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I've been keeping a log on Vegan Fitness for a while now. I thought I'd start posting over here as well. Right now I'm trying a Westside-style split, modified for a strongman-focus. There's a contest in Petaluma, CA on August 23rd, and that's what my training is focusing on right now. I'm not particularly strong (yet), so my main goal with the competition is to gain some experience and, hopefully, embarrass myself as little as possible

 

Here's the link to my old/current log:

http://www.veganfitness.net/forum/viewtopic.php?p=223718#223718

 

And without further ado, today's training. All weights in pounds.

 

7/3/08 DE Lower

 

Box Squat

2 X 5 X 45

5 X 95

3 X 135

10 X 2 X 165

 

Still not blazing fast, but pretty good. Weight goes up to 180 next week, then I'll switch to some repetition style work instead of dynamic.

 

Good Morning

5 X 45

X 95

3 X 135

belt on:

1 X 155

1 X 175

1 X 200 PR

1 X 210 PR

 

I hadn't tried these with a belt before - it made it a lot easier Goal was 200 today, 210 was even nicer. Felt like I might be good for 225 in the next couple weeks.

 

45 Deg. Back Raise

3 X 20 X BW

 

My girlfriend was training with me - she lifted after this, and I tried a couple ab exercises with her. Didn't really like either of the exercises I tried, so I basically blew off abs for today.

 

After we got home we drove over to the park and I did some sprints: 5 X 50 yds, with 30 seconds rest between each one. That should have been easier than it was. Finished with some car pushing, just a short distance down the parking lot and back but it fried my legs. Mission accomplished

 

- Eric

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7/6/08 RE Upper

 

Today's my dad's birthday. We went on a short hike up by Silver Lake, which was really nice but we got caught in the smoke from all the wildfires (far from us, but sending plenty of smoke to fill up the Sacramento valley and beyond) on the way back to the car and we all ended up with pretty bad headaches from the bad air. And since I was lifting at my dad's place, with no A/C and plenty of the smoky air, the workout was a brief one.

 

Here's a picture of me and the old guy up on the ridge over Shealor Lakes:

 

http://lh5.ggpht.com/ericgribkoff/SHHF54gU8pI/AAAAAAAAAbs/PD_B-JYojIw/s400/IMG_2232.JPG

 

And here's the cupcakes my girlfriend made for him: (they were good!)

 

http://lh3.ggpht.com/ericgribkoff/SHHGRy2OrdI/AAAAAAAAAb4/OMQpiHYGSN4/s400/Dad%27s%20B-Day%20003.jpg

 

Oh yeah, the workout:

 

Press

2 X 5 X 45

4 X 10 X 95

 

Too light, but haven't done sets of 10 in, well, forever.

 

Bent-Over Row

10 X 95

10 X 135

10 X 157

6 X 185

 

Some grip work and done.

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Thanks, xjohanx.

 

7/7/08 ME Lower

 

Spotted a conan's wheel in the gym on my way in today - it's not fully setup, so I didn't have a go, but hopefully it'll be ready for use by next week. I'll get a video

 

Trained later in the day than usual, and saw some of the powerlifter guys in the gym today. Saw a guy two-board press something around 700 pounds for three reps. Pretty cool.

 

Platform DL

5 X 45

5 X 135

5 X 185

3 X 225

1 X 275

belt:

1 X 315

1 X 365 equal to previous PR

1 X 375

1 X 385

1 X 395

1 X 405 PR

f X 415

 

400 lb deadlift is officially easy

 

Seated GM

5 X 45

5 X 95

5 X 135

5 X 155

5 X 185

 

One-Leg Romanian DL

15 X 45

15 X 95

2 X 5 X 135

 

Seated Leg Curl one-leg at a time

15 X 60

15 X 90

15 X 105

15 X 120

 

I know, I know. But I'm in desperate need of hamstrings and willing to try anything at the moment.

 

Sidebend

10 X 45

10 X 75

10 X 105

10 X 115

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7/9/08 ME Upper

 

Safe Press

 

This did not go well. Tried adjusting the yoke a bit because I thought it might be easier to press if the bar was higher - definitely not so. Got up to a tough single @ 155 (made 175 last week), then the gym owner came in and gave me some technique tips and helped get the yoke set at a good height for me. Think I more or less got the technique down pretty ok, but still was weaker today than last week. The contest weight for this is still not finalized, but it's probably going to be 210 pounds. I've got six weeks, but that's going to be a tough # to hit.

