Mike T Nelson Training

Training update

2009-04-15T09:13:00.000-07:00

I know my updates have been hit and miss here and I apologize for that, but training is still going well.

Main changes
--need to bring up squat
---more exercise (body willing of course)
--more calories

Did a short CRF sess today since it was beautiful outside. Repeated my circuit training from last year just to see where I am at

Last Nov PR was

10_15_CRF circuit_KB swing_sledge_KB open palm press

CRF Circuit
Last done on 9_24

done circuit style I, then II, then III, and repeat

I KB Swing (1 arm) low tension style, bone rhythm work
40 kg x 15/15 (L/R)
40 kg x 15/15 (R/L)
40 kg x 15/15 (L/R)
40 kg x 15/15 (R/L)

II Sledge strike overhand on tire (16 lb sledge)
note--most of tire was on asphalt
Added 16 for round three now
16 x 15/15
16x 15/15
16x 15/15
16x 15/15

III Open palm KB press
16 kg x6/6 for 4 sets

PAST PR
9/24/08
Time 12:54
Avg HR 153??
15 sec rest/ 1 min avg 1:07--recovered much quicker
Overall was difficult, but not horrible
RPE 8

Today
Avg HR 146
time 13:58
15 sec rest/ 1 min avg 116
Hard, but manageable, movement same at the end
RPE 8

Been trying to figure out what transfers the best for my CRF work. So far it seems like some intervals with KB snatches and sledge work seem best.

3_31 Tues KB snatch and DL--TSC prep

2009-04-01T14:37:00.001-07:00

Stil trained after test day, but slammed for time, hence no updated inbetween

Z Health 20 min before and 10 min dur day

Last heavy pull before TSC if feeling good.
goals
315 x 1
32 kg x 46 reps in 3 min

Time in 7:06 out 8:01
Z Health 15 min more

DL
135 x 5/5
185 x 5/3
225 x 5
275 x 2
315 x1
345 x 1 mod speed, felt good, 5 min rest before

pull ups (been sucking at these, ordered a new pull up bar in mid March but have not had time to mount it--crap)
BW x 2, 2, 2

7 min rest

32 kg snatch
SAID work to bring up CRF
goal 46 in 3 min
got 42 in 3 min

Music by Six Feet Under and American Head Charge

3_3 to 3_26 Thurs DL and KB Snatch: TSC prep

2009-04-01T14:06:00.000-07:00

so I suck lately at posting. I have been slammed with work, research and the like.

I have been training for the TSC and started specific prep on 3/03---yeah, that gives me 4 total weeks. Not ideal, but hey that is life.

I hired a coach to help me with program design, so you won't see tons of details here. I hope to reveal the methods later and the said coaches name; but he had a tall task in front of him considering my crazy schedule.

Tested lifts on 3/03/09
Note
TSC is
1 max Deadlift
max number of pullups (Elite BW+25 lbs)
KB snatches for 5 min with 24 Kg (Elite is 32 kg =70lb )

I will be doing it Elite style. Main reason is I have no desire to try top my 5 min PR of 120 snatches.

Bench pres
tested just for fun since have not tested it in a long time
95 x10
135 x 10
185 x 2
205 x 1 with audible commands and pause on chest and lock out
215 x0 missed, 205 had great speed and 215 stalled about 1/2 way up.
205 x 1--smoke show, easy, great speed
210 x 1--slow at top, last 2/3 from top were slooooooooooow.
my bench sucks, but it will be put on hold for the next 4 weeks at least

DL--no belt, no straps as always
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2
2175 x 1
315 x 1
335 x 1---slow and left knee started to come in

5 min KB snatches, 32 kg KB
up to this point I have done a total of ZERO KB snatches this year with the 32 kg due to bruised hip.
5 min 39 total reps, RPE 8.5

Fast forward to 3/30 Testing
note--bought a new stereo for my garage gym and it is KILLER!! My old boom box was crapping out on me about 50% of the time and pissing me off to no end. The main reason to have a garage gym is freedom, convenience, and and loud music! Insignia amp/reciever and 2 sony 8 inch woofer speakers---love it, neighbors hate it.

Testing 3/26/09 Thurs
1 spike 2. 5 hours before
6.5 hours sleep night before

DLs
135 x 5/5
185 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 2
315 x 1
345 x 1--good speed
365 x 1---ok speed
385 x 0--got to about 3/4 up shin and hit a wall, decided not to push with 1 week to go

note: I have pulled 405 in the past at the TSC, so regaining strength is a bit easier, although up to this point my DL was stuck and took almost 6 week "off" at min due to hip issue recently

KB Snatches
61 reps in 5 min
CRF cooked by 2.5 min ugh
+22 reps though, so happy with that
RPE 9

3_05_09 Z, DB bench, arms, lunges RE at work

2009-03-19T13:48:00.000-07:00

Slept 8 hours last night
AM wt 204
Added 1 sprouted grain eng. Muffin at breakfast each day

Juggling 5 min
Z Health 20 min

DB flat bench work
40 x 20 --fast
55 x 10/10 alternated
60 x 10/10 ---could just start to feel hip at the end, so stopped there.
--hip is much better on these, but did not push it

DB curls (Left Lunge, Left rotation)
30 x 15/15 +3 inch ROM
35 x 12/12
40 x 7/7
Done moderately fast

3_04_09 Wed "Off" light cardio only

2009-03-19T13:47:00.000-07:00

AM wt 204
Z Helath 15 min
36 min biking--low intensity--avg HR 109
Feel wiped out
Mid/low back sore---upper mid back sore too
Hamstrings a bit sore (abs and hamstrings were sore from KB snatch/FSQ work the other day--pathetic I know)
10% meal at night with Jodie--microbrew and potatoe wedges with garlic--hhhmmmmmm

3_3_09 TEST DAY Bench, DL, 5 min KB 32kg snatch

2009-03-19T13:46:00.001-07:00

Slept only 5.5 hours last night
No coffee today, lots of tea, FRS before lifting
Z Health, jugglign 20 min
Survival Z during the day (as always)
Client got here late, so did not start lifting until almost 9pm--much later than usual

Flat bench (comp grip at index)
All done with audible commands--Go, press (pause at chest), rack
95 x 10
135 x 10
195 x 2
205 x1--super easy, flew up
215 x 0 missed--sucked eggs, pause was fine althought I lowered the bar slower than before, got to about 1/2 way back up after a long pause (seemed long), and complete startle and torque towards left side. Pissed off
205 x 1--super easy again, no starle, fine pause, weight flew up
210 x 1--good pause, slllllllllloooooooooooooow at about 2/3 of the way up but made it (with a muppet face)
185 x 1 mid finger grip, super easy

3 min rest

DLs
135 x 5
185 x 3
225 x 2 Rhup
275 x 1, 1 L/Rhup
315 x 1, Lh up--good, but a bit slower
335 x 1--made it, but left leg was shaking and quite a bit harder.
Moderatedly pissed off. Only 3rd str bar DL this year.

2 min rest
5 min KB snatch with the 32 kg KB
39 reps total RPE 8.5
Did not got balls out, only about 85%,
Form needs work, esp Left side
CRF is just above the basement, but I can get in almost top shape CRF wise in 4 weeks, easily in 6 weeks
First time I have even done a snatch with the 32 kg yet this year

Good part
My right hip was not painful at all during all of the testing, so that is good.
Lots of work to do in less than 4 weeks, so hired professional help--also needed to off load some stuff as my energy level is low with all the other balls I have in the air right now. It was his idea to have a starting test (ironically I agree with, but what not have done myself----hence the reason to "hire out")

TSC goals (which were set on Jan 1)
Compete Elite style
DL 415 raw (10 lb PR)
Pullups with 25 lbs x 4 (I need to get a darn pull up bar and practice)
5 min KB snatch with 32 kg 75 reps

So I have to add 70 lbs to my DL and almost double my KB snatch numbers
Need to test Pull ups soon
Should be interesting!

3_2_09 Deadlift, TGU, curls

2009-03-19T13:05:00.001-07:00

Z Health 20 min
Juggle 3xs for total of 10 min
Visual testing (brock string)
No scar tape
Can see X at about 8 inches, yellow bead, PR!
Can see Y at about 15 inches--PR!

DL 5 x 5
Tested
Str bar 0
Trap bar +3"
Sumo -2.5"

Trap bar DL
135 x 5, 185 x 5
225 x 5 for 5 sets, RPE 6, ended at RPE 8

TGU
16 x 3/3
24 x 1/1
24 x 1/1
All done slow with pauses

Stand bicep curl
45 x 8
85 x 7 for 3 sets
85 x 7//65 x 7//45 x 10

3_1_09 Sun KB Snatch work and front squats

2009-03-19T12:12:00.000-07:00

3_1_09 Sun KB Snatch work and front squats
AM wt 203.5
Slept 9.5 hours ugh
Feel almost human again
AM walk--SUN!!! 11F though, 22 min avg HR 84

Juggle 3xs 2-5 min each
New juggle PR of 30 continuous done with 2 letter tennis balls and 1 pink ball

Z Health AM 5 min, later 20 min
Time in to lift 5:35pm out 6:10pm
Garage temp 34F

Front Squats
Have not done them for a long time, and only did them for a bit in the past
Tested really really well (+3")
Working on a clean grip and getting depth
45 x 7 done with arms out in front
95 x 7 then 45 x 7
95 x7//45 x 7
95 x7 // 45 x 5
All were done to bench, just above parrallel, 45 (bar ) was done to full depth, no bench
Lowered safety bars in rack to close spaced hole #4--bar at bottom was 28 inches off floor

95 x 2 rest grip x 4
Did a video and sent it to Aaron S for feedback

Front Squats: From belly button down-excellent. The main thing to work on is the chest/elbows up. The challenge you'll have is when the load gets a little heavier this will put the upper back extensors at a mechanical disadvantage as the load is placed in front of the neck and the scapula is adducted and upwardly rotated giving no help to thoracic extensors.

Basically where you start (point A is excellent) is good, it's point B that needs elbows/chest up. You could "toy" with the grip a little. Sometimes guys do a little better just slightly wider, but don't go any closer together.

Also on the front squats, maybe trying bringing your head position looking slightly more towards your right. Seems to be pulling right shoulder/elbow down slightly and possibly into more thoracic flexion on the right side.
---Aaron S

On to KBs

KB Snatch Work (done circuit style)
16 x 15/15 max HR 127
16 x 15/15 max HR 148
16 x 15/15 HR 151

24 x 10/1000 147
24 x 10/10 157
24 kg x 10/10 157

28kg x 5/5 145
28 x 5/5 153
28 x 5/5 157

Previous time 19:32 avg HR 119 vol 3,264 kg
This session
Time 20:56 avg HR 127 vol 3,720 kg (+456 kg)

2_28 Sat Bench, KB fun, RE day

2009-03-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Z Health 30 min

Juggle 2xs at about 8 min each

Scar tape midline scar = about 4" increased ROM

I Neutral bench press
85 x 10
135 x 6
135 x 8
135 x 8

Focused on mod speed lowering and FAST up

II Neutral grip bar hammer curls
85 x 5
85 x 10 repPR
85 x 7
85 x 5

(did some neutral grip pull ups for a few reps too)

III) TGU

16 x 3/3

Chins BW x 3-no pain!!

BW x 2-- no pain and did not push it

At the end

Ring Rows

Arms at sides, feet on bench, 4 boards from wall

BWx 9

BW x 8

Took the 400 lb tire out since the driveway was clear.

First time out for the tire this year!

Temp was 22 F but sunny!

16 lb sledge on tire (focus on speed/impact force) x 15/15

A couple tire flip

2_27_09--Off, Survival Z Health

2009-02-27T16:51:00.000-08:00

Off, survival Z
Feeling tired and off to bed early tonight

2_26 Thurs Deadlifts

2009-02-27T16:46:00.000-08:00

Have not done a straight bar DL since about Dec 27 or so. Ugh.

Z Health 20 min
juggling two times for 5 min each

DL
tested neutral
135 x 5
135 x 5
135 x 5 testing better
185 x 5 RH up--testing good now, gained about 2 inches ROM
225 x 5 Rhup
275 x1 R hup
315 x 1--will post video
345 x 0 missed
Left knee came in a bit and missed it about 3 inches off the floor. Wish I had a video for it
No knee pain and was fine the next day and later that day--no pain

Was actually testing well, so decided to work up to a soft max to see where I am at. Overall I am pissed that I am missing 345 now, but I guess considering that my legs are stupid weak now and I have not done any DL work (other than really really light trap bar DLs a few times) I am ok and did not regress too much.

