walking outside to my home gym in the garage, and lifting some heavy weight.

I will be very sad to see winter go.

Hope everyone had an amazing weekend!

Next week I'll share with you some projects I'm working on.

Squat Day

So today I decided to record my squat workout. I did it for the primary reason of analyzing my squat technique, but I decided to share it with you as well. I'll explain a few things below.

Today's training session:



1) Squat - worked up to 115 x 5 Once again, I know I suck at squatting. Right now I am dropping the weight and focusing on improving my form. As you see in the video, I go well below parallel. For this squat my feet are in a wider stance, and it's my goal to hit parallel and then come back up. I need to stop a little shorter. The reason for this is because I want to get stronger in this lift.

2a) Full Squat - 75 x 4 x 10 (75lbs, 4 sets, 10 reps) Again, I dropped the weight and just busted out 4 sets of full squats. The differences between my full squat and regular squat are that I squat all the way down (obviously) and my feet are a little closer together.

2b) Ab Wheel Rollout - 4 x 10

3) Hill Sprints - 6

I still need to tweak my squat form a little, but things are coming along nicely. Slowly, but surely.

Back to Basics Part 2, and a Rant

No training for me today.

In fact, I'm going to go for a nice long walk here in a few minutes. Other than that, my activity today will consist of playing with the dog.

Head on over to NiaShanks.com and check out Back to Basics Part 2. I share some important information that you don't want to miss.

Train Hard. Eat Smart. Get Results.

Floor Presses & More

Today's training session:

1a) Floor Press - 110 x 4, 115 - 3 singles
1b) Neutral Grip Chins - 9 x 3

2a) Parallel Bar Dips - 5 x 8
2b) TRX Inverted Rows - 4 x 10

3) Hill Sprints - 6

I have to do a thorough warm-up before sprinting, mostly for my ankles. I broke my right ankle when I was younger, and it takes a lot of warming up to get it feeling good, especially in cold weather.

I'm not performing my sprints at 100% intensity; more like 6-8/10 level. I really enjoy sprinting, and my hips and ankles feel great the next day.

Tomorrow I'm just taking it easy - that means going for a nice long walk in the morning and then playing some football without my dog throughout the day.

Deadlift + Video

So I started off the New Year with some hill sprints. What did you do?

It's back to training today, and I'm starting from scratch. Now that I'm training in my **NEW** home gym, I'm "starting over" in a way. I know how much the bar weighs and how much each plate weighs - this can vary in gyms. There have been times when I thought I was using a 45lb bar when it was really 40lbs or a little less. That may not sound like a big deal, but combine that with plates that aren't properly weighted (a 45lb plate really being 41 lbs, etc) and you can have a big problem.

1) Deadlift - 215 x 5, 235 - 3 singles

2a) Deadlift from 2" Deficit - 135 x 4 x 10
2b) Hanging Knee Raise - 4 sets

3) Hill Sprints - 6

Here's a video with clips from today's training.


Great way to start the week.

I'll have more information on my training in the next couple of days.

Oh, and today is THE LAST DAY to get Fat Loss Detour for a big discount.