Vegan Bodybuilding & Fitness

Sounds solid. When I was younger I felt I moved around the best when I weighed in the 180's, but as I got stronger I came to find that I could handle the extra bodyweight and became quicker. So I suppose as you naturally get stronger and bigger you may become accustomed to it as I did. It took me a very very long time to break the 190 barrier and several more years to break 200. But the 198 class is a very competitive one and I think a good one to be in.

Well perhaps we can have a virutal competition on our totals. I will be competing in late Oct/early Nov and we should be pretty close on the total. You'll kill me in the bench but the squat and deadlift might even it out. You up for the challenge? Who knows, maybe we can even compete at an actual meet against each other. The toughest part for me will be losing some pounds to get back into the 198, if I don't we'll have to go the wilks formula.

Regards,

Sensless

this would be an interesting competition. experience vs beginner, raw vs equipped, and different weight classes among other things. i'm up for the challenge.

6-23-06, dynamic squat

speed box squat (#3 bands)(11): 45x3, 145x3, 195x2, 215x2x8
deadlift (suited, beltless))(6): 225x1, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 405x1, add belt, 405x1
dec glute/ham raise (4): body x 12, x12, x10, x10
band pulldowns (3): to failure

another great session. squatting was a little slow, but at top weight i wasn't too concerned about it. then the task of putting on my new deadlift suit arose. holy smoke, so frigging hard. took over 20 minutes to get the straps up. using it is even harder. you have to pull yourself down to the bar and then explode up. 405 wasn't easy, but it really wasn't that hard either. i had about 2 minutes between pulls as well and didn't use a belt until the last pull (didn't think i could get to the bar witha belt on). i would say with this effort that i'm good for 425-445. hopefully if i can get good using this suit i can see 475 or more. i need a lot of practice though.

6-25-06, dynamic bench

speed bench (#1 bands)(12): 45x3x3, 75x3, 95x3x8
4 board close-grip (4): 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 265x2-F
rolling tri ext (3): 25x10, 35x10, 45x8
parallel grip pulldown (4): 130x6, 160x6x3
face pulls (3): 110x15, 130x15, 140x12
tri pushdown (3): 80x10, 100x10, 110x10

very tough session. i felt real sick the whole time as if i couldn't get any air. almost got a solid PR on 4-boards, but couldn't overcome bad technique on my last rep. might have solved some of my setup problem, but we'll have to see next bench session if it holds up or not.

6-26-06, max effort squat

box squat (7): 145x3, 255x3, 305x1, 345x1, 395x1, 425x1, 455xF(almost)
glute ham raise (3): body x 12 x 3
band pulldowns (3): to failure

went into this session very sore from my deadlifting on friday and benching yesterday. 425 wasn't as smooth as i would have liked. at 455 i stayed very upright, but had no explosion at the bottom and only made it halfway up. once i got there i felt like my quads were going to blow out so i ended the lift there. its hard to analyze myselft, but i think i'm concentrating so much and staying upright and coming down so slow that i don't give myself much of a chance to catch any rebound. i'm still pleased with where i'm at and still plan on opening with 475 9 weeks from now. things could change when i get my straps up and wraps on.

6-28-06, max effort bench

3 board bench (6): 135x3, 185x3, 225x1, 255x1, 275xFx2
inc tate press (4): 25x12, 35x10, 45x8, 50x4
machine pulldown (4): 90x12, 180x10x2, 180x7
tri overhead machine (#4 band)(3): 50x10, 80x10, 110x7

ouch, my body was in pain during and after this. feels like i'm falling apart almost. most likely from the hard work i've been doing at my job. haven't been getting enough calories to compensate as well. friday i'm gonna take things a little easy.

6-30-06, dynamic squat

speed box squat (#3 bands)(13): 55x3, 145x3, 175x2, 195x2x7, 205x2, 225x2
speed deadlifts (suited)(11): 225x2, 275x1x10

good session. squats were lightning fast. went up to 225 and that was done with decent speed as well. will probably move up to the #4 bands next week and take a little weight off of the bar. deadlifts weren't so great. easy weight, but i'm not getting this suit technique down. not getting my back as flat as i would like and really not getting a good initial pull off the floor as well. there is just too many different things to do and not enough time after i pull myself to the bar. its just going to take practice.

7-2-06, dynamic bench

speed bench (#1 bands)(12): 45x3x3, 75x3, 95x3x8
5 board close grip (5): 135x3, 185x3, 225x3, 255x3, 285x3
rolling tri ext (3): 25x10, 35x10, 45x8
long pull (4): 130x10, 170x6, 200x5x2
tri pushdown (3): 80x12, 100x10, 120x10

setup and arch were not good during the speed bench, but they came together for the 5 boards. glad i hit 285 with relative ease. felt like i hit the perfect groove on these. could have gone for 295, but saving that for next time. biggest difference is i didn't burn myself out too much on the precursor to my max set. used to think a big bump in weight for my last set would hurt me, but now i think the opposite is true. so next time my last 2 sets will be 265 & 295 rather than what i tried last time which was 275 & 295.

7/3/06, max effort squat

cambered bar good mornings (7): 75x10, 165x3, 215x3, 255x1, 305x1, 345x1, 365x1
glute/ham raises (4): body x 10, +65x5, +65x5, +65x6
band pulldowns (4): to failure
rev hypers (3): 305x8, 350x8x2

very impressive workout if i must say so myself. 345 was real solid on the cambered bar good mornings. 365 was kind of sloppy with relatively small ROM, but the bar went down and it went up. real tough time on the glute/ham raises. a break from those does no one good. also did rev hypers for the first time in month or so. happy to see my strength was still there and the subsequent pain was as well.