 

Along with this and learning that at the contest the farmer's will probably weigh in at 275 lb/hand for the lightweights (my best so far is 210 or 215/hand), I was getting somewhat discouraged. Figured I'd try out the Conan's Wheel and see how it went.

 

Conan's Wheel

1 revolution X 100

1 X 200

1 X 300

1 X 400

1 X 490

1 X 550 - Yes! That's the contest weight right there. Video:

 

Axle Clean + Push Press

5 X 33

5 X 77

5 X 99

5 X 127

5 X 143

f X 165 (missed the clean, too heavy for double-overhand)

1 X 165

 

JM Press

10 X 45

10 X 65

7 X 85

8 X 75

 

DB Row

5 X 70

5 X 100

2 X 5 X 110

 

Face Pull

10 X 60

4 X 10 X 80

 

Some grip work and done. Longest workout in months, I was at the gym for almost three hours.

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7/12/08 Event Training

 

I trained at Powerhouse with Keith (the owner) and his cousin. I didn't keep a detailed log, but we started out with...

 

Safe Press: My previous best was 1 @ 175. Yesterday I got 2 @ 183 - except that Keith says the yoke weighs 90 pounds, not 75, so the weight would actually have been 198 - close to what it will be at the contest. Either way, it's progress, and I'm pretty hopeful about nailing some reps come August 23rd.

 

Farmer's Walk + Tire Flip: The gym doesn't have a good size tire yet, so the tire flipping was too light to really count as anything other than a little extra conditioning. The farmer's went well, finally found out the weight of the handles - did 60' @ 225/hand with one turn. Weightwise, that's equal to my PR. Then Keith took it up to 275/hand and I thought, what the hell. Made it 8 feet Contest distance will be 30', I think that's nailable - already pumped that I could even get them up, and still have weeks to work on covering further distance.

 

Conan's Wheel: Worked up to 2 and a half revolutions with 510 lbs on the apparatus, which Keith said will probably work out to be the same weight-in-hands(arms) as I'll see at the contest. Also did just over one and a half revolutions with 600 lbs loaded on it, which is over the LW contest weight and close to what the HW will be using. According to Keith this is my event - if I can work up to 4-5 revolutions by the contest, I'll have a good chance of either placing highly or winning this event.

 

Fantastic session overall - three hours saw me going from thinking I was likely to bomb the first three events to actually thinking I can be somewhat competitive come contest time. Pretty cool I'm training with the same group next Saturday as well.

 

- Eric

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7/14/08 ME Lower

 

Went in with a vague plan and had a vague workout as a result.

 

Wide-Stance Squat These were solid.

2 X 5 X 45

5 X 95

3 X 135

3 X 185

added belt:

1 X 225

1 X 275

1 X 295 slightly high

1 X 305 depth good, PR

f X 315

 

Then did a power stair/duckwalk type thing, pickup only - basically a loading pin and a two-handed attachment to heft it up. Worked up to 5 @ 350, which was all I could fit on there. Tried some axle zerchers from the floor, 1 @ 123 and 1 @ 213 - which felt way heavier than I expected it to. Messed around with some axle dl and romanian dl, nothing much, then l did some leg ext/leg curl supersets, don't know why really, and ab pulldowns - those were good, did 2 sets of 8 @ 130, which is the heaviest I've gone.

 

I'll head back in on Wednesday with a better defined plan, and hopefully a better workout. The squat PR was good, but my squat still sucks, so I can't get that excited.

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Cheers xjohanx

 

7/16/08 ME Upper

 

Press

2 X 5 X 45

3 X 95

3 X 115

3 X 125

3 X 135

1 X 145 (f on 2)

2 X 140 (f on 3)

2 X 135

 

Not quite PR territory, but pretty happy with 8 total reps at or above 135.

 

Incline Log Press On the advice of Keith. First time doing these.

10 X 70

8 X 114

6 X 136

4 X 151

4 X 160 Surprised I got all these, honestly

f X 170

15 X 114

 

A couple (literally) pullups and chinups.

 

Seated Low Row

5 X 140

5 X 160

5 X 180

2 X 5 X 200

 

Some rear delt work and db hammer curls (biceps have been taking a beating with conan's the last couple weeks).