Goal for TSC is 415
Have done 405 last year at the TSC (current PR)

I am open to suggestions for left leg, knee issue.

2_25 Wed RE DB Bench, Rows, Hammers

2009-02-27T16:40:00.000-08:00

Z HEalth 20 min
juggling two times at 7 min each

Done at work gym

DB Incl 40 x 7, movement dropped

Flat DB bench
45 x 20//DB floor press neutral x 8 both FAST
45 x 20 //50 x 4
--hip did not hurt much getting up and down--very slight

1 arm DB row (2 point stance)
50 x 15/12
50 x 15 L
50 x12

DB Curls (L lunge position, rot L)
35 x 12/11
35 x 10/9 (R lunge rot L--tested better)
40 x 6/6 // hammers 30 x 5/5 str and rt lunge

Multi angle lunges (I Phase)
BW x 4/4 for 2 sets

At the end
DB flat flys
30 x 8--tested really well
// push ups to smith bar at mid thigh--drop from standing to push up and back to standing//overhead rope ext 9 x 13/5

2_24 Tues Bench and Rows

2009-02-27T16:35:00.000-08:00

Juggling PR--did it for about 20 seconds!
juggling 15 min
Z HEalth 20 min

Bench
warm ups
no lifting partner
185 x 4, mod speed down, fast up
185 x 2 mod spd down, 2 second pause, fast up
185 w blue chains (about 40 lbs) x 1, last 2 inches to lock out was slllllllloooooooooow
185 x 2 w 2 sec pause at chest
185 x 3 w 1-2 sec pause at chest
--all done at comp grip, index at ring

Ring Rows
(feet up, 4 boards spaced from wall, palms down and in, bring to lower chest)
BW x 6
BW x5
BW x 4/ palms up x 2
BW x 10--neutral grip, continous
BW x9 same
BW x 8 same

Bench, blue choked bands around top (rev bench)
hold for 2-3 sec at top lock out
done w mid finger at ring

205 x 8
225 x 4
225 x 3

Tried chins---still pain in hip, did not do

2_23 Monday KB Snatch work

2009-02-27T16:27:00.000-08:00

I am going to do the Elite version of the TSC, so instead of doing the 5 min snatch test with the 24 kg it will be with the 32 kg. I just starting doing KB snatches again about 7 days ago. I have not done them for reps since about Nov (bad I know), but they just did not test well and then after my hip fall they were incredibly painful. I tried one with the 24 two weeks ago and stopped halfway up as it felt someone took a knife through my right hip.

Hip is feeling MUCH better now, so that is good. Need to work up slowly and keep working on technique.

Z Health 15 min
juggling 15 min

ascending ladders

I) 16kg x 15/15
x 15/15
x 15/15

II) 24 kg x 10/10
x 7/7
x 7/7

III) 28 x 4/4
x 4/4
x 4/4

total time 19:32 and avg HR 119
waited until HR came down to about 100 between sets
total volume 3,264 kg (7,180 lbs)

forced breath hold time was 1:09

2_22 Sunday Squats, push ups, KB press

2009-02-27T16:21:00.000-08:00

Rode the bike in the AM for 30 min, fasted, avg HR 129

Lifting later
1 spike at 5:45pm, feeling really tired before
2 scoops surge, 1 scoop hydro protein, 2 gm L carnitine, 5 g creatine
Started to take creatine again, did not take for about 5 weeks.

Squats
95 x 8 for 4 sets
--no hip pain--yeah!

Standing bicep curls
95 x 6, x 5, x 5, x 4
most pathetic thing ever written--almost as much as squats. Stupid hip. Postitive==no pain.

Push ups (both legs, could only do with left leg down before)
BW x 10 mod/slow
BW x 12
BW x10
BW x 11

KB Press
16 x 6/6
24 x 3/3 easy
28 kg x 1/1 // 16 kg open palm x 8/7
24 x 4/4 very slight right hip pain,

KB Snatch
24 x 10/10--felt pretty good

2_20 KB Snatch and BU Press PR

2009-02-24T13:33:00.000-08:00

HRV analysis from last friday afternoon above
SampEn 1.040
Yikes, that sucks for HRV (heart rate variability)

I currently have pretty much no variability and am primarily sympathetic driven
Note: I took this measurement in the later afternoon, so not fasted and had coffee (2 cups) plus an early AM test.

Other graphs is Vo2 mL/min
Done at the same time, resting, later afternoon

Super short on time
Juggling 10 min
Z Health 15 min (survival Z during the day)

KB Snatch work
16 x 15/15
24 x 6/6
24 x 8/8
24 x 4/4 called it a day, speed dropped off a cliff

Still felt good, so decided to go for a PR as I've been feeling weak lately (although my hp is getting much better now)

Got the 24 kg for a bottoms up KB press on my right side. Even had a witnees to give me a shaky thumbs up on the the form.

Felt good to finally get that. Not something that I normally train, but try to do it every now and then.

Got the Earth Pulse unit
Very nice! Paul sent me out a brand new unit and it is sweet. Easy to read, buttons work great. I will documenting the results coming up. 5 weeks until TSC--yikes, holy startle.

2_19 RE at work during lunch, Z Health

2009-02-19T12:19:00.001-08:00

slept 8 hours last night, Earth Pulse unit on recovery
woke up 10 min before alarm--weird

Light RE sess at work

Z Health 20 min
Low back tight, feel tired still
nerve glide work from various positions
eye tracking
no vestibular work

DB flat bench
40 x 17 mod/fast
50 x 17 fast
55 x 13---pain in right hip as coming up
---feels easy, but can't go any heavier due to slight hip pain

2 pt Row
45 x 15/15 easy
65 x 14/10 R/L
60 x 10 L only

Supinated Stnding DB alt curls (L lunge)
35 x 12/12/
45 x 4/4 // 30 x 4/4 straight stance

Atttempted pushups--tested poorly
Chins up---tested poorly, hip pain on second rep

2_18 Training--KB Snatch

2009-02-19T10:35:00.000-08:00

The good and bad

The good-- my hip is feeling pretty good and on a forward bend with straight knees I can get to about mid shin (no scar tape). About 6 weeks ago I could barely get to a few inches below mid thigh.

My eyes are working better, tracking really well last night and PREP was fine.
Juggling is going well and I hit about 12 tosses with 3 balls last night a few times. New PR! Tested my eyes and both stayed on for well over a minute.

The bad
I got really dizzy. I was able to recreate it by doing a tibial nerve glide, just over the edge of where it was painful and then a fast "head back up" movement. Seemed worse with my eyes closed. Felt like the whole room was spinning. I tried getting up and down very fast (sqaut/lunge type motion) and that was fine, so seemed to be more vestibular than orthostatic intolerence.

Woke up this AM, still tired, but felt ok.

My thoughts are that my body is trying to re-organize all the info and sent my vestibular system for a loop.

Tried some 16 Kb KB snatches
16 x 10/10 for 4 set

24 x 7/7 for 3 sets

Got better for a bit, then went off a cliff at the end and too much startle holding the weight over head and timing was all off, called it a night.

Have also been just stupid hungary lately, despite very little exercise in the past few days.

Juggling practice about 2x s a day for 10-15 min. Always feel much much better afterwards.

Normally when this happens, if I lay low for a few days, get some good sleep and eat more I feel really good after it passes. Will see if that happens this time also.

I'm back

2009-02-17T15:12:00.000-08:00

I have sucked at updating this blog lately.

The short version is after the Z Master Trainer eval I somehow managed to bruise my sciatic nerve in my right hip. I did some Z nerve glides that helped a lot and some other work and it is pretty good now.

I am still planning to do the TSC on April and doing it Elite style. Not sure how, but I WILL do it.

I was finally able to do KB snatches for the first time in about 6 weeks last night
16 kg x 10/10 for 6 sets in 8 min
Decided to try the 24 kg
24 kg x 5/5--felt awesome and nice and fast and stable at top. 5/5 is pathetic compared to normally where I am, but I tried it 2 weeks ago and could not get 1 rep--got a huge stabbing pain in my right hip

Trap bar DL s
135 x 8-10 for 5 sets
pathetic numbers for me, but I can do them without any pain or decrease in movement; so will slowly work up again.
Will try str bar DLs soon too.

Bench
Had a great bench session last Tues as it has been in the toilet too. I still can't push at 100% through my right hip
Just missed 175 + 60 lbs chains for a single
Hit 205 for a triple with good speed, no problem.
Still way below where I need to be, but it is coming around.

More updates soon
Earth Pulse unit is still in the shop (has been since about mid Jan). Should be back soon.
Need to work on staying on with PN 90% compliance and getting as much sleep as I can sneak in. Been down at the lab 2-5 days a week at stupid early hours for testing.

Any comments, bring em
Mike N

12_30 Tues--Squats 5x5, Bench and DL Max Effort (ME)

2008-12-30T12:45:00.000-08:00

Felt much better in AM
Slept 8 hours
AM "sleeping" HR avg 51 bpm over 15 min
lowest was 46 bpm
---need to do more conditioning (CRF) work again.

Z Health 20 min
needed some femoral nerve glide work for rt hip--helped quite a bit
green tea and 2 scoops Surge and 1 scoop hyrdo before lifting (still out of BCAAs--will see if it makes any difference), creatine and 2 g L Carnitine

Squats
tested well at +3" for all sets
brought in stance about 1 inch on each side
warm up
135 x7
135 x7
135 x6
135 x 5
135 x 5

Then tested
DL
trap bar DL +2.5"
best ever, did not test others

Bench tested
index +2"
middle finger 0
push ups 0

Bench
at index finger
warm ups
185 x 4
185 x 1,1 w 1 sec pause at bottom
185 x 1,1 w 2 sec pause at bottom
185 x 1,1 w 3 sec pause at bottom
185 x 1 w 4 second pause at bottom
--worked on concentric accel. Speed got better on set 3 and forward

alt with
Trap Bar DLs
worked on conc speed, done fast so heal leave floor, slow lower and reset between each rep
tested great
185 x 5 (cont)
185 x 1,1,1,1
185 x 1,1,1,1
185 x 1,1,1,1,1
185 x 1,1,1 ,1

rope rows (feet on bench) very light
BW x 10, x 8

chins ups (light)
BW x 2, x 2 x 3

Did not feel up to doing any acc work
done

12_28_29 Sun and Mon OFF, Z Health, recovery

2008-12-30T12:41:00.000-08:00

Sunday AM and afternoon I felt fine and then got smacked with the tired stick for some reason. Went to bed early and slept 10 hours. Low back was tight and movement sucked.

Monday AM, felt better, rode bike for 45 min at avg HR 118, low intensity
Z Health for 40 min two 2o min sessions) and constantly during the day.
Taped scar for all of the day
Z Health and then 40 min walk in the afternoon cold sunlight w nike frees, felt better
legs are stiff and stupid sore along with mid back
Hot Epsom salt bath at night and then off to bed

Body Fat Measurements update

2008-12-27T16:55:00.000-08:00

Forgot to post this from about 1.5 weeks ago. Pretty much the same, but up 2.5 lbs so I will take it

12_27 Sat Bench and DL ME (Max Effort)

2008-12-27T16:31:00.000-08:00

no bike in AM
AM wt 209.5
1 hour before 3 scoops Surge, 2 cups coffee (Reindeer blend--tasty!)
1 scoop surge during lifting, sipping coffee
20 min Z Health before
slept 9 hours last night

Music
Lamb of God "Sacrament"
The Haunted "The Haunted Made Me Do it"
Temp 43 F

Bench and DL
Tested
Bench
index at ring +1"
middle finger at ring +1.5"
push ups 0

DL testing
trap bar +2"
did not test others

Working on squat groove
tested squat, medium wide (toes at rack) +2.5"
warm ups
135 x 7
135 x 6
135 x 6
135 x 4
135 x 5
short rest periods, working on perfect form and speed

Bench (alt with DL) no lifting partner
at middle finger
warm ups
185 x 2 with 2 sec pause on each at chest
185 x 2 with 2 sec pause again
185 x 2 w 3 sec pause
185 x 2 w 4 sec pause (wow, that seems long)
185 x 1 w 5 sec pause (seemed like an eternity)
speed on concentric was good on all

Trap Bar DLs
warm ups
185 x 6
225 x 5
275 x 3
275 + 40 lbs chains x 1,1,1 (clusters)
275 w 60 lbs chains x 1,1,1
315 w 40 lbs chains x 1,1
315 w 40 lbs chains x 1,1
315 w 40 lbs chains x 1,1

Alternated the following
swiss bar neutral bench RE, tested well, outside grip
125 x 12
125 x 7--ran out of gas, done

str bar standing curls (grip at middle--between ring and smooth)
95 x 4--tested poor

KB bottoms up press
16 x 2/2 tested ok, but done

Post train meal 25 gms hydro whey, showered and then
1.5 cups egg whites, 2 whole org. eggs, spinach, parm. cheese, fiber and 1 TBSP Udos oil, 1 pomegranate, 1 pear. Delicious and nutritious!

