Training Observation

So, I've noticed something these past few weeks - recording your sets is really beneficial.

For example, I've been deadlifting a very long time. However, since I have been recording myself these past few months I have noticed some areas that need "tweaking".

Example with my squat - I noticed I took too much time and energy getting into position after I unracked the bar. I took too big of a step backwards and too much time getting my feet set. I fixed that.

Example with my deadlift - I wasn't "pushing my hips back" enough to load my butt and hamstrings before pulling the bar. Now I really emphasis sticking my butt back as I descend to grab the bar.

Another example with my deadlift - I could actually bring my grip in a little. This slightly decreases the distance I have to pull the bar off the floor.

If you don't record yourself lifting, you should really consider it.

Also, I know I said today was an off day, but I did a very light workout just to "grease the groove" even further.

1) Deadlift - 135x2x5

2a) Push Press - 65x2x5
2b) Neutral Pullup - 2x5

3) Squat - 75x2x5

4) KB Swing - 1x20

Nice and super easy. Will be heavier tomorrow.

Also, check this out => Take This Eating Challenge

The Last 2 Training Days

Okay, so I did my workout yesterday early afternoon. As I mentioned previously, I brought my feet in a little with my sumo deadlift. My knee felt fine and I barely noticed anything.

Until later that night.

I came to the conclusion that I have to be smart here. I have to look beyond this training cycle and "train for long term." With that in mind, I have switched the sumo deadlifts for conventional deadlifts.

I hate doing this because it's a huge kick to my ego - I can sumo deadlift quite a bit more than conventional. However, I have to keep next month, next year, and the next 10 years of training in mind. Gritting through this with knee pain would only cause problems down the road.

With that in mind, here's what I did today:

1) Deadlift - 195x2x5 Not too heavy, but not incredibly easy.

2a) Push Press - 90x2x5
2b) Neutral Pullup - 2x5 with weight vest

3) Squat - 110x2x5

4) Negative Ab Wheel Rollout - 1x7

5) KB Swings - 1x25 I also switched out the snatches for the swings because my shoulders didn't like the extra volume.

Other than changing my deadlifts and switching to swings, everything seems to be going well. Tomorrow is an off day.

Last Day Before a Rest Day

Ok. One thing right now is quite obvious - my left knee does not like the changes I made in my sumo deadlift form. Specifically, widening my stance.

I gritted through it the past few days, but I know I need to make a change to keep from getting injured in the long run. Tomorrow is an off day, but I'll bring my feet back in a little closer on Sunday's training session to see if that fixes the issue. I'm optimistic it will.

1) Sumo Deadlift - 225x5, 235x3, 245x2 Easy weight for every set. Speed and form were good and the weight came up fast.

2a) Push Press - 85x5, 90x3, 95x2 Again, easy weight for every set.
2b) Neutral Grip Pullup - 2x5 w/ weight vest

3) Squat - 105x5, 115x3, 125x2 Once again, easy weight for every set.

4) Negative Ab Wheel Rollout - 1x7

5) 1 Arm KB Snatch - 1x18

I'm still getting into the groove of this program, and so I don't want to push the weights up too quickly and risk blowing the whole program.

So far, so good.

Oh, and make sure you check out yesterday's blog post if you haven't done so already => Wake Up Your Glutes

Day 2

So I finished up day two of my new training program a little while ago.

1) Sumo Deadlift - 225x2x5

2a) Neutral Chinup w/ weight vest - 2x5
2b) Push Press - 85x2x5

I kept all the weights the same from yesterday. I have a tendency to push too hard, and that's a big no-no on this program. So, I made myself just use the same weights.

3) Squat - 105x2x5 Ok, so I increased the weight on these. But, the weight yesterday was incredibly light, and these still felt very, very easy.

4) Negative Ab Wheel Rollout - 1x6

5) 1 Arm KB Snatch - 1x18

Tomorrow I'll change the rep ranges up a bit.