7-5-06, max effort bench

4 board bench (5): 135x3, 185x3, 225x1, 265x1, 295x1
inc tate press (4): 25x10, 35x10, 45x6, 50x5
machine row (4): 180x12, 230x8, 270x6x2
tricep pushdown (3): 100x10, 120x10, 140x10
face pulls (2): 110x12, 130x12

295 went up real nice even though i had bad technique. i'm not getting that spring at the bottom and i'm rotating my elbows too soo. and yes, it hurts my shoulder to do that so i really need to get better at this. good lifts on tate press and pushdowns. forgot to do my last set of face pulls and did some inc. dumbbell benching, but had to bow out as my shoulder wasn't feeling good about it.

7-7-06, dynamic squat

speed box squat (#4 bands)(12): 55x3, 105x3, 145x2, 175x2, 195x2x6, 215x2, 235x2


went up to the #4 bands. didn't notice too much of a difference as i was blazing fast at 195. 215 was slower and 235 was tough and slow. just kind of wanted to see where i was with the heavier weights. good to know that i'm definitely ready to make the move to #4 bands. my legs were real sore going in from sprints the day before, but worked through it. didn't have anything left for accessory work though.

7-9-06, dynamice bench

speed bench (#1 bands)(12): 45x3x3, 75x3, 95x3x8
4-board close grip (5): 135x3, 185x3, 215x3, 245x3, 275x3
rolling tri ext (4): 20x10, 30x10, 40x8x2
lat pull down (3): 130x6, 160x6, 190x5
2 hand tri pushdown (3): 100x10, 120x10, 140x10
face pulls (3): 110x12, 130x12, 150x10
dumbell overhead (3): 40x6, 55x6, 70x6

the arch is back!!! found out (from someone else) what i was doing wrong on my bench: no leg drive. i was driving at the heels, but not with my legs. this cause my arch to colapse every time the weight touched. figured it out on the last couple sets of 4 board close grips and you can imagine they were the best sets of bench i've ever done. barely even thought about the weight i was pushiing, but rather the tightness to which i arched. so sweet. huge burden off of my shoulders (literally). everything else was great as well. excellent session.

7-10-06, max effort squat

rack pulls (bar at top of knee)(7): 135x5, 225x3, 315x3, 405x1, 455x1, 495x1, 545x1
glute/ham raise (4): body x 10, +65x6x3
band pulldowns (4): to failure
rev hypers (3): 315x8, 360x8x2



7-12-06, max effort bench

rack lockouts (3-4" ROM){8}: 45x5, 135x5, 225x3, 275x3, 315x1, 365x1, 405x1, 455xF
tate press (5): 25x10, 35x10, 45x10, 50x8x2
machine row (4): 90x12, 180x10, 270x6x2
tri pushdown (3): 100x10, 130x10, 150x6
flat dumbbell bench (4): 50x6, 65x6, 80x5, 90x3


two great sessions. pulling felt real good, but the ROM was kind of rediculous. finally got 4 plates (per side) on the rev hypers. benching wasn't great, but my accessory work was solid. except for the dumbbell benching, but my tri's and shoulders were so worn out by then that i don't hold it against myself.

7-14-06, dynamic squat

speed box squat (#4 bands)(11): 55x3, 145x2, 185x2, 205x2x8
dec glute/ham raise (4): body x 12 x 4
band pulldowns (4): to failure
weighted ghr situps (4): body x 12, +45x10, +100x6x2



7-16-06, dynmic bench

speed bench (#1 bands)(12): 45x3x3, 75x3, 95x3x8
shirted bench (5): 135, (no touch), 225 (no touch), 275 (no touch), 315xF, 315 (1-2" from touching), 365xF
rolling tri ext (3): 20x10, 30x10, 40x10
machine row (4): 90x12, 180x10, 270x8x2
tri pushdown (3): 80x10, 100x10, 120x10
face pulls (3): 110x12, 130x12, 150x10


uggggh. the shirted benching went about as bad as it could go. i got a little bigger since my last session and the shirt was VERY tight and it is very hard to touch. got 315 to touch, but i was so folded up with my elbows that i just threw the bar ovr my face (god bless good spotters). the next 315 i didn't force it as much, but felt a mile away from touching. got it up no problem though. 365 was a nightmare. i can't even describe the pain. it was like someone was trying to break my arms. i got down pretty far, but was paralyzed at that position feeling that any move i made would be the end of me. so it was a real dissapointing session. i can build from this though as i now see just how much practice i need. it just looks like i'll be opening up about 30 lbs lighter

7-17-06, max effort squat

good mornings (6): 135x3, 185x3, 225x1, 275x1, 315x1, 365x1 (eh?)
glute/ham raises (4): body x 12, +65x7, +65x6x2
band pulldowns (4): to failure



7-19-06, max effort bench

4 board bench (7): 45x3, 135x3, 185x3, 225x1, 275x1, 305xF, 305xF (razor thin close to making this)
inc tate press (4): 25x10, 35x10, 45x8, 45x6
lat pulldown (4): 120x10, 160x6, 190x6x2
machine tri overhead (#4 band) (2): 50x10, 90x7


good mornings were solid. 365 was a small ROM, but whatever. i wouldn't consider today's bench session a failure because i got another piece of the puzzle on my last 2 sets. not coming off the boards right. fixed this on my last set, but i just barely missed the lift. next time for sure. to tired to accomplish much else.