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7/19/08 Events

 

We were up at my dad's last night for the season premiere of Monk - ate pizza, and then went out in the garage where he'd added bench supports to our squat stands. I worked up to a quick failure @ 207, then dropped the weight and worked back up to a pretty smooth single @ 200. I'm not sure if it just takes me a long time to get warmed up on bench, or I just suck at it Anyway, fatigue from the benching was non-existent today, and training went well.

 

Safe Press

Worked up to 4 @ 200 lbs. Pretty sweet, getting good leg drive and a solid second dip. Last week only managed 2 @ 198.

 

Conan's Wheel

Switched to moving clockwise, and for whatever reason it was a lot harder that way Still did okay, got two full revolutions with 510 lbs and one and a quarter with 600 lbs, but need to figure out why it's so much harder facing a different direction.

 

Farmer's Walk

Up to 275/hand again. Made it the same distance as last time, but with a putdown mid way - so my grip got slightly worse, but I made a second pickup, which I couldn't do last week. Not bad, not good, lots more work to be done

 

18" Deadlift

Done in the rack. Got up to 1 @ 455, and then 6-7 failures with 495 - I could break it off the rack, but it just stalled a couple inches up. Need to get stronger. Mark made 605 and Keith made 635.

 

And that was it. I don't think I've mentioned it on here yet, but there's a raw powerlifting competition in town in September I'm probably going to enter. As a 100 kg Junior (20-23) lifter, I can set a state record in the deadlift, which will be cool

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7/22/08 ME Lower

 

Front Squat

2 5 X 45

5 X 95

3 X 135

1 X 155

1 X 185

1 X 205

1 X 225

1 X 235 PR - nice and deep, got ugly about half-way up but made it

1 X 215

 

SLDL Tried GMs, but left shoulder bothering me just enough from the safe pressing on Saturday to make it holding the bar uncomfortable

5 X 135

3 X 185

3 X 223

3 X 273

 

Thick Bar Hold I didn't have a clock with a second hand, so just counted the times - most holds probably around 20 seconds

1 hold X 122

4 holds X 152

 

Ab Pulldown

10 X 100

10 X 130

6 X 140

3 X 140

20 X 110

10 X 120

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7/24/08 ME Upper

 

So-so training today.

 

Press

lots X 45

2 X 5 X 75

3 X 95

1 X 115

1 X 135

2 X f X 15

f X 145

5 X 95

 

Ugh. Just wasn't feeling these today. Spent a lot of time warming up my shoulder, which is still bothering me a little bit - felt better after the pressing, but the strength just wasn't there.

 

Incline Log

10 X 70

8 X 114

5 X 134

5 X 160

 

Lat Pulldown

12 X 100

2 X 12 X 120

 

DB Row

8 X 55

8 X 75

8 X 95

 

Machine rear delts.

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7/26/08 Events

 

Log Press

8":

lots X 70

2 X 3 X 114

2 X 134

1 X 160

1 X 180

12":

1 X 210 PR

2 X f X 215 Ugly cleans, failed the press

3 X 215 PR One good clean, three presses. Highlight of the day.

 

Conan's Wheel Get worse at this every time I do it

1 X 100

1 X 200

1 X 300

1 X 400

1/2 + 1 X 550

1 X 550

 

18" Deadlift

5 X 45

5 X 135

5 X 225

2 X 315

1 X 365

5 X 3 X 405 - trying an idea from an article on the Sugden Barbell site - next week I'll try 3 X 2 X 455, and then 2 X 1 X 495 - plan is to nail 500+ at the comp, should be good enough for dead last

 

Keg Run

2 X 100, 125, 175, 200, 225 lb kegs

 

Total Workout Time: 4 hours PR

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7/28/08

Car pushing: think I only did three runs with the thing, but each run was pretty long and I was properly nauseated by the end

 

7/29/08

 

Farmers

2 X 30 ft X 135

2 X 30 ft X 185

30 ft X 225

30 ft X 245 PR for distance. Grip felt pretty solid too, no put downs.

 

Video here:

 

The camera only filmed the runs with 185 lbs for some reason, so the video's kinda useless, but I put it up anyway.