12_24 Xmas Eve Training Sess Bench DL day 2

2008-12-27T11:55:00.000-08:00

Xmas Eve!
Slept 8 hours
no training partner

Z Health 15 min
Garage temp 29 F
Music
Atreyu and Hatebreed

Tested
str ba bench at index 0
str bar bench at middle +1.5"
push ups -1.5

DL
trap bar +2"
did not test others

Alt bench and DL

Trap bar DL
185 x 11
225 x 8
275 x4 , legs are sore
315 x 1
315 w blue chains (40lbs) x 1
365 x 1
365 w blue chains (40lbs) x 1 woo ha. moderate to ok speed too.

Bench (middle finger at ring)
185 x 4
185 x 3 FAST
185 w 20 lbs chains x 1
185 w 20 lbs chians x 2
185 w 20 lbs chains x 2
185 w 20 lbs chains x 1

Alt the following (used outside grip)
Swiss Neutral bar all done fast
125 x8
125x 8
125 x7
125 x4 with pause at the bottom

str bar standing curl
95 x 7, x 5 faster speed, x 4
done

time off coming up for the next day or so

12_25 and 26 Xmas day. OFF completely

2008-12-27T11:52:00.000-08:00

Survival Z Health
Ate tons of food, had some cookies, etc Tasty!
Felt like I needed some time off

12_25 slept 9 hours
12_26 slept 11.5 hours (I think longer). Wow! I can't remember the last time I slept that long. I got up at 11:45 Am the next day (and I did not even drink other than 1 beer). ha.
Feel almost human again
Took 12_26 off also other than a 40 min AM bike ride at avg HR 128
went to bed by 11:15pm that night also

12_23_AM bike, Squat and CRF circuit

2008-12-27T11:45:00.000-08:00

AM bike
6 gm BCAAs and water
35 min avg HR 126
done at 8am

Time in at 7pm
Z Health 20 min
Squats
135 x 5
135 x 6
135 x 7, speed was up
tested well again at +3"

CRF circuit

30 min of Z Health (done before session)

Tested
1 arm KB swing
Front squat with 1 KB
Ring rows
--all were good, but not great (slightly better)

Circuit style, do each one and then repeat
4 EE!!! Allow more rest between sets if needed or pause during set to keep perfect form

I) 1 arm swing
28 x 15/15 for 4 sets

2) KB Front squat with push press
16 kg x 10/10 (L and R arm) for 4 sets
**rest position if needed is at lock out
Used eye position also

3) Ring rows (feet up on a bench, palms neutral)

BW x 10 for 4 sets

Last time
Avg HR 139 (max was 162bpm)
15 sec rest 1 min avg 124
RPE 9--felt brutal
time 15:59

Last time
Avg HR 142 (max was 162bpm)
15 sec rest 1 min avg 125
RPE 9--felt brutal
time 16:24 lost 25 seconds! Bugger
I need more sleep, and sleep seems to affect my CRF so we will see how that goes. The KB squats just felt brutal.

Music Hatebreed "Perseverance"
Garage temp 34F

12_22 Mon AM bike, Squats, Bench RE

2008-12-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

Working at home today
AM bike
6 gm BCAAs water
32 min on bike at 128 avg HR
done at 9am

Z Health 20 min
My Xmas gift to myslef came just before my session!
The neutral handle Swiss bar! Whoo ha! See the video below of the guys at EliteFTS.
I love it so far!

I realized that I have not done squats in what too long and when I did then, I sucked. Hmm, maybe I should work on them. I tested them today and tested better than anything I've done in several months. I will revise my template to start Jan 1 to bring them up. In the meantime I will be dong some light 5x5 w short rest work a few times a week to groove the movement. My PR on squats to a bench, parallel is a very pathetic 205 lbs. There, I put it out so time to improve. I am excited since in the past doing any type of squats felt horrible, was painful and looked like crap. Only up to go.

str bar squats
tested +3"
45 x 12, 95 x 15
135 x 6
135 x 6
135 x6
135 x6
135 x6
135 x5
135 x3
all done with asics flat shoes, feet at supports, light touch to bench,
focus on eye movment and bone rhythm

following done circut style

Neutral Swiss bar RE bench
85 x 10
85 x 12 FAST
115 x 11 FAST
working on "throwing the bar up past the stopping point" due to the weight it won't actually leave my hands (yet)

Neutral Swiss Bar standing hammers
85 x 5, x 5, x 5

2 Hand swings
32 kg x 15, x 15
done in wide, athletic ready stance

12_21 Sun DL Day

2008-12-27T11:25:00.001-08:00

20 min Z Health
1 spike at 4:40pm
Slept 9.5 hours last night
still a bit tired

Tested DL
st bar +2"
trap bar +1.5"
sumo (feet at ends) +1.5"

KB Press +2"

Music Nothingface "Violence"
Temp 28 F

DL (conventional)
warm up
185 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 3
275 x3 LHup
315 x 2 RHup
315 x 2 LHup
315 x 1 RHup
335 x 1 Lhup
335 + 40 lbs chains x 1 LHup
got it and great form, but slllllllloooooooooowwwwwww
315 x 1 RHup, great speed
315 x 1 Lh Up
315 x 1 Rhup

8 sets done over 300 lbs

KB Press
16 x 13/11 (L lunge, rot L)
16 x11 only (L lunge, rot L)
did not like doing rotation work inbetween DLs, so dropped it. Felt more "twisted" when DLing.

Push ups (moderate speed, nice and easy)
BW x 10, 10, 15 (mod fast), 11

str bar curls 95 x 7, 95 x6
L bottoms up only 16 x5

Close grip bar on rack at about waist high, push ups
BW x 10,10 10
no thumbs grip

done

12_20 Sat Bench ME (Max Effort)

2008-12-27T11:17:00.000-08:00

Sat AM lifting with lifting partner (yeah)
3 s Surge
1 c coffee
Z Health 25 min

Bench
index at line tested best by far (+2")

bench
45 x 12/95 x 8/135 x8
185 x 3
190 x3
225 x 1
225 x 1 slooooow
all were touch and go

205 x 3
205 x 3
205 x3
all FAST, speed was pretty good

retested middle finger grip--good, used it for
3 board
225 pause and sink boards x 1
225 pause and sink boards x 1
245 x 0
got greedy, nothing left after lowering

Krazy KB bench (KBs suspended off bands)
16 kg KB on each end x 13 (middle finger grip)
16kg KB on each end x 15 (middle finger grip)

Bottoms up KB Press
16 kg x 7/6 PR!!!
16 x 2/3

Ring Rows (1 board, palms face)
BW x8, x7

str bar curl (standing)
95 x 6, x 4
done
post training meal
25 gm hydro protein, shower and then
1.5 c egg whites, 2 whole eggs, spinach, parm cheese, 1 pear, 2 banana, 2 Eziekel English muffins with butter, fiber supplement with 1 TBSP Udos oil

12_19 Friday AM bike only

2008-12-27T11:16:00.000-08:00

AM fasted bike
30 min at avg HR of 123 bpm
Z Health later 20 min
off
low back and legs and glutes sore

12_18_Thurs_Asym work, push, pull, misc RE PM Bench/ KB Prss

2008-12-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

Done at work gym around 11am
30 min Z Health

DB Neutral grip Bench (alt and hold other DB at lock out)
40 x7/7
45 x 13/12
50x 10/10
60 x 8/7

Cybex rows (CSR)
130 x20
130 x 25 FAST, no thumbs on grip
150 x 14

DB Hammers (rotated Left, L lunge)
35 x 12/12
40 x 7/7
45 x 3/4 (L lunge only no rot)

DB Curls
40 x 5/4 L Lung only

rope overhead ext//push ups
9 x 17/ BW x 12 FAST

PM Session in garage
time in at 8:30pm
10 min Z Health

bench testing
index -1.5"
middle finger +1.5"

185 x 2 with 2 sec pause at bottom
185 x 2 same
185 x 1 same
185 x 1
all used 3-5 sec eccentric, pause, conc FAST
135 x 12 FAST

Alt with
KB Presses (tested good)
16 kg x8/8
16 x 13/13
24 x 3/3
all done FAST speed

KB bottoms up presses
16 x 5/4 PR!!!
24 x 1 /o PR on right!!!

temp 34 F music American Head Charge: The Feeding

12_17_CRF Circuit

2008-12-27T10:55:00.000-08:00

30 min of Z Health
green tea and tyrosine and BCAAs only before sess

Tested
1 arm KB swing
Front squat with 1 KB
Ring rows
--all were great

Circuit style, do each one and then repeat
4 EE!!! Allow more rest between sets if needed or pause during set to keep perfect form

I) 1 arm swing
28 x 15/15 for 4 sets

2) KB Front squat with push press
16 kg x 10/10 (L and R arm) for 4 sets
**rest position if needed is at lock out
Used eye position also

3) Ring rows (feet up on a bench, palms neutral)

BW x 10 for 4 sets

Last time
Avg HR 133 (max was 162bpm)
15 sec rest 1 min avg ??
RPE 7--felt good (but CRF was worked for sure)
time 15:17

today
Avg HR 139 (max was 162bpm)
15 sec rest 1 min avg 124
RPE 9--felt brutal
time 15:59

12_16_Tues_ Bench and DL day

2008-12-20T13:33:00.000-08:00

20 min Z Health

tested
trap bar DL +2"
did not test others

bench at index -1"
bench at middle +1.5"
push ups 0

Trap Bar
warm ups
Not feeling like going heavy today as speed was dropping off
decided to stay lighter and work on speed
worked on lateral foot weighting and then "replanting" big toe
ala tip from Frankie Faires---I like it, tested well
(note upper hamstrings and glutes were stupid sore for about
3 days, which is very very rare for me)

185 x 5
225 x 8 done as single clusters, about 5-10 sec rest between
275 x 4 FAST
275 x 4 FAST
275 x 3 FAST
275x 4 FAST

bench
warm ups
lock out work
see pics above
used lighter chain to pull on KBs at about 4 inches from lock out
wanted something to overload the last part of the lift, as that is my current
sticking point
may be an option if you have KBs and only 1-2 sets of chains

115 st wt+ 60 lbs chains and 70 lbs KBs at top=245 lbs at top
x 3, x 2, x2

Rev blue choked bands, grip at middle finger ring
185 x 10
added 40lbs of chains to it, with bands
x 4 reps
--tested well, bands are slack at top so another way to overload the
top (finish) bench position and allow more reps.

time will tell if this translates to increased performance

12_15_08 Mon Asym day at work

2008-12-20T13:29:00.000-08:00

Z Health as always 20 min
(forgot to mention Z on other days, but normal amount is 10-30min per day)

DB Bench flat
done alternating, hold other DB at lock out
45 x 11/11
55 x 10/10
65 x 13 both

2 pt DB Row
45 x 12/12
55 x 11/11

DB hammers (L lunge, rotation L at trunk)
---tested better than R lunge, probably from snowboarding all weekend
goofy footed (rt leg in front)
35 x 7/7
35 x 6/6

Eagle lat pulldown thing
did not use handle--grip work too
110 x 11
110 x 12

//DB Neutral bench//overhead rope ext//PUs to bar
45 x 8//8 x20//BW x 6

DB stand curls (str)
40 x 5/5

12/12-12/14 OFF, Snowboarding in the UP with Jodie and Ski Hawks

2008-12-20T13:28:00.000-08:00

Snowboarded all day Sat and most of the day Sun-10am-2pm before heading home on the bus.
Great trip and snow was awesome!