Make sure you check out today's post => Wake Up Your Glutes

Time to Change Things Up

Ok, so I decided last night to change things up today.

I'll admit that I haven't had a true "plan" the past couple of months. Sure, I wrote out a training program with the goal of getting stronger, but it was mostly comprised of some stuff I thought would be fun. I needed something fun after getting so bored from my previous training.

So over the past week I've been reading a lot of Dan John's articles and his awesome book Never Let Go. He is friggin brilliant. Period.

So, after reading about his 40 Day Program (you can check it out here), I decided it sounded fun, and even a little crazy.

I don't know if I'll do the entire 40 days, because as Dan noted in the article, he reached his goals around the 22 day mark. I'll stick with it as long as my strength improves.

Today was my first day on the program, and so I'm not entirely sure how I'll set things up. I'm just going to listen to my body and "go with the flow".

Here's what I did:
1) Sumo Deadlift - 225x2x5

2a) Push Press - 85x2x5
2b) Neutral Grip Pullup - w/ weight vest 2x5

3) Squat - 95x2x5

4) Negative Ab Wheel Rollout - 1x6

5) 1 Arm KB Snatch - 1x18

I took the workout fairly slow, and all of the weights felt light. I'm especially taking the squats very easy because the deadlift is my main focus.

I made sure every rep was perfect and I stayed far away from failure.

Looking forward to seeing how this goes.

Yesterday's Training + Random Thoughts

Oops. I forgot to post my training from yesterday.

Here we go.

AM Session:
1) Broad Jump - 6x5

2a) Squat Jump - 4x5
2b) KB Swing - 4x15

3) 1 Arm KB Snatch - 5x5

PM Session:
1) Hang Clean - 95x3x5, 100x2x3, 105x2

2a) Press - 85x3x3, 75x3x6
2b) Chin-ups

As for today I just went for a walk outside.

Make sure you check out 7 Random Thoughts. ; )

I Love Deadlifts

Yep. I loooove me some deadlifts.

Deadlifts are amazing because they are one of the best overall tests of strength, and there is no cheating when it comes to the deadlift. Either you pick the weight up off the ground and lock it out, or you don't. There are no half reps like when some people claim to squat 500 pounds or bench press 315 when they only lower the weight about half way.

I friggin' <3 deadlifts.

Anyway . . . on to today's training session:

1) Sumo Deadlift - 265x3 singles, 275x1 single, and 285 x 1 single
These felt great today. I actually tweaked my form a little bit. I put my feet out a little wider and used a more narrow grip on the bar. In fact, my hands weren't on any of the knurling. This felt good and I'm going to stick with this new stance and grip.

2a) Barbell Hip Thrust - 135x10, 145x2x8
2b) Negative Ab Wheel Rollout - 2 sets

Tonight I'm going to do some floor presses and rows. I'll post that next week.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

Training Update + Back Extension Info

Yesterday was a crazy day. I won't go into detail, but we had a family matter to deal with. Thankfully everything turned out wonderful. In fact, it couldn't have gone better.

So I got up at 4:30 in the morning yesterday and didn't get to train until about 5 in evening. Surprisingly I had a great workout even though I was completely exhausted.

1a) Push Press - 95x2x5, 100x3x2
1b) Pullups - 10x5

2) KB Swings - 2x25

It was short and sweet, but I've never push pressed 100 pounds before, and I could have got it for another rep if not two. All in all, I was very happy with the workout.

Make sure you check this out => Back Extensions and What You Should Know

Squats: Great Way to Start the Week!

This mornings workout:

1) Squat - 135x8, 155x1, 165 x 2 singles, 120x8
This is the best my squats have felt in a long time. I could have got the 135 ten times, but I didn't want to get too greedy. Next time, I'm going to get it 10, maybe more.



2a) Good Morning - 90x12, 95x10, 100x6
2b) Hanging Leg Raise - 3x8

Tonight I'm going to do some suspended push-ups and bent over rows.