 

Power Shrug

5 X 50 kg

5 X 70 kg

5 X 100 kg

straps:

5 X 120 kg

8 X 150 kg

12 X 140 kg

 

DB Row

5 X 60

5 X 80

5 X 100

Had a go at the 110s, but the DBs over 100 lbs at my gym are these "tribar" monstrosities - angular, skinny bars that make it impossible (for me, anyways) to hold on to. So I used straps for:

2 X 5 X 110

 

Keg Load

Did 15 total loads with a 100-lb keg, just to get myself breathing hard(er). Switched back and forth between bearhugging it up onto the platform, and doing short runs with it across the room.

 

Ab Pulldown

12 X 90

12 X 110

12 X 130

12 X 140

5 X 150

3 X 150

 

Done.

Edited by ralst
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7/31/08

 

Yoke Press

3 X 5 X 90

3 X 110

3 X 130

1 X 150

1 X 170

1 X 190

1 X 210 PR - after letting it down, yoke rebounded into my chin, knocking me over and knocking off my glasses. Got it on camera - it's not half bad

f X 220 Had a few goes at this, but couldn't quite lock it out.

3 X 190

lots X 90 working on the technique

 

Squat

5 X 45

X 95

5 X 135

5 X 185

belt:

1 X 225

1 X 275

Pretty easy, so..

1 X 315 PR At least another 5-10 pounds in there next time

3 X 275 ATG

 

Incline Log

10 X 70

8 X 114

4 X 134

2 X 160

2 X 170

 

Thick Bar Hold

Four holds @ 173

 

Face Pull

10 X 60

10 X 80

3 X 10 X 100

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8/2/08

 

Heading out of town for the day so went in early for a solo session. Powerhouse was closed Had to lift at the shiny gym as a result. Still got a pretty good workout in.

 

18" DL (thinking about it now, this may have been more a 20" DL...) Snuck in some chalk to help grip the slippery bars

5 X 135

5 X 225

1 X 275

1 X 315

1 X 365

1 X 405

3 X 2 X 455 PR, except possibly the wrong bar height due to being at the wrong gym

 

Jerk

10 X 45

5 X 95

2 X 135

1 X 155

1 X 175

1 X 195

1 X 205

1 X 215 PR, except way too easy to call it that. Nervous about misses w/o bumpers, so stopped there.

 

Finished with a couple pump sets of hammer curls and cg bench.

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8/4

 

Axle Clean & Press Weights in kilos

3 X 45

3 X 5

2 X 65

1 X 175

1 X 85

1 X 95 - Big PR, because I never really got the clean before. They're still ugly, but they work

f X 99 kg - got the clean, missed the press

 

Power Shrug

5 X 135

5 X 225

5 X 275

straps:

5 X 315

5 X 365

10 X 315

 

Squat

5 X 45

5 X 135

12 X 230 Rep PR

 

Bent-Over Row

8 X 45

8 X 135

12 X 185

 

Completely spent after the squats. Couldn't bring myself to do abs today.

 

Uploading a video of training from the last week or two.

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Hey, thanks all, I appreciate the comments

 

8/6/08

 

Bench

3 X 8 X 45

5 X 95

5 X 117

paused:

2 X 135

2 X 157

1 X 185 - ok

1 X 195 - ugly

1 X 185 - better

 

2-Board

3 X 185

 

3-Board

2 X 195

1 X 207

3 X 217

3 X 222

 

Bent-Over Row Underhand grip

10 X 45

10 X 95

10 X 135

2 X 10 X 157

 

Hill Sprints X 10

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Cheers Bronco

 

8/9/08 Two weeks till the contest

 

Big old group of us training today. Highlight of the events was Mark, a under-200 lb competitor, doing a 30' run with 315 farmers.

 

Safe Press

lots X 90

6 X 130

5 X 150

3 X 178

3 X 208 PR. Meant to have 198 here, but accidentally left an extra 10 lb plate on one side.

3 X 218 PR, and a couple closes misses too. More in there.

 

Also took the chance to (semi) accurately weigh the yoke. We've been thinking it weighed 90 lbs empty; that's pretty much dead on, the scale said about 87 lbs but close enough. The contest weight will be 200 or 210 (still haven't posted finalized weights), so I'm thinking I should be good for around 5 reps.

 

Farmer's Walk Disappointing today

runs with 125, 175, and 225/hand, along with some pushes with the new prowler.

Then tried 265, ten pounds under contest weight. Two pickups on the first attempt, made it a grand total of...three feet Left grip just wouldn't hold. Tried again a few minutes later (after a couple other guys did runs with 315) and, again with two pickups, made it about ten feet. This is going to give me trouble at the contest, as my grip strength seems to be regressing, not improving.