12_11_08 Thurs AM bike, PM DLs, Chins, KB Press

2008-12-20T13:25:00.000-08:00

AM fasted bike
30 min
avg HR 126

PM
DLs, Chins and KBs

trap bar tested at 2.5" whoo ha, did not test others

warm ups
275 x 6
315 x 3
365 x 1 --felt good
315 x 4

KB Press
ladder style
24 x 6/6
28 kg x 1//24 x 4/4
28 x 5 / 3 PR!!! // 24 x 2/2

chins
BX x 3, x 4, x4, x3

at end
28 kg KB Swing for 50 reps non stop
movement tested well

12_10_08 Wed AM bike, PM Bench and DL

2008-12-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

AM fasted bike
30 min
not sure of HR

PM Bench with Finlay (training partner)
warm ups 45 x 10/ 95x 14/ 135 x5
185 x3
185 x 3 better speed
195 x 2--note, tighten grip on L hand
205 x 1
215 x 1
215 x 1 slow at top, last 4 inches

2 board
225 x 1
225 x 1
235 x 1 very slow at top, but got it

misc 16 Kg KB work, RE for 3 sets

done

12_9_Tues DL only

2008-12-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

Chest was sore and nothing tested well

DLs only--with training partner
tested
str bar +2"
trap bar 0
sumo (feet at plates) 0
Sumo with shins at rings -1.5"
--may have to play around with brining my feet way out
when I pull sumo next time it tests well. I guess when you are 6'3"
that makes sense. Cool that I have enough hip mobility to actually
do it now!

DLs
warm ups
225 x 5
225 x 4
275 x 2 LHup
275 x 2 RHup
275 + ALL chains (about 60 lbs) X 1
low back tighter than usual

called it a day. not feeling strong on DLs tonight and did not force it.
speed was slower than normal at that weight

12_8_Mon Asym work, push, pull, misc

2008-12-20T13:15:00.001-08:00

Done at work gym
asymmetric work day RE

DB flat bench
65 x 18
70 x10
70 x11
done with both at same time, tested well! Whoo ha

DB curls standard
35 x 8/8
35 x 7/6
seated 35 x 7/7

1 arm row
50 x10/10
65 x 7/7 FAST
70 x 6/6 FAST

Eagle lat pulldown
110 x 20
130 x 12
130 x8

//smith machine low bar push ups x 10 FAST//overhead rope ext 8 x 10/10
done

symmetric work tested better than asymmetric work today! good sign

12_7_Bike only

2008-12-20T13:13:00.002-08:00

AM fasted bike riding indoors (on trainer)
before
"sleeping" HR avg over 20 min was 53 bpm, lowest seen was 48

Bike 30 min
avg HR 124

12_6 Sat OFF

2008-12-20T13:13:00.001-08:00

20 min Z Health during the day

12_5_Friday_light bench day

2008-12-20T13:10:00.000-08:00

Cramped for time today
Z Health 15 min

Index at ring tested best

Bench
warmups
185 x 4
185 x4
185 x 4 +1 (reset up, better speed)
185 x 2 (speed dropped)

2 board touch and go
205 x 1
205 x 1

done

12_4_CRF day

2008-12-06T15:30:00.001-08:00

Got in 3 sessions today! Whoo ha.

Stopped by to see Brad "No Relation" Nelson at Kinetic Edge for some Z Health level 4 hands on work and to review my exercises.

Hands on worked helped my thoracic quite a bit. Whoo ha.
Reviewed
KB 1 arm Swing (low tension)
KB Snatch (need to work on relaxing my opposite hand more)
KB TGU (looked good, head nice and neutral)
DL--great tip from Frankie Faries.

Move into a slight Z Lateral Tilt with both feet, and hold that position (so weighting the outside part of the foot) and then replant the big toe. Feels amazingly stable all the way up to my hip without adding tons of extra tension. Stayed light on the weights, but felt good and speed picked up.

KB press--good, Left side a bit weaker.

Overall looked pretty good. Thanks again to Brad!!

AM Session
Done at work,
30 min of Z Health
6 pos ankle work, high speed upper body Z
More trunk rotation work

Stayed a little light and not much tension since did Z work in AM

DB Bench (Alt, while holding at lock out)
45 x 11/11
55 x11/11
65 x 8/8
70 x 6/6
pushups with 1 arm on med ball BW x 5/5

DB 1 arm row
50 x 15/15
55 x 15/15
65 x 12/12
Cybex CSR 130 x 17 fast

DB Hammer curls (rt lunge, int rot lower leg)
35 x 7/7
40 x 6/6
standing 40 x 6/6

BW Squats
BW x 20, did not test well for second set

90/90 lunges (slt holding on to reduce balance, done on ball of foot)
Bw X 6/6 and X 6/6

PM sess

I know, this is normally a Bench/DL night but my lifting partner could not make it so we pushed it to Friday and I opted to do my missed CRF session from last night

30 min of Z Health

Tested
1 arm KB swing
Front squat with 1 KB
Ring rows
--all were great

Circuit style, do each one and then repeat
4 EE!!! Allow more rest between sets if needed or pause during set to keep perfect form

I) 1 arm swing
24 x 15/15 for 4 sets

2) KB Front squat with push press
16 kg x 10/10 (L and R arm) for 4 sets
**rest position if needed is at lock out
Used eye position also

3) Ring rows (feet up on a bench, palms down)
note, took the 3 boards out in front of the bench for first 3 sets and lowered the rings aobut 2-3 inches from last time.

BW x 10 for 4 sets

Last time
Avg HR 136 (max was 158 bpm)
15 sec rest 1 min avg 115 (HRR good)
RPE 9--felt much harder
Total time for circuit 18:05 cut about :40 off

today
Avg HR 133 (max was 162bpm)
15 sec rest 1 min avg ??
RPE 7--felt good (but CRF was worked for sure)
Total time for circuit 15:17 cut almost 3 MINUTES off
What the heck? Only difference was the Earth Pulse unti and some Z work this AM. I did the same circuit 2 times before and I am familiar with the exercises. Avg HR was less too! Wow.

12_3 Wed Volleyball playoffs

2008-12-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

Did not have time to get any lifting in today. Did a quick 15 min this AM on the stationary bike at a low intensity.

Volleyball playoffs tonight. We got beat, but it was a fun game to play. I actually got a few blocks, so I was super stoked about that. I could actually time the movement and watched the other player to see if he was going to spike it or just tip it over the net as the ball was coming over. I know for most that sounds simple, but I have never been able to do that until recently. I used to completely miss many balls since I had an eye tracking problem. Still some work to do for 3D vision, but the rest of my vision is getting better. Movements are quicker, esp in the lateral direction now too. The best part was that it was fun!!

12_2 Tues Bench and DL day 1

2008-12-03T08:12:00.000-08:00

Back in the gym!

Z Health on and off all day, 35 min before lifting---felt quite good and movement back to normal

Proteolytic enzymes 10 tabs in the AM

Bench and DL at night
AM weight 204.0
super hungry all day
taped scar from 8am-9pm

Tested
str bar DL +3"
trap bar 0
sumo DL 0

pushup +4"
did not test others

DL (str bar)
135 x 6/ 185 x 5/ 225 x 4
275 x 2 LHup
275 x 2 RHup
275 x 2 RHup

Pushups
BW x 10 mod speed (for all) RPE higher than usual
BWX 12
BW x 13
BW x 10
BW x 11

Chin ups
BW x 4, X 4 X 3

Felt pretty tired and not the best session ever, but good to get back in the groove

11_27_ to 12_1 OFF, South Padre

2008-12-03T08:02:00.000-08:00

Pushed more than I normally have up to this point since I knew I was going to be off for some time.
Jodie and I left Wed to kiteboard in South Padre Island TX over turkey day.
Had a great time, got to ride almost every day. Jodie did great and took a lesson and then I helped her on the 5 m foil kite for 2.5 hour on another day and she was doing really well.

I rode my 16M most of the time and had a great sess Sat afternoon when the wind was about 20-23 mph and got to rip around on my Cabrinha 12 M Crossbow 3--- I LOVE that kite---had a blast screwing around, going downwind and then in one line I could rip all the way back to where I started, cutting upwind with my butt just a few inches off the water. Whooo ha.

Great trip!
Nutrition wise it was ok at best. Kept protein up along with calories (somewhat), but fruits and veggies suffered a bit. Had my poptart after my kite session (the only time I eat them) and Jodie and I had a beer each night to watch the sun set. BW when I left was about 205-207 and came back at 204 and 203.5 lbs. Ha! We were constantly moving around the whole time, and that helps a ton. I had a 1 mile hike back once too as the wind died.

Back to normal now! Went to the store Monday and made my food for the week. Feeling stupid hungry, so upped the calories yesterday and Tues. Ate 3/4 lb of salmon last night with broccoli!

Movement wise was pretty good. Did my Z rehab 2-3 times a day and about 10 min of Z each day--hindsight says I need to do more as my low back was very tight on Sunday AM (a few crashes on the kite probably did not help much either). It is almost back to normal now and no pain just a bit tighter than normal. Eating fruits and veggies along with good EFAs helps too.

No scar taping and cut most supplements. No creatine, no carnitine, no BCAAs, no fish oil, no beta alanine.

Used the Earth pulse unit each night, got to sleep in most day, but did a dawn patrol on Sunday to go ride so we were on the water at 7am--amazing to ride watching the sun come up!

Need to work on my CRF now---ugh. Feels like it has stabilized, but was dropping like a rock before I left.

Forced breath hold was 1:10

11_25_08 Tues Bench DL day 1

2008-12-03T07:57:00.000-08:00

Z heath NWU 2 15 min

Tested DL
str bar comp grip +2"
trap bar 0
RLD -4" ugh
sumo (sins at rings) 0
----str bar the winner

Tested Bench
push ups +2"
did not test others

str bar DLs
warm up
185 x 3 RHup
225 x 3 LHup---felt heavy, WTF?
225 x 5 RHup, speed better
275 x 5 pronated on both hands

Pushups
BW x 13 FAST
BW x 10/9 done with 24 kg under palms
BW x8, elbows back style, narrow
BW x 10/6 Left leg up/ Rt leg up

BW Chin ups
BW x 3, X 4 (eyes down on the way up)

overall felt tired, and although it tested ok, not much energy

11_24_08 Mon Asym Day Push/Pull/Misc

2008-12-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Done at end of work day in gym there
Z Health 30 min
was feeling kind of goofed up
6 pos ankle work
more rot (trunk) work
high speed linear arm movements
more head (vestibular) work

lift at 3pm done at 3:43pm
1 scoop surge, 1 hydro, 6 BCAAs, 2 L Carnitine, 5 gm creatine at 2pm

Done circuit style, tested all movments
DB Bench
40 x 12
55 x 8/8 (alt, hold other at lockout)
65 x 9/9
70 x 11 (both)
75 x 5/5---no neck tension!!! Would get left sided tension in the past at that weight

Cybex chest suppported rows
130 x 25
150 x 8/8
170 x 8/8
150 x 20 both

3 angle lunges (45 left, str, 45 rt)
BW x 5/5 (3 pos each so 15/15 reps)
BW x4/4

BSS
BW x 5 Left only (only tested ok)

DB Curls (alt) Left lunge
35 x 13/13
40 x 7/7
40 x 7/7

EZ bar curl
85 x 8
85 x 5

Rope overhead ext
8 x 15/15
//med ball pushups L only BW x 4--triceps toasted, tension too high---startle!
called it a day

11_23 Sun Asym and Squat day

2008-12-03T07:42:00.000-08:00

Z rehab work as always lately
slept 10 hours last night 10:30pm-8:30am

EARTH PULSE UNIT BACK TODAY

Front squat
45 x 10, x 8, clean grip, working on getting all fingers on the bar

Back Squat
done to very low box (1 sandbag, 1 board and 3 plates). About 1/2 height of tib/fib
45 x8
95 x 5
95 x 6
--done to see how my mobility is coming along, done barefoot
in the past I was barely able to squat to a standard 17 inch box without pain/tightness
adductors were a little sore later---need to work on more asym/wider lower body work in the future

KB towel hammers (rotation and lunge)
16 kg x 5/5
16 x 5/5

KB Front squats
24 kg x 5
24 x3

KB TGU
16 x 2
24 x1/1
24 x 1/1--tested worse
felt tired and everything started to test worse, felt like I went off a cliff
called it a day

11_22 Bench and DL Day 3

2008-12-03T07:39:00.000-08:00

Z NWU 15 min
str bar DLs and pushups tested best

DL
135 x 5/ 185 x4 / 225 x 5
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 2
335 x 1
365 x 1 RPE 8---felt great and relatively easy

Push ups
BW x 13, x 15, x 15

overall felt great, but crunched for time, so short rest periods
10% meal at dinner, Chicken Pad Thai

