Ruhtroh

I failed in the hole and my back was hurting a bit. I actually did 3 reps at 185 immediately after. After benching I did 5 more reps at 185. Good idea about the dips. The dumbbell keeps slipping out of my feet, which is annoying. Edit: I won't be in a gym with a squat rack of any sort for the next 9 days. Anyone have a good dumbbell exercise? Or I could do the leg press machine....

11/18 Squat: (1x3) 200 Failure! BP: (4, 4, 4, 3, 2) 155 BB Rows: (3x5) 110 Dips: (1x4) +15 pounds, (8, 6 without added weight) Prone bridges: +45 pounds for 2 30-second reps Squats were awful. Not sure why.

http://cache.gawkerassets.com/assets/images/4/2010/11/500x_will_it_blend2.jpg http://gizmodo.com/5690469/what-happens-when-you-blend-a-blendtec

Have you told them you're a vegan yet? If so, any reaction?

Way to go!

What's the medal you're wearing in your picture?

I hope everything goes well.

11/15/10 Squat: (3x5) 195 *PR* OHP: (5x5) 80+ (microloaded with collars) DL: (1x5) 275, single at 315 *PR* Chin-ups: 5, 3, 1 Reverse crunches: (2x12) Finally taking a two day rest! I need it. I'm thrilled by my 315 pull! Time to bend the bar!

Yeah, as you mentioned, wouldn't any food have that effect on people? Was this "neutral imagery" pictures of other food?

Haha... chins and pull-ups are not easy for me! As I mentioned, there were lots of girls in the gym, so I was trying to get some pump going! hehe

Welcome! The people on this site are very encouraging! Should be a nice help with the smoking.

11/13/10 Squats: (5, 5, 4) 195 Bench press: (5x5) 150 BOOM! BB rows: (3x5) 105 Dips: 5 with +15 pounds, 4 with +10, 3 with +15 Weighted prone bridges: 30 second sets (+35, +45, +45 pounds) and... forgive me... Bicep curls in the squat rack: 8x65 pounds, 4x75 pounds, 5x65 Squats were hard! I failed the last one completely. I had to lower the weight into the arms. I kept calm and didn't hurt myself. Good thing I learned to do it. SO CLOSE TO 200 Bench was hard! I ALMOST failed the last rep. There was no spotter, so I kept pushing and pushing for about 5 seconds. There were a bunch of girls in the gym; their presence helped me push through Bicep curls... what can I say? I want teh big bicepz and veins. Today was supposed to be a rest day, but I wanted to go, and I'm glad I did!

Congratulations on the seven 5-star reviews!

Vege, how can you call yourself a vegan! Bears are animals! (Beers hehe)

11/11/10 Squat: (3x5) 190 *PR* OHP: (5x5) 80 DL: (1x5) 275 Pull-ups: 5 *PR*, 3, 2 Reverse crunches: (3x12) Bench press: Single at 165 *PR* Plants, give me strength! Squats are getting very hard! I keep forgetting to sit BACK as well as down, so my knees have been going far over my toes. No good. I corrected it in the last set. I'm happy with the OHP. Deloads are productive. One step back, two steps forward. I threw in the BP single at the end of the workout just to see if I could do it. I'm officially in the Novice category for my bench! I could have handled a few pounds more. http://www.exrx.net/Testing/WeightLifting/BenchStandards.html Three personal records in one day! Not bad!

What bodyfat? I see no fat to speak of!

Agreed! I'd hate to have him knee me in the nuts! Did I just overstep my bounds by stealing Richard's joke?

Congrats on the bench PR. Looking good!

Welcome to both of you!

11/9/10 Squat: (3x5) 185 *PR* BP: (5, 4, 3) 150 BB rows: (3x5) 95 Dips: (6, 5, 4) with a 10-pound dumbbell in my feet Not a good workout, as you can see. I slept and ate well, so I should have done better. I think what threw me off was working out at hour after waking up, before I had a full breakfast. I usually go mid-afternoon. Very disappointed with my bench numbers, but I know I'll nail it next time!! My goal is to get to (5x5) 155 before I go home for Thanksgiving (which is in less than two weeks! Woot!)

Just looked through your old pics... incredible progress for such a short time span!

You make me feel very, very fat. Haha! Nice squats! Too bad you failed, though. You could switch to 3x5 and see if that helps. You are substantially over BW on them now. It's good to be much stronger than when you started, huh?

How's it going?

I just watched this documentary... thought I'd bump the thread. Very sad, but an excellent film. (It's available on Netflix for Instant Queue.) Be sure to watch through all the ends credits. There is something at the very end.

Do you only do close-grip bench? If so, why? Big numbers regardless lol!