 

18" DL

5 X 135

5 X 225

2 X 315

1 X 365

1 X 405

1 X 455

1 X 500 PR. Not sure if I hitched it or not, but it won't matter at the contest. It was a damn hard lockout, but I got it.

f X 500 nothing left

 

Did several more runs with the prowler. It's brutal.

 

Bodyweight is spot on for the contest, I was 230 lb today in mid-afternoon.

 

- Eric

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8/12/08

 

I had planned to take the Conan's Wheel for one last spin before the contest, but a big shipment of new equipment just arrived at the gym and it was in pieces all over the floor. Not enough space to do Conan's, so I hemmed and hawed and finally settled on Power Cleans. Then I changed my mind and did full clean and jerk:

 

C & J Weights in kilos

2 X 1 X 50

1 X 60

1 X 70

f X 80 + 1 X 80 (didn't commit to getting under the first one)

1 X 90

f X 100 - made the clean, a PR, but missed the jerk

1 X 100 - ugly clean, my front squat isn't strong enough to handle much more than this, but I made it. Slight pressout with the right arm on the jerk

 

High-Bar Squat Inspired by Krypto, but not as strong, or as tough (insane)

10 X 45

10 X 95

10 X 135

10 X 185

Then a giant set, or whatever it should be called - no rest other than loading and unloading plates:

1 X 205, 1 X 225, 1 X 245, 1 X 265, 1 X 245, 1 X 225, 1 X 205, 5 X 185

 

These killed me. The high bar position throws me forward quite a bit, the 265 was damn near a max effort.

 

DB Row

6 X 80

3 X 5 X 100

 

Ab Pulldown

10 X 100

10 X 120

2 X 10 X 140

 

Two pullups and some chinups.

 

Prowler

3 X 40 yd, down and then back, alternating between the high and low handles X 100 lb

 

I don't know why I was so eager to get to use this thing. It sucks, and I'm sure with a little more motivation another sprint would have seen me vomiting out front of the gym

 

- Eric

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8/14/08

 

News: The Farmer's Walk at the contest is gone. Vanished. In it's place...frame carry, for the same distance (30'). It'll be 560 lb for my weight class. So after hearing this I decided today to do some:

 

Frame Carry (well, Trap Bar Carry, but close enough)

4 X 8 yd X 145 lb

2 X 8 yd X 245

2 X 8 yd X 295

Realized here that there was no way I was going to be able to trap bar dl 560 off of the floor. Threw the bar up on some blocks (14"-15" pickup) and continued:

1 X 355 pickup only

1 X 445 pickup only

1 X 495 pickup only

1 X 2 yd X 495 - had the handles gripped off-center and the weight came forward on me. Lost it.

1 X 8 yd X 495 - if there had been enough room inside, I could have made the full contest distance. It's not the contest weight, and I don't know how thick the handles will be or how high the pickup, but I think I'll have a better chance with the frame carry than I did with the farmer's. Only problem is that if I finish the distance with the frame, I'll have to flip the tire - and I haven't been practicing that at all

 

Tire Flip

4 sets X 10 flips

 

Good cardio, but the tire at the gym is too small to really be much else. I'll see if I can get somewhere that has a 800lb or so tire this weekend, or maybe next Monday, to try and figure out how to flip them properly.

 

Glute-Ham Raise

Lots. First time doing these, the machine just arrived at our gym. Along with two top-class power racks and a competition bench, all with band attachments. Sweet

 

Finished with some GHR situps and a few sets of DB hammer curls, as my bicep was protesting a bit during the frame carries.

 

- Eric

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8/16/08

 

Last real training day before the comp.

 

Tire Flip

4 X 3 flips X 525 lb tire

2 X 5 flips X 525 lb tire

 

12" Log strict

3 X 113

5 X 113

2 X 138

1 X 153

 

Safe Press

5 X 90

5 X 130

3 X 150

3 X 170

2 X 190

2 X 200 easy, technique felt a little off though

 

Conan's Wheel Contest weight

1 1/2 revolutions @ 550

1 3/4 revolutions @ 550

2 1/4 revolutions @ 550 - PR, I think.

 

Tire Flip

4 X 1 flip X 800 lb tire

 

Done.

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