11_21_08 Friday OFF, Dinner at Mannys

2008-12-03T07:36:00.000-08:00

Today was my day off from the gym and Jodie and I celebrated 2 years together at Manny's Steakhouse. We have talked about going there for years (literally) and it was awesome.
I had an amazing tuna steak and Jodie had a potato encrusted halibut (ironic that she ordered fish too). For an app we had deep fried portabello spears---hmmmmm.
For dessert they brought us a irish mouse chocolate cake. I am not a huge dessert fan, but wow, this thing was amazing!! Real whipped cream and hot fudge on top.
Great dinner and no I did not concern myself over the calories. A few times a year is just fine and will have no impact on your body composition. Tomorrow it is back to normal

11_20 Thurs lifting DL and Bench day 2

2008-11-22T11:09:00.001-08:00

See previous post about Z Health work with Brad Nelson

2 scoops Surge, 1 protein, 6 BCAAs, creatine, 2 L Carnitine

TESTED
before--palms on floor!
str bar DLs +1"
RDL -5 " ugh
did not test trap bar

DL
135 x 6, 185 x 3, 225 x 4, 275 x 4
315 x 3 Lhup
335 x2 pause at bottom each time--felt awesome! Very "well connected" but without excessive tension
335 x 2 R h up
335 x 2 Lh up
335 x 1 R hup, speed started to slow, called it a day

Wanted to go up in weight, but decided not to since had some major Z Health work done in the AM

PM session
with training partner
Double 16 kg KB bottoms up press--PR
Had not tried this one since this past summer

Bench (flat, comp grip)
tested awesome, did not test others

135 x8
185 x 4
215 x 1 felt great
225 x 1 felt great, good speed, all touch and go
235 x 1, had a slight amount of help on it since it stalled and started to go backwards about 4 inches off chest, forgot to move eyes up, partner touched the bar so can't count as a PR. Next time I will get it for sure!!
205 x 1 audible commands, with a pause at chest
205 x 1 aud. comm and pause again
205 x 1 same--good speed
315 x 8 sec isometric
partner monitored blink rate (threat response)
increased a first then calmed down to about 1/sec, breathing was normal and relaxed
held at lock out

opted for one more set
225 x 0 ---missed, stupid idea to try after iso hold, DL sess earlier in the day and Z/scar work this AM. Stalled out about 1/2 way up and just lowered to chest/support cage bars--mental note for next time. Violated my own rule of end on a high note

11_20 Z Health Appointment with Brad "No Relation" Nelson--scar work and cranial work

2008-11-22T10:49:00.001-08:00

Went to see him for some Z work on myself early this AM.

Wanted him to check my scar. In short, I have a midline scar on my chest that is about a foot long from when I have open heart surgery to fix and ASD (atrial septal defect) when I was 4.5 years old.

For background, see the link below. In no way am I am complaining about this in any form, since without the surgery then I would have probably only made it to age 20 at best, so I am EXTREMELY thankful.

http://miketnelsontraining.blogspot.com/2008/04/3-28-30-weirdo-soft-tissue-work-with-dr.html

I am also doing some visual work since I currently have major suppression of my right eye. In essence, it would be the same for someone to do everything with only 1 eye (I don't have binocular vision currently), but I will get it figured out. I had a "lazy eye" when I was a kid and they patched my good eye so that my eyes would track normally.

Background at
http://miketnelsontraining.blogspot.com/2008/10/92308-tues-deadlift-me-started-visual.html

Today's work
So I wanted Brad to do some Z Health level 4 work around my scar. He found some big restrictions and quite a few released around the left side of my rib cage. At the end, the lower part of the scar was pretty good. Feels like the left side is twisted around from front to back. Makes sense since I had scoliosis growing up too. Brad was amazed that my upper back (outside of some sticky thoracic spots) is basically normally now. Before my scaps were quite twisted and stuck up funny like a stegosaurus!

Did some Z Health Cranial/Cervical Spine work. Homework drills are

Posterior glide, hold and lateral tilt to the right
Posterior glide, hold, move jaw right, hold, then lateral tilt to the right

Left feeling great! Thoracic felt awesome! Did some Brock string work and not a huge change, by my right eye stays on now for a few seconds and flashes off and on withOUT hold my scar or having it taped. Still a ways to go, but overall movment felt great. Had more energy, did a DL session in the afternoon that felt better than it has prett much ever (with a straight bar) and bench session that night went great. Had training partner check my thoracic spine at the end and it was the best he has ever seen so far. Felt great, had more energy although my face became quite flush/red during the day and after doing the exercises, but went away by the next day.

Why Am I Telling You This?
The whole point is that EVERYONE NEEDS A COACH! While it is true that I should know my body better than anyone else, I can't watch my movement all the time. Having feedback about your movement and asking for help is NOT a sign of weakness, but a sign of strength. There are many that are willing to help you reach your goals, so reach out to them NOW! It is NEVER the right time, so if it is important than take a first step TODAY.

Thanks again to Brad "No Realtion" Nelson again. Be sure to check out his services and KB Classes here at Kinetic Edge Performance. I am extremely picky about who I work with and who I allow to do work on myself, and I highly recommend Brad.

Rock on
Mike N

11_19 Wed CRF day--KB circuit

2008-11-22T10:40:00.000-08:00

Low cal/low CHO day (to try to keep fat a bit in check)
4 TBSP Udos Oil (normally 2-3 TBSP)
10 caps proteolytics 1 x
before lifting green tea fast brew, 1 TBSP tyrosine, 6 g BCAAs only

25 min of Z Health
worked on squat position (bottom), 6 pos ankle work, head/rot--cranial/cervical work

Scar taped at 5pm unitl 8pm,

straight bar curl, conc movement with eyes down, movement better
45 x 10
65 x10
85 x 6
85 x6

Chin ups (staying light and easy)
BW x 3, X 3, X2, X 3 (w eyes down on concentric)

Wide angle lunges
BW x 4/4 stick and hold
played with various angles x6/6 x 4/4 x 5/5

CRF circuit time!

Tested
1 arm KB swing
Front squat with 1 KB
Ring rows
--all were great

Circuit style, do each one and then repeat
4 EE!!! Allow more rest between sets if needed or pause during set to keep perfect form

I) 1 arm swing
24 x 15/15 for 4 sets

2) KB Front squat with push press
16 kg x 10/10 (L and R arm) for 4 sets
**rest position if needed is at lock out
Used eye position also
note--these seemed brutal this week for some reason

3) Ring rows (feet up on a bench, palms down)
BW x 10 for 4 sets

LAST time
Avg HR 141bpm
Total time18:48
RPE about 7 (out of 10)
15 sec rest, 1 min avg 126 bpm

TODAY
Avg HR 136 (max was 158 bpm)
15 sec rest 1 min avg 115 (HRR good)
RPE 9--felt much harder
Total time for circuit 18:05 cut about :40 off

low back and abs feel "tired"

11_18_ Tues DL and Bench Day 1

2008-11-22T10:24:00.000-08:00

AM Weight 207.5
15 min bike on trainer indoors
low intensity, done upon waking

Protein after bike ride (25 g hydro 1400)
breakfast 20 min later

During the day
feeling a bit sore
proteolytic enzymes at 10 caps x 2 times

mid back sore (DOMS) and low back tight

DL at night
Z Health 25 min, working on 6 pos ankle circles
6:40pm Vitargo from http://www.genr8speed.com/physique/vitargo.php (thanks to Anthony Almada for the sample)
mixed with hdyro protein, 6 g BCAAs, 2 gm L carnitine, 5 gm creatine

TESTED
trap bar +15.""--winner
RDL - 1.5"
str bar +1"

Did not test any bench---the simple thought of it was not remotely appealing and chest was kind of sore still (which is very odd for me)
tested KB press--great!

Did DLs first and then KB Pres

Trap Bar DLs
135 x8
185 x 6
225 x 5
275 x 3
315 x 4
365 x 2 --felt great! up the weight
385 x 1--good speed
405 x 1 a bit slow at the middle portion, but great form and pretty good speed
PR tie!! kind of pissed I only tied my PR but was feeling a bit tired and decided to go for 415 next time trap bar tests well. Thoughts were just pt A to B--partner verified good form.

Did an experiment
normal DL set up, focusing on eyes, long spine, and keeping correct form
partner observed form/speed and rated it---good, but not great

1 min rest
Did not tell partner what I was doing--just eval it
much better speed and form was better
What I did different
Set up as long spine (inhale), keep arms pointed towards floor though (only spinal movement)
grab the bar, tight grip--only thought was stand up!
much better ----more neural drive perhaps? Done enough reps to know the form by now

did same think with training partner--much better!

KB Presses
24 kg x 4/4
24 x 4/4
28 x 2/2
32 kg x 2 /1 ----PR tie for Left and PR by 1 rep for rt
Very happy since I have not done many KB presses lately at all (a few from lunge, rot stance)

called it a day

11_17 Mon RE push/pull/misc

2008-11-21T10:23:00.000-08:00

no scar tape

Z Health 40 min
felt much much better then--felt kind of goofed up before
6 position seated ankle work
rotation work
slow shoulder work

Kink now moved to lower right part of neck/upper trap
Got better wtih Z, but still there a bit before lifting

top of scap and mid thoracic spine sore

Done circuit style

DB Bench (flat)
40 x 12/12 alternate, movement decreased
went to test incl bench, but someone was using the bench the rest of the session

Cybex CSR
130 x 22
130 x 18 fast
150 x 18 fast

DB hammer curls (rt lunge with rt internal rotation lower leg)
35 x 10/10
40 x 8/8
45 x 7/7 no lunge (PR I think)
45 x 5/5
all done with eyes down on concentric motion

Toe raises
BW x 12
alt legs (1 at a time) BW x 6/6

Lunge
straight ahead, long step, Xplod back to start, tall spine
BW x 5/5
BW x 5/5

Push ups to Smith machine (bar just below knee height)
Xplosive--hands come up off bar about 4-6 inches at top concentric
BW x 5, X 5, X 5

Push ups (1 hand on 4 kg med ball)
BW x 5/5 mod/slow speed
BW x 5 L only // overhead ext 8 x10/10 X 2 rounds

neck popped back to normal on lunges! Whoo ha.

Felt tired at start, once neck popped--felt great and energy level much much better
left feeling really good

11_16 Sun Bench and DL day 3

2008-11-21T10:12:00.000-08:00

AM wt 208.0
still feeling a bit tired today
slept 9 hours last night

triple expresso at 4:15pm
Still felt a bit tired at 6pm--not good
2 scoop Surge, 1 sc hydro pro, 6 g BCAAs, 5 gm creatine, 2 gm L Carnitine
at 5pm, lifting at 6pm

Z Health 20 min
more rotation work, Z SAID work for DL and bench

Lifting
TESTED
DL
str bar DL comp grip 0", felt easiest
trap bar 0"
RDL -4" (boy that sucked)

Bench
str bar bench comp grip -4"
push up 0 easy--winner
str bar ring on ring (did not test)

DL str bar
tested rev bend DLs--tested well
used a choked blue band (iron woody) in at 2nd pin from top in cage
wt at bottom of DL -65 lbs
wt at top of DL 0 lbs (unloaded)

Why?
Working to overload top/mid portion of DL in non startle

wt on bar recorded
135 x 5/ 185 x 5/ 225 x 4
275 x 2
315 x 1, 1 L h up
365 x 1 R h up
now added iso hold at top for 2-3 sec, tall spine
385 x 1 Lhup
385 x1 Rhup --L knee moved oddly, DL came out of groove, movement decreased
Z Health--knee circles (open and closed), opposite elbow circles,
tested BW ful squat, cutting movments----very slight pain as knee gets over toe
more Z Health, finished bench (as below)
all knee movements were fine, but opted to call it a day on DLs
knee was perfect the next AM--no issue at all

Pushups (done in between DL sets)
BW x 13 mod/fast
BW x 16 mod/fast
BW x7 fast, stopped since I mis breathed
BW x 11 fast
BW x 11 fast
BW x10 fast
BW x 12 mod/fast

Epsom salt bath, lights out

11_15_Sat OFF

2008-11-21T10:10:00.000-08:00

Felt pretty beat up today
work up with a slight kink in the left side of my neck
Z off and on during the whole day
proteolytic enzymes at 10 tabs 2Xs dur day
stress level stupid high
worked on cleaning my desk and getting inbox back to zero (GTD style)
did research work also
in bed by 10:30pm

11_14 Friday CRF KB 5 min Snatch

2008-11-21T10:06:00.000-08:00

Was feeling pretty tired today

Z Health 10 min over lunch

PM
Z Health 15 minutes

pushups BW x 8,12,12 (easy reps)
rev row (fat man pull ups) BW x 6,7,5

KB Snatches in 5 min (after warm up)
Goal 72 reps (excellent form)
last time did 62 reps

Today
made 72 multiple hand switches (did not count)
L side felt weaker??
avg HR 141
15 sec rest, 1 min avg 93 (HRR was really good)

Brought my KB down to the U of MN lab, so maybe I should log
farmers walks to the lab and my car too--ha!

