Bench Week 3 of 10 for Arnold

Deload. 5 x 5 floor presses @ 315. Felt pretty good, just a little slower than I would have liked. I really like floor presses. I am weird the last couple inches before lockout. My right arm lags bad and I really have to fight. These have helped big time. If you don't do them, do, and go heavy. Incline DB presses, band press downs, and band flys finished the day.

Squats Week 3 of 10 for Arnold

Today was a deload day.  Felt good to take it easy.  3 sets of 2 with 480, felt awesome...  No discomfort in the hips so all seems to be good.  Did some raw pause squats and they were pretty good too.  I changed my foot position a little, pointing my toes further out to take some of the pressure of my hips and was able to get down and sit in to the squat and pop out really good.  I havent been able to squat raw and wide in a long time so I was happy with today.  Finished off with reverse hypers and planks.  All in all everything felt good and I think I'm just about healed up.

Deadlifts Week 2 of 10 for Arnold

Unbelievable...  I actually finished a deadlift day and completed all my reps.  Of course I had to lower my weight and recalculate my percentages but oh well...  I suck at pulling in the gym so to get some work in I have to do what needs to be done.  I pulled 515 for 2X2 and then 540 2X2 off blocks.  I got video of it all but for some reason the block pulls were sideways and I couldn't get them right.  I am really liking pulling in the Jack.  It really feels like its pushing you up.  My hip flexor is finally starting to feel normal again but if I try to squat or pull wide its still there.  If I can knock this head cold I will pretty much be 100%.

Week 2of10 Bench for Arnold

I had thought the bench meet Wednesday would cause some problems today... I was correct. Everything was off. I limped through half the heavy work and called it. Was supposed to finish with 545 to a 2bd for 2 but only got 1. Elbows, shoulders, upper back, everything was hurting. Skipped the heavy RB close grips and I love those. Did some band press downs and band flys and came home. Next week is deload and I need it for bench.
Merry Christmas everybody!

Week 2of10 squats for Arnold

Chilly for south Florida this morning so it took a little bit to get going. And my briefs were on real quick. After we got going the weight felt really good on my back. Everybody was looking strong this morning, or maybe we were just tighter than normal... I worked up to 2 sets of 3 with 605 straps down. Then 2 sets of 2 with 685 RB straps up. All of it felt pretty good and fast. I forgot to film so I didn't get to see anything. I definitely want to keep an eye on my depth...
Had a guest today from a local crossfit gym, Julie Rode-Wilson. She is doing a raw meet next month and came to get some work in. Her form is good just a couple minor tweaks and she'll have a good meet.

Christmas Bench for Charity

Wednesday night I helped and did a local bench contest to raise toys for local kids. I posted earlier that the gym that puts it on had been burglarized and vandalized and all the toys had been stolen. Well, when we showed up you would have never known. If I heard correct there were over 150 bicycles donated and over 1000 toys... It was the biggest collection they'd ever had. It was awesome.
Here we're maybe 20 girls and guys benching and my wife Mindy had the biggest bench for the girls with 215. I had the biggest for men with 555. I tried 575 which would have been a 2lb pr but I dumped it. One of my training partners Andrew Kneib got a 20lb pr bench of 450. All in all it was a fun night and it was really cool to see all the support for something like that. Sometimes I think that this country is gone to hell but then you'll see something like this and maybe there is a chance...

Week 1 of Deadlifts for Arnold

Totally sucked.
I've got my numbers out of whack and am going back to the drawing board. Last training cycle totally sucked for deads and tonight was a continuation of all that. I'm trying to think this out but I'm confused. The only answer that comes is I am a totally different puller at a meet than the gym. I know there's supposed to be a difference but mine is huge for pulls.
So, off to a Epsom salt soak and bench competition tomorrow night.