Make sure you check out the new post at my other website. I have two great recipes for you to try => Cooking Adventures with Kale

Friday Training

Happy Friday!

Here is what I did a little while ago:

1) Broad Jump - 5x5x90 second rest
2a) Jump Squat - 4x5
2b) Clean Jump - 55x4x5
3) Hanging Knee Raise

Today I only did jumps for my lower body. I wasn't in the mood to load my spine, and jumps sounded like fun. Sometimes you just gotta do something enjoyable.

Later this afternoon I'll do the following workout:
1) Hang Clean - 5x5
2a) Standing Press
2b) Chin-ups

Have a wonderful weekend!

More Training

First, I'll share yesterday's workouts.

AM Training Session:
1) Sumo Deadlift - 265x4, 240x5
2a) BB Hip Thrust - 125x3x10
2b) TRX Bodysaw + Pike - 3 sets

The sumo deadlifts felt good, but I really wanted to get at least 5 reps. Next time I will get it.

PM Training Session:
1a) Floor Press - 120x5, 110x6
1b) TRX Inverted Row - 2x9

2a) Parallel Bar Dips - 3x10
2b) TRX Inverted Row - 3x9

3a) TRX Bodyweight Extensions - 3 sets
3b) KB Curl w/ Towel - 3 sets

Today I'm taking it easy, which means I'll go for a brisk walk for about 40 minutes.

In case you missed the posts on my other blog, here they are:
Not Everyone Can Deadlift
Do What You Suck At

Doing Work!

I hope everyone had a great weekend!

I have some exciting news to announce. But not today. Soon . . .

As I write this I am smelling my dinner cook. I put a grassfed beef roast in the crock pot this morning with a bunch of veggies, and I've been smelling it for 10 hours now. Looking forward to enjoying that in a few minutes.

Here's today's training:

AM Training Session
1) Jump squat w/ weight vest - 3x10

2a) Walking lunge w/ weight vest - 3x12
2b) Negative ab wheel rollout - 3x8

PM Training Session
1a) Push press - 90x6, 80x7, 75x12
1b) Rack pullup - 4x10

2a) BB Shrug - 3 sets
2b) 1 arm KB clean & press - 2x10

Both training sessions lasted about 25 minutes, excluding warm-ups.

I hope you got your week off to a great training start!

Training Update

Yesterday I didn't get on the computer once. It was great - I need to do that more often.

Here is Wednesday's training:

AM Session:
1) Broad Jump - 5x5
2a) Reverse Lunge w/ sandbag held in zercher position - 3x12/10/10
2b) Kettlebell swing - 3x15
3) Hanging Knee Raise - 2x12

PM Session:
1) Hang Clean - 90x5x5
2a) Press - 85x2x4, and then 2 back off sets
2b) Chinups - 4 sets

Here is what I've done so far today:
1) Squat - 135x2x5 (squats are coming along nicely)
2a) Good Morning - 90x3x10
2b) Hanging leg raise - 3x8

Tonight I'm going to do some suspended push-ups and bent over barbell rows.

Also, make sure you check out Not Everyone Can Deadlift.

Have a great weekend!

Back to Sumo Deadlifting

So yesterday I pulled sumo for the first time in 3+ months. I didn't set any PRs, but everything went really well.

AM Training:
1) Sumo Deadlift - worked up to 265x3 (could have pulled it 2 more times at least, but stopped there)
2a) Glute Bridge - 3x10-12
2b) TRX Bodysaw + Pike - 3x10

PM Training:
1a) Floor Press - 125x3, 120x2x3
1b) TRX Inverted Row - 5 sets

2) Parallel Bar Dips - 2x10

3a) TRX Bodyweight Extension - 4 sets
3b) Towel Curl - 4 sets

I also made Shepherds Pie for dinner, and it was absolutely amazing! I may have to share the recipe. Speaking of recipes, check this out => Quick Yummy Recipe.