11_13 Thurs DL noon sess and Bench PM sess

2008-11-18T15:18:00.003-08:00

Str bar comp +1.5"
Trap bar 0
RDL +2" winner!

RDL, both hands pronated
Slow ecc, faster conc
Why? Work on mid back strength and holding a neutral (straight) spine
Mid back tired, hams, glutes were just fine the whole time

135 x 6
135 x7
185 x 4
185 x 4
185 x3

Alt with KB Press (tested good)
Done from lunge stance, pressing with OPPOSITE hand, FAST speed
16 x7/7
16 kg x 7/7
16 x 6/6/4 (L/R./L)
24 kg x 3/3
Double sew saw press with 1 24 and 1 16 kg X 4/4

At the end
Chin ups
BW x 2, eye down, no pain
BW x 3, same, no pain, tested great---who ha
In the past had some slight left forearm pai

PM session
Liftig partner has returned! Whoo ha
Str bar bench +1.5" winner
Push up 0

135 x7
185 x 3
205 x 1
215 x 1
225 x 1, touch and go, great speed
Went for a PR
235 x 0--missed--crap, pushed the bar too far back over my head and
Out of the groove--happened at about 4 to 6 inches off chest
Opted for heavier board work and wil come back in a few
Weeks and destroy this weight

3 board press, switched to ring on ring--tested well
225 x 1 3 board touch and go, easy
245 x 1 same
245 x 1 last few seconds to lock out slower
275 x 10 sec iso hold at lock out, no startle, easy

Partner helped cue my T spine on Z drills--MUCH MUCH better
L and R wrist cleared up instantly
Felt great at end
Movement was awesome!

Had taped scar from 11:30am-9:30pm (post lifting)
1/2 spike at 6:30pm
1 sc surge/hydro mix at 6:50pm
Lifting PM sess 7:50 to 9pm

11_12 Wed CRF day

2008-11-18T15:18:00.001-08:00

Tested
1 arm KB swing
Front squat with 1 KB
KB Snatch
Ring rows
--all were great, snatch was ok

Circuit style, do each one and then repeat
4 EE!!! Allow more rest between sets if needed or pause during set to keep perfect form

I) 1 arm swing
24 x 15/15 for 4 sets

2) KB Front squat with push press
16 kg x 10/10 (L and R arm) for 4 sets
**rest position if needed is at lock out
Used eye position also

3) Ring rows (feet up on a bench, palms down)
BW x 10 for 4 sets

Avg HR 141bpm
Total time18:48
RPE about 7 (out of 10)
15 sec rest, 1 min avg 126 bpm

11_11_Bench DL day 1

2008-11-18T15:17:00.001-08:00

1.5 surge/ 1 hydro pro/2 gm L carnitine, 6 g BCAAs, 5 g creatine at 5:40pm
Taped scar
1/2 c coffee, 1/2 serv FRS

Z Health
Brock string with body rotations--good both directions
Visual work from behavioral opt--good for 8 seconds! Better with walking and looking down at it

Tested
Str bar DL 0
Trap bar DL +2"= winner
RDL 0

Bench
Str bar comp grip -2"
Str bar ring on ring grip +1= winner (felt easier)
Push ups +1

Trap bar DLs
185 x5
225 x 5
225 with All chains (about 60 lbs total) x 1,1 1, speed work
225 w all chains x 1,1,1,1 speed
225 w all chains x 1,1,1,1 speed
225 w all chains x 1,1,1,1

Rev Blue Band Bench (blue band choked around top of rack)
Mid finger on ring
165 x 8
185 x 8
205 x 7 movement -1, felt tired and "off"
205 x 9 moved grip to ring finger on ring tested +2" whoo ha, felt better
225 x 5 same grip as above
225 x 4
275 x 5 sec iso hold at top (with bands)
275 x 5 sec iso hold at top (no bands) breathing and "relaxed"
Iso holds done to get used to heavier supra max weight with no excess tension/startle

11_10 Asymetric Push Pull RE

2008-11-12T12:21:00.000-08:00

Was feeling kind of messed up. Need to figure out a better computer set up at work

55 minutes of Z Heath
really working on slow/mod 6 pos ankle circles, seated--much better
rotation work, lunge positions, more lumbar work than normal
eye movements worked into various lunge positions

1 spike at 5:20pm

lifting started at about 6:30pm after Z

DB flat bench
40 x 25 both
55 x10/10
60 x 8/8
65 x 8/8

Cybex CSR
130 x 25 both
150 x10/10 alt
130 x 20 tested better

Angled I Phase lunges to front
3 position
BW x 4 for each leg
done for 3 sets

DB Hammers (rt lunge, rt rotation)
30 x 15/15
35 x 8/8 (Left lunge only)
EZ bar curls (standing, eyes down on conc motion)
65 x13
65 x 7 FAST

DB Neutral bench alt 45 x 10/10 // fast push ups to knee high smith machine
bar BW x 6 (hands come up off bar about 6inches)

Med Ball overhead smash
5kg? x 7 tested good actually

11_9_ OFF, Z Health 25 min

2008-11-12T12:19:00.001-08:00

Z Heath 10 min AM and 15 min later
Some visual work also
no scar tape

Body Fat Update--Dropped over 1 lb fat, gained about 6 lbs LBM

2008-11-10T10:49:00.000-08:00

Date	10/2/2008	11/10/2008
Tricep	6	5
Chest	7	6
Midaxillary	14	13
Suprailiac	12	10
Abdominal	21	20
Subscapular	15	15
Thigh	12	12
BF%	13.3%	12.4%
total mm	87	81
wt/mm	2.298851	2.5246914
BF lbs	26.6	25.358
BF lbs lost	1.242
gained LBM	5.74

11_8_Sat DL/Bench day 3

2008-11-09T15:37:00.000-08:00

AM wt 207.0
Body fat testing on Monday
My guess is that it will be around 14%
If still around there, up calories again about 250 cal per day
Will add a Hydro pro shake every AM upon waking and then
breakfast 20-30 min later

Moved bike indoors, can ride for a few minutes in AM now
Winter is here, so I move even less now between work, training,
research, etc
Some added parasymp work should help recovery too

slept 9 hours last night
30 min before lifting 1.5 s surge, 1 s hydro 1400, 2 gm L carnitine, creatine 6gm BCAAs
60 min before about 100 mg caffeiene

Z Health 20 minutes
more rotational work,
T spine has been feeling much better lately!

Day 3 this week of bench and DL version
TESTED
str bar comp grip bench +2""--winner
push up -2""
bench, ring finger on ring - 2"

DLs
str bar comp DL +1.5"---winner
str bar RDL -1.5""
trap bar DL 0

music Lamb of God and new Haunted CD
lift time in at 1pm
scar taped straight on both sides

DL, str bar, comp grip
135 x 5, 185 x 2
225 x 1,1,1,1 RHup
225 + blue chains (about 40 lbs) x 1,1,1,1 Lhup--tested better, now +2.5"
225 +ALL chains (about 60lbs) x 1,1,1,1,1 Rh up
225 all chains X1,1,1,1 Lhup
225 all chains x1,1,1 Rhup
225 all chains x 1,1,1 RHup
focus on pt A to pt B, good speed
no slow down at all on lifts--good constant speed

alt with
Bench, flat comp grip (index at ring)
135 x 10
185 x 5
185 x 4
185x 5
185 x 5
185 x 5
185 x 3--done
move still good
made sure to focus on 4EE during bench

overall lifts went well. did not feel like going heavy and just got in some good rep, speed work

10% nutrition night
watch movie with Jodie
pesto chicken pizza and pumpkin ale--tasty!!

11_7 Fri Asymetric day and CRF

2008-11-09T15:30:00.000-08:00

20 min Z Health
Tested
TGU
rot and lunge, KR press
rot and lunge KB towel hammer
1 arm ring row
all tested great!

Circuit style, little CRF focus

1 arm ring row
just outside shoulder width feet
BW x 7/7
BW x 7/7
BW x 7.7

KB Press
done in rotation (to outside) from lunge position, focus on speed
16 x 7/7
16 x 7/7
left side tested better than right (even though movment was higher RPE)
16 x 7 LEFT only
16 x7 LEFT only

TGU
16 x 1/1
24 x 1/1, Left side tested better
24 x 1 left only
24 x 1 left only

KB Towel hammers, rot outside, lunge position
12 kg x 8/8
12 x 8/8
12 x 7 left only (tested better) hmmm--all left sided work was testing better today?

CRF work
opted on snatch work, goal 70 reps and time it
70 reps total in 3:46, movement still tested fine
did not record HR
did as 24 kg x 20/20 and then 15/15
pace puts me roughly at about 88 in 5 minutes
new RKC standard for me is 100 for rest in June--no problem.
will work up to 28 and 32 kg coming up if snatch keeps testing well
overall RPE 8 for snatch

11_6 Bench/DL day 2

2008-11-09T15:22:00.001-08:00

taped scar all day
slept 9 hours again
1.5 scoop surge, 1 scoop hydro 1400 protein, Barr mix at 6pm

1 serv FRS at 6:15pm

TESTED
trap bar DL +2""
str bard DL comp grip +1"
str bar RDL +2"
opted to go with trap bar DL

comp bench -2"
push ups 0
mid finger bench +2""-winner!

Z Health 15 min before
timein 7:38pm

bench (mid finger on rings)
135 x 5
165 x 4
not feeling it in triceps at all, weight feels heavy, movement dropped
moved to ring finger and added chains to overload top of bench movement
155 w all chains (about 60 lbs) x 2, tested great!
155 w all chains x 2
155 w all chains x 3
155 w all chains x 3
working on watching bar to chest, then move eyes to poster (target) behind bench to work on tricep activation (extention)

alt with

Trap Bar DLs
warm up
225 x 12, no touch/very slt pause at bottom
275 x9, no touch
295 x 5
feeling good, so decided to up weigh
335 x 1
365 x 1 RPE 7
385 x 0 missed! crap. missed at about 2 inches off floor, tried to think too much about breathing and form, mind was too full before lift.
decided to rest 2 min and try again,
rehersed movement with no weight--point A to point B, made sure eyes were in correct position
385 x 1 easy! RPE 8.5 Whooo ha!!
20 lbs off trap bar PR
still a long ways to go, but felt good
called it a day, end on a high note

11_5_OFF volleyball

2008-11-09T15:21:00.000-08:00

20 min Z work
Volleyball--felt much better this week
need to remember knee pads--too slow on dives

11_4_Tues Bench/DL day 1

2008-11-09T15:14:00.001-08:00

AM wt 204/0
Z Health 10 min done at work
slept 9 hours

DL/Bench night
Taped scar
brock string work, could see the farthest yet!!!
Stayed the same with head tilts also

Vision kit from behavioral optometrist--it worked!! I could see in 3D for 4 seconds
that is the best EVER so far!! Whoo ha.

Tested lifts
str bar flat bench comp grip---awesome, did no further testing for bench
str ba DL--awesome also, no further testing

Bench
135 x9
185 x5 touch and go, barefoot
205 x 3, last one was slow, with tiger shoes
215x 2 touch and go
205 x 2
no lifting partner, so no hand off

DL
135 x5, 225 x 5
275 x 3 LHup
315 x 2 RHup
325 x 1 Lhup, with tiger shoes on now
345 x 1 LH up, slowed down in speed, ME for today
315 x 1 RHup
315 x 2 Rhup, last two easy and with good speed

at the end
Rev choked blue band bench, grip ring finger on ring
225 x 8
225 x 5, last 1-2 inches of last rep slow

norm bench
135 x 9 FAST
185 x 1 comp grip
done
music new All That Remains
used silver bar for all bench work

11_3 Mon Random work outside

2008-11-09T15:06:00.000-08:00

It was a beautiful weekend and monday was 72 F outside!!

Z outside 20 min
working on rotation work, various extended lunge positions

Sledge on tire (power focus)
overhand 16 lb x 10/10; x 10/10
rotation work 16 x 10/10, 13/13

tire flips
400 lb x 2, did not test well

pushups with feet on tire, 1 leg up
x 4, x 4

Farmers walk (1 arm) using trap bar on side, from garage to other side of street, switch sides and then back
115 lbs x 1,1
115 x 1,1

Front squats, clean grip
done to bench
95 x 8
95 x 4--felt worse

felt tired and everything tested well, and then just went off a cliff

decide to test snatches--tested great and felt good! First time in a long long time!
Left forearm pain has been gone for 5 days now

5 minute Snatch 24 kg, multiple hand switches and set done during set
only went to RPE of 7
62 reps total, avg HR 144 during 5 minutes
---not where I need to be by a long shot, but for not having done it for many many months I was pretty happy. Avg HR for me was relatively low too, movement tested well at the end too
done outside in the grass

AM weight was 205.0
forced breath hold 1:17

11_1_2_Sat Sun--OFF, at Z Health 3 day Seminar in MN

2008-11-09T15:04:00.001-08:00

Took 2 days off since I was helping out at the Z Health/DD 3 day event. Went really well and got to meet many cool people and got in some Z too! Great times!

Sat night was a Halloween party and 10% nutrition night. Actually the whole weekend was more a 10% nutrition time. Back to normal on Monday.

Was tired on Sunday and crashed Sunday night. Was in bed asleep by 8:15pm and slept until 7am!

10_31 Wingate test in lab for fun

2008-11-09T14:51:00.000-08:00

Wingate day in the Exercise Physiology labs for students, so I figured I would give it a go at the end of the day for fun (yes I am sick)

For those who don't know, a Wingate is a max anaerobic test. You pedal on a bike as fast as you can then when the clock hits O they instantly add some huge resistance to the bike. It goes by weight so the more you weigh, the more the weight (resistance) you have to pedal against. My body is currently about 205 lbs, so I go about 700 Watts. Good times.

700 Watts resistance for 30 seconds, pedal all out as fast as you can. Once you hit about the 20 second mark it feels like someone dumped concrete in your legs. Feel free to try this on a bike at home and let me know what you think. hehehehe

Peak 918 W Mean 543 W Min 419 W

Not the best score at all, depending on what you read it about 50% for athletes. After some more bike sprints in a few months it should go up. Currently I have not done any bike sprints though and most focus has been on bench and DL 1 RM. But I did not puke!

10_30 Thurs Asym day Push/Pull/Mis RE day , PM Bench and DL day 2

2008-11-09T14:43:00.001-08:00

Done at work gym
Z Health 25 min
all tested well

DB Bench
40 x 20
55 x 10/10 alt
65 x 8/8 alt
55 x 12 both, FAST

Cybex rows (CSR)
150 x10/10 alt
165 x 12

Lunges (to 3 I Phase angles in front)
BW x 6/6
BW x 15/15

DB hammer (rt lunge, int rot lower leg)
35 x 13/13
40 x 5/5
45 x 4/4// 35 x 4/4

PM sess
at garage gym
Z Health 15 min

tested
trap bar DL--tested awesome, did not test others

str bench comp grip--move worse
2 board bench with ring finger on ring--ok
mid finger bench with chains--awesome!

flat bench ring finger at ring
warmup done
115 w all chains (about 60 lbs total) x 5
135 w all chains x 3
135 w all chians x 4 mod fast
135 w all chains x 5
135 w all chains x 6
135 w all chains x5

alt with
Trap Bar DLs
warm up
225 x 6 pause at bottom
225 x 5, fast slt pause at bottom
225 x 5 fast
225 x 4, speed dropped quite a bit, done

also did some str bar bicep curls inbetween, felt like recovery
between bench and DL was taking longer than normal
str bar bic curls
45 x 9 fast
65 x 12 fast
65 x 10 fast
65 x 10 fast
done for speed, stopped when speed dropped
used eyes down pos when lifting bar (conc motion)

done

10_29 Wed Voleyball

2008-11-09T14:41:00.000-08:00

Z Health 20 min
felt slow and tired at volleyball
was about 1-1/2 step slow
vision was off, eyes are tired and moving goofy--"spooky eye"
Did not lift

10_28_Tues Bench/DL day 1

2008-11-09T14:37:00.000-08:00

Tested
-bar DL comp grip
trap bar DL
stopped there since str bar was great!

pushups
stopped there since it tested awesome

Z Health before for 10 min
Z 15 min during the day

str bar DL
135 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x4, 275 x 3 all pronated
275 x 3 LH up
295 x 3 RHup
315 x2 LH up
315 x 2 Rhup
315 x 2 Rhup
315 x2 LHup, felt great, movement great

alt with
Pushups
BW x 11
BW x 8
BW X 7
BW X 5 done with 4 sec eccentric

pushups done fast

At the end
Rev Bar rows aka fat man pullups
Bw x9
BW x 8
BW x8
Iso hold at top for 5 sec and then 7 sec, relaxed breathing
tested really well

10_27 Monday Asymetric Day at garage gym

2008-11-09T14:30:00.002-08:00

Tested
TGU
Suitcase DL
Bi curls (standing, str bar)
floor press
KB press
KB towel hammer curls

taped scar
1 scoop surge, 1 hydro, 2 gm L Carnitine, 6gm BCAAs, creatine at 1:30

Started 2:30
the following tested well and did in circuit styel

TGU
16 x 3/3 no rest inbewteen
16 x 3/3
16 x 3/3

Suitcase DLs
95 x 5/5
95 x 5/5
95 x 5/5
done with str oly bar on ground

KB towel hammers (in lunge position, rt foot in front)
16kg x 5/5
16 x 4/4
12 x 5/5/4 L/RL

Floor press
115 x6 with 2 sec pause at bottom
115 x 12 no bottom pause
135+blue chains x 12 (blue chains=40lbs)
145 + blue chains x 12
145 + chains x4 wtih 4-5 sec pause at bottom, tested ok, not as good as others
probably wrist "jamming"

str bar bicep curl 95X 7 tested ok

overall felt tired,
rode bike for 10 min at end--light ride

10_26_Sun OFF

2008-11-09T14:30:00.001-08:00

Z Health 20 min

10_25 Sat Strongman day outside

2008-11-09T14:24:00.001-08:00

1 spike at 11:30am
green tea at 1pm
taped scar on both sides
slept 9 hours at night
SENT EARTH PULSE UNIT BACK
--needed some new pads on the buttons
will do an experiment for the next 2 weeks while it is out and see
if there is much difference, esp in breath hold and CRF

Z Health outside 20 min

Tire flips
400 x 6 done in 51 sec, self time; 60 sec rest
400 x 5 done in 41 sec, self time

Strongman circuit A
32 kg 1 arm swings 10/10, 225 farmers walk with trap bar, 400 tire flip x 3, 8 lb sledge on tire 15/15

trial 1 got to about sledge strike 18 and sledge hammer broke! time 1:48 avg Hr 152
done with 16 lb sledge now
trial 2 2 :15 (both self time) avg HR 154
3 min rest HR less than 100 bpm
Trial 3 2:09, but used 2 Hand swing avg HR 156

light bike ride 18:40 total
Avg HR 136
rode to tennis park
4 neutral pos pull ups, x plosive pushups and inverted rows X 8 and rode back home

10_24 Press/Pull/Random RE day

2008-11-09T14:16:00.000-08:00

Rode lab bike for 20 min at 50W
avg Hr 123

At U of MN Rec Center
note: Wow, I am spoiled to have a power rack, KBs etc in my garage as the Rec Center was crowded and there is some odd stuff going on there. Did a simple pull up and people were staring at me. I also found that the top of the DB rack works great to put your feet up on and do push ups. I did floor presses for awhile since the bench was always in high demand; once for someone to do DB flys with the 5 lb DBs. Pushups maybe instead?

DB flat bench
40 x 12//55 x10
alt 60 x 12
alt 65 x8
neutral floor presses (alt)
60 x 12
60 x 10

seated rows
? x 12
? x 10--tested poor, dropped exercise

DB hammer curls (rt lung position, int rot of lower leg)
35 x 7/7
35 x 7/7
40 x 4/4
45 x 4/4 (straight)

Pullups (easy ones, no arm pain)
neutral BW x 2, x 2,
Chins (palms face away) BW x 2, x 2

Overhead tri ext
? x 10/10 and x 6/6
---sill cable machines many times don't even label a weight!

Z cool down 7 min
done

10_23_Thurs 2 sess 1) Bench, Trap DL; 2) Squat,KB Snatch

2008-10-24T07:37:00.000-07:00

2 sessions today.
Felt much better,
slept 9.5 hours last night
Getting back to normal

Time in 2:29 (lifting--first set)
Time out 3:01 (set wt down)

Z Health 20 min, no scar tape

TESTED
trap bar dL, str bar comp grip, RDL
--trap bar tested better by a hair over str bar

bench flat comp grip, bench flat mid finger at ring, pushups
bench mid finger tested best

Alternated 2 lifts
1) Trap Bar DLs
135 x 5
225 x 10 (barely touch between reps)
225 x 10 (same)
275 x 5 (same)
275 x 4 (slt pause at bottom)
275 x 2, speed slowed down, last one

2) flat bench, no spot (power rack though) mid finger at ring
warm ups
135 x6
135 w blue chains (about 40 lbs total) x 6
135 w blue chains x 5
135 w all chains (about 60 lbs) x 5
135 w all chains x 3--last one was a grind at the last 2-3 inches
all tested well, except the last set movement dropped a bit
Z Health
135 x 10--FAST, last 1-2 reps were slower, stopped
done

PM session
Time in about 7:45 pm
Out about 8:30
Z Health 25 min before hand with scar taped

Squats (both styles) tested fine and so did KB snatches--but kept reps on them low
Front squats tested a bit better as the sets went on
alternated back squat, front and KB snatches
Focus on BR and eyes matching movement
All submax weight, just working good, easy movement
all done to a bench (to decrease threat)
Tried without a bench and could feel threat go up (not sure where to stop)
training partner did not make it--busy carving pumpkins! wth

Back squats
45 x 12
95 13
115 x8
135 x 5

Front squats
(done clean style)
95 x8 (2 fingers on bar)
95 x 8 (3 fingers on bar)
135 x 5 (3 fingers on bar)
135 x 3 (3 fingers, speed dropped)

--I am a huge pussy on squats, but need to keep the weight down until I have the movement grooved again.
all done barefoot

Snatches
16 x 6/6
24 x 7/7
24 x 10/10

done
felt good at the end!
Epsom salt bath 20 min 1 qt epsom

10_22_Wed Volleyball only

2008-10-23T11:24:00.000-07:00

Still tired--ugh

V-ball kind of sucked, felt slow and vision was all off. Still fun to move around a bit.

Wanted to nap during the day, but had to work so no nap obviously.

Slept 9.5 hours Wed night

10_21_Tues Trap bar DLs, pushups and chins

2008-10-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Z Health 25 minutes, taped scar

Tested
Trap bar DLs--palm to floor--good
Push ups--almost palm to floor--good
Chins--only did 1 rep--pretty good
--gradually working some more volume on chins making sure I have absolultely zero pain

Done circuit style, short rest periods
time in lifting 8:32
time out down lifting 8:50
still tired from travel

Trap Bar DL
185 x9 mod spd
225 x 7 mod spd
225 x 5 fast
275 4 mod spd
315 x 2, slow, tested fine
315 x 3+1 slow, tested fine

Pushups (barefoot, no wall)
---stopped when speed slowed down or 4EE
BW x 14
BW x 13
BW x 10
BW x 11
BW x 10
BW x 6--done with feet up on bench

Chin ups
BW x 1
BW x2, very slt pain on rep 2
went away within a few secs
BW x 1
BW x 1 with 3 sec iso hold at top X 3

done

Charles Staleys Training Sumitt Fri-Mon

2008-10-23T11:17:00.000-07:00

Took some time off. did survival Z Health
Felt good until about Mon night,
Back home late Mon
Had to work on research stuff all day mon, no time to train

Back to it tomorrow!
Gotta love 3+ hour flights with people hacking up a lung!
Overall the seminar was great! see my blog for updates

10_16_Thurs Bench

2008-10-23T11:10:00.001-07:00

Z 20 min
warm up
45 x 15, 95 x 10, 135 x 10, 135 x 5

155 x5
175 x3
185 x 3
200 x 1
205 x1 with audio commands and pause
225 x 1 3 board press, compgrip
225 x1 3 board press, mid finger at ring
then
135 x 14 --fast

Rev rows
bar at bench height, feet out
Bw x 13
BW x 7

10_15_CRF circuit_KB swing_sledge_KB open palm press

2008-10-23T10:56:00.000-07:00

Goal achieved!!! Made it through using the 40 kg KB (sparky), 16 lb
sledge and 16kg for all 4 rounds in less than 15 min (closer to 13 min
actually!)

very first time through was on
http://miketnelsontraining.blogspot.com/2008/06/6808-sunday-crf-sess-sledge-kb-press-kb.html
and used 24 kg KB, 8 lb sledge hammer and 16 kg KB
for open palm presses
total time then was around 30 minutes!!

CRF Circuit
Last done on 9_24

done circuit style I, then II, then III, and repeat

I KB Swing (1 arm) low tension style, bone rhythm work
40 kg x 15/15 (L/R)
40 kg x 15/15 (R/L)
40 kg x 15/15 (L/R)
40 kg x 15/15 (R/L)

II Sledge strike overhand on tire (16 lb sledge)
note--most of tire was on asphalt
Added 16 for round three now
16 x 15/15
16x 15/15
16x 15/15
16x 15/15

III Open palm KB press
16 kg x6/6 for 4 sets

LAST time on 9/24
Time 12:54
Avg HR 153??
15 sec rest/ 1 min avg 1:07--recovered much quicker
10 min avg ?
Overall was difficult, but not horrible
RPE 8

TODAY
Time 13:14
Avg HR 152
15 sec rest/ 1 min avg 112
Pretty difficult, but manageable, movement same at the end
RPE 9

10_14 Tues DLs, KB Press, Push ups

2008-10-15T09:02:00.001-07:00

Z Health 30 min
Taped scar
no eye work (other than eye tracking and near/far)

Tested
135 lbs
trap bar, str bar, behind back DLs
Trap bar best

Tested
Flat bench index at rings, narrow grip and push ups
Push ups the best by far

Tested
KB Presses
Fast, not much grip tension tested the best

Followed the 4 EE to determine reps

all done circuit style, Z done between each time through
I) Trap bar DLs
warm ups 135 x 5
225 x5
225 x 8
275 x 5
275 x 4

II) KB Press
16 x 10/10 FAST
24 x 3/3 mod fast
16 x 8/8, FAST, stopped when movement speed dropped
24 x 3/3

III) Pushups
feet against wall, no shoes hands at standard width
Bw x 10 mod. fast
BW x 6 narrow hands, index at shoulder
BW x 4 done to flat 24 KG KBs
BW+24 lbs X Vest, at standard hand width X 8

10_14_Tues_NEW PROGRAM

2008-10-15T08:51:00.001-07:00

Had a great chat with Frankie Faires last night and I've been working on a new template approach to lifting.

My biggest problem is my constantly flucating (and high) outside stressors and need a way to work at my limit, but not over step it all the time.

Below is the new program outline and I need to thank Frankie again for his input! If you are in the Dallas TX area, be sure to check him out at http://www.zdallas.com/

Current Goals:

Bench increase

DL increase

CRF maintenance

Frankie's comments

B & DL STRENGTH

Find out what 3 DL variations

and 3 Bench variations are going

to work for you.

Each workout,

test the three variations

and train the one that tests best.

Just because that movement tests well

doesn't mean that movement can be trained heavy.

I would say use your warm up sets

to determine if you can go heavy with that lift.

If you can, great.

If not, take the opportunity

to work lift quality, volume and speed.

CRF

I would pick 3 movements

and 3 approaches such as

volume (time), density and a volume or density variant

Stick with the same approach for 6-8 wkts.

create a wave loading template

Either 2 up 1 down

or 3 up 1 down

I would say alter performance by 3-8% per workout

Each time you go into a workout,

pick which ever workout from the week you feel you can perform.

Perform 2 CRF wkts per week.

Template
Sunday
OFF, only Z work

Monday
At Work over lunch

Bench POSITIVE TEST (ME or RE)--most likely DB flavor and flat or incl

Back work (DB rows, seated rows, etc) done in asymmetric position
BW Squat (or lunge movement) I RECOMMEND DOING SOME BALL OF FOOT SQUATS OR ASSYMETRIC LUNGES
Bicep work (DB, EZ bar, hammer style) done in asymmetric position
Add Tricep drop set at end-- done in asymmetric position

Tues
DL POSITIVE TEST (ME or RE)
KB Press/other main movers works (RE)

Wed
CRF day
volleyball at night

Thurs
Bench POSITIVE TEST (ME or RE)
DL POSITIVE TEST (ME or RE)

Fri
optional day
allows wiggle room in schedule if I miss a session
work on whatever I feel like
GET IN A CRF DAY HERE IF POSSIBLE. IF NOT, CONSIDER PERFORMING A CRF AT THE END OF AN EASIER LIFT DAY

Sat
DL POSITIVE TEST (ME or RE)
Bench POSITIVE TEST (ME or RE)

DL versions
competition set up, str (straight bar)
trap bar
sumo
behind the back
RDL
(currently testing to narrow down to 3,most likely str bar, trap bar and behind back)

Bench
str bar, comp grip
push ups
DB version
Flat/Incl
DB neutral
Rings
(see above for testing)

Assymetrics (non standard loading)
TGUs
Suitcase DLs
Lunges to angle
Done in lunge stance (ex, bi curls in lunge stance)

Other exercises (these normally test well)
KB Press
Ring rows (various hand positions)
Chins/Pullups
Arm work--curl, extend movements
Front squats (relearning with clean grip, also helps with wrists)

CRF work
KB Swings
KB snatch
Strongman medley
bike sprints
sprints outside/track

Varations (can be used with any of the above)
deficits (increased ROM)
partials (decreased ROM)
chains
bands
reverse band
(not going to do too much with this for now)

Notes
Each variation is tested and whatever tests the best is what exercise variation I go with that day.
ME=maximal effort, so work up to a heavier weight for that day
RE= repetition work, follow 4EE again but keep the wt lower and do more reps

Believed bottlenecks
wrist--Z work with open palms, open palm pressing, more pushups, front squats clean style
scar--appnt set with Brad Nelson for Nov Z follow up, continue taping on most days before lifting
Eye work--will keep testing and try the brock string, assinged visual work and new Frankie drills.

Calories will be increased at about an extra 150 kcal per day from before. BF and wt monitored. Compliance to Precision Nutrition will be measured and goal is 90% each week, so if I am scheduled to eat 42 meals in a week I can go off the chart for 4 of them. Make one change and re-eval.

10_13 Mon PM Sess_Learning Frnt squats

2008-10-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

Working on Front Squats clean style
Z Health 20 min before

Front Squats
45 x 5 arms out in front str
45 x 6 arms out in front str ahead
45 x 6 same
45 x 6 clean grip, index on bar
45 x 6 same
45 x 5 same
95 x 2, arms crossed, pause at bottom and breathing
all were easy, but still working on the BR timing

Alt with
neck harness work (in DL mid stance)
10 x 15
20 x 5
20 x 5
20 x 5

at the end
Chin ups (conc only)
BW x 4 (pull up to claivical)
very very minimal arm pain on rep 4 , went away within about 30 sec

Zercher squats to parrallel
95 x 5, 5 --easy, and tested well

Breath hold 1:22--what? I have not done any CRF work for about 1.5 weeks though
Resting HR seated 46 in the lab measured today

10_13 Mon Bench, Back, Sqaut, Arms RE at work

2008-10-15T08:44:00.001-07:00

Z Health 10 min

DB Bench (Incl) (flat did not test well)
40 x 12
45 x 11
50 x 7 --fast

Cybex rows (CSR style seated, but don't use support pad)
130 x 17
150 x 17
150 x17

BW squats (fast)
BW x17
BW x 16
BW x13

EZ bar curls (standing)
65 x 12
65 x 10
65 x8
65 x10

At the end
Overhand rope ext
8 x 12/10 // BW push ups elbows out to bar x 13 both FAST, came up off bar on pushups

done
total time about 30 min for lifting, circuit style

10_12 Sun__Bench ME

2008-10-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

Not much sleep last night
Still tired

Z Health 35 minutes, felt a little better

Bench
warm up
45 x 15, 95 x 12, 135 x 10

165 x 3, felt like crap, index finger at ring
More Z Health 10 min
light KB swings
165 x 3 middle finger at ring
still felt like crap, movement dropped

Other random stuff, nothing tested well
Called it a day

10_11 OFF--Ski Patrol Refresher

2008-10-15T08:37:00.000-07:00

Went to see Five Finger Death Punch and In This Moment at First Ave--AWESOME show!!
Amazing

10_9 DL night at the Press

2008-10-15T08:34:00.000-07:00

Z Health 20 min
DL night at the press

DLs tested good (amazingly enough)

135 x 5, 185 x 5, 225 x 3, 275 x 2 all pronated warm ups
295 x 1 worked on spinal extension at the bottom
315 x 1 for 5 sets
Fawn observed and helped cue spinal extentsion, esp a mid t spine

Hamstrings were sore

RDLs with thick bar
135 x 5
185 x 4
185 x 4
185 x 3

Actually tested really well, Fawn observed to make sure my TSpine did not collapse
Thick bar works the grip, did all pronated
Slow on eccentric, mod on conc.
done

10_8_ Light day_random work

2008-10-15T08:31:00.000-07:00

Lighter day
BCAAs only before
Z Health 20 min

Sledge on tire (focus on speed/power)
8 lb x 12/12
16 x 15/15
16 x 15/15

TGUs
16x 4/4
24 x 1/1

Suitcase DL
95 x 4/4
95 x 4/4

Narrow push ups to tire
BW x 7, BW x 10

16 kg Overhead waiter walks, with suitcase 24 kg KB carry
X 1/1
x 1, stopped, movement dropped

10_7 Tues DLs ME--high volume day

2008-10-15T08:25:00.000-07:00

Z HEalth
taped scar

DL
135 x 6/185 x 5/ 225 x 4/ 275 x 2 warm ups, all pronated
295 x 1 LHup
315 x 1,1 L/R hup
315 x1 Lhup, slower speed
315 x 1 Rh up, better speed
335 x 1 Lhup RPE 8
345 x1 LHup, RPE 9,movement the same
back off sets
315 x 1
315 x 1
315 x1
315 x 1
315 x1
335 x 1 Rhup, RPE 8, felt better

DL steps
moved a bit closer to the bar at set up
spread toes
feet slt out about 10 degrees
inhale and extend, chicken on neck
exhale, look down,
grab the bar, tighten grip
inhale, eyes up
Bone Rhythm, focus on ankle/femur/hip timing
drive hips

Alt with
KB Press
16 x 8/8
24 kg x 4/4
16 x 10/10
28 x 1/1
16 x 8/8
24 x 4/4
28 x 1/1
16 x 8/8/2 (more L side work)
24 x 3/3
16 x 9/9/2

10_6 Monday sick

2008-10-08T09:18:00.001-07:00

still sick, ugh
slept 10 hours again
forced breath hold at 1:36

10_5_08 sick, ugh

2008-10-08T09:17:00.001-07:00

Started to get sick this past Sat and felt like dog poo today, ugh
pounding vit C
movement is staying pretty good
slept 12 hours

10_4 OFF_Z Health 20 min

2008-10-08T09:16:00.003-07:00

Did scar taping for 5 hours before wedding at night
slept 10 hours again at night
Cheat meal at night--lots of chocolate, good dinner and carrot cake (and one dark beer)

10_3 OFF

2008-10-08T09:15:00.001-07:00

Survival Z
slept 10 hours that night

10_2_Thurs Bench ME Goal 230 x1; BF % measured

2008-10-08T09:08:00.000-07:00

BF % measured
7 site skin cal, same person
low carb, no training the day before
done at 1pm vs normal 10 am time
done with low calories now

total was 13.3%, so down about .5%
AM wt 200.00 (lowest this week was 199.5)

2 s surge, 1 s hyrdo Barr mix, before at 5:50pm
Lifting started at 6:50pm
Z before at 20 min
No lifting partner again

Bench (flat)
warm up
135 w chains x 4
165 w chains x 1--slow, more Bench specific Z work
165 w chains x 1--still slow
185 x 3--felt good, RPE 7 think TALL SPINE!
205 x 1 RPE 8
175 w chains x 1--good speed, felt great
230 x 0--missed, crap,
L hip came up and caused bar to twist,
no hand off, movement dropped
missed at about 4 inches off chest
slow touch and go

KB doubles press
24/24 x 6/6
24/24 x 3/3 tired

Rev bench, blue choked bands mid finger at ring
225 x 6
225 x 4--booo
done
out at 